Right... before we start today's lesson
I just want to say that I'm on a new job
which requires a lot of my time, I'll be working from Monday to Monday
everyday, between 9 to 12 hours, sometimes more if necessary
so... what I'm trying to say is that I will have little time for myself
but I'm not quitting Youtube, I'll just slow down a lot
but I'll to my best to upload a new video
at least every Wednesday
so, with this being said, let's get started
Hello friends, my name is Arith Härger
and today I'm going to talk about Viking Warrior-Women
were they real? (yes)
as I've told you before, there are historical facts
and then historical facts proven by sciences
there was always this idea of viking women fighting alongside men
fearsome female warriors in poetry and in the sagas
For instance, we have the famous Freydís Eiríksdóttir
the daughter of Erik the Red
She appears in the Sagas of the Greenlanders as a fearsome warrior
with masculine physical features
and a lot of people died due to her schemes
and she even fought the North-American natives
But there were no certainties that she even existed
We have always heard about warrior women in the ancient Scandinavian societies
especially during the Viking Age
but the truth is, there were no palpable evidences that they were real
that the women in these societies were warriors or could be warriors
it's like when you have an idea, you spread it so much that all of a sudden everyone is talking about it as if it were true and becomes a fact
but...
fortunately nowadays
and this is a recent discovery
there are physical evidences that viking warrior women really existed
all thanks to archaeology, physical anthropology and genetics
So now we can say with certainty that women in ancient Scandinavian societies could be warriors
Women were very active within ancient Scandinavian societies
for instance...
unlike Iceland where men were more active in activities related to witchcraft
especially Galdr
in mainland Scandinavia
Seidr -
– witchcraft, rune-magic, divination and so on -
- was the province of women
Women also took care of the household and the farmstead when men were away raiding
they could even get divorced
and if their husband was killed they could take their place, their sit, in the Thing (the assembly of the community)
having a very active role in politics
But when there were kids to take care of
their mothers were in charge of teaching them the arts of war
Mothers would teach their kids how to use the bow and arrow, the shield, sword, axe and spear
so women knew the Scandinavian medieval martial arts
With this knowledge in fighting and using weapons
why not try their luck like men?
so... I'm sure taking care of the farmstead was a dull business
and being at the assembly probably quite boring
so why not explore the world, discover new places
meet new people and kill them
rob them of their properties?
Archaeological evidences of warrior graves are numerous
especially during the Viking Age period of Northern Europe
and in the Viking town of Birka, in nowadays Sweden
was the key centre of trading between the 8th and 10th centuries
There is a great number of graves distributed over large burial grounds encircling the town area
Of course, graves not only for warriors but other town's folk
but there is a specific area just for the garrison of this town
and in this area were found the deceased warriors
The graves in this area contained all manner of objects linked to the activities of warriors
The grave goods included :
swords, axes, spears, armour-piercing arrows, battle knifes, shields, well . . .
the complete equipment of professional warriors
Some graves even had horses
and horses already indicate high-ranking officers
One of these high-ranking officers was a woman
scientists came to the conclusion after osteological and genetic tests
Now the question is, do weapons found in graves necessarily determine a warrior?
There is a variety of archaeological findings of viking-women buried with weapons and they weren't necessarily warriors
But this one in particular not only had all the equipment a warrior needs
also had horses
Two horses, as I've said
Horses weren't easy to come by
and it was extremely expensive to own one horse, let alone two
Horses were also chosen to be the sacrificed animals when it came to funerary rituals for someone of great importance
extreme importance really
but...
that depends on the context
In this context we are talking about
these two horses show us that they were worthy of an individual with responsibilities concerning strategy and battle tactics
Of course there is the Oseberg ship case
where two women were buried with a great number of horses
but on that context we are in the presence of something completely different and unique
which I would love to talk about on another video someday
and now you ask
what about signs of trauma in the skeleton which indicate that the individual was a warrior?
wel...
I must say that the skeletal remains of this female warrior did not exhibit signs of trauma
But weapon-related wounds are not that common
actually, during the Viking Age
traces of violent trauma are more common in mass burials
so it's more likely to find graves for a single warrior
with little or no traces of trauma
and, well... not every weapon hits the bones
and leaves a mark, so...
we have to take in mind that there is a lot of flesh and muscle to slice and people can die from it
Well, this goes beyond my professional knowledge
as an archaeologist I know a bit of
theoretical physical anthropology
and a tiny, tiny, tiny bit of genetics
but that work is left to the scientists who really know about this stuff
and they say this skeleton belonged to a woman
and we can be certain it did
now...
is this the only female warrior of the ancient Scandinavian society?
well... of course not
Till now the idea was that men were the warriors
and no one really went to the trouble of properly study the osteological remains
to see the gender
and this woman was not only a warrior, but a highranking officer
so if women could have such a high statues in the military field
certainly they could be warriors
In conclusion
female Viking warriors were part of a society that dominated from the 8th to the 10th century of northern Europe
and now with certainty we can say that women were full members of this society
being very active in every field
Alright friends, thank you so much for wathcing
if you have any question for me, please feel free to ask
and I will try to answer all of your questions as soon as I can
once again thank you so much for watching, see you on the next video and as always...
tack för idag! (thank you for today!)
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