Nevertheless, she did eventually marry Sweyn Forkbeard to gain his connections and power. This, apparently to discourage any future suitors. But rather than give up her power, she invited both men to her hall, got them drunk, and then burned down the hall with them inside. Sigrid was courted by both Harald Grenske or Norway and Vissavald of the Kievan Rus Vikings. When he died, she decided that rather than marry quickly to secure a new king for the country, she would rule alone. Sigrid, also known as Sigrid the Proud, was the wife of the Swedish king Erik the Victorious. Rings in the VKNG Collection Sigrid Tostadottir There is a memorial stone for Thyra at Jelling in Denmark, which describes her as the Pride of Denmark. On at least one occasion she is described as leading the warriors of Norway in an expedition against the Germans. She is said to have been just as ferocious as her husband on the battlefield and the real brain behind the throne (her husband not generally considered to be very intelligent). Thyra was the wife of King Gorm the Old of Denmark and the mother of Harald Bluetooth. But it seems that Lagertha was unwilling to leave her own lands to follow Ragnar to Denmark, and the two separated.īut later, when Ragnar needed help to quell a civil war, it was Lagertha that came to his aid with 120 ships or fearsome Vikings, which she led herself. Ragnar was understandably smitten, and the two married for a brief period. She is said to have turned the tide of the battle with her ferocity. She was one of a group of women that volunteered to fight alongside him to avenge the death of his grandfather. Lagertha is famous as the woman that saved the great Ragnar Lothbrok, twice. Let’s celebrate ten of these women with very short notes on how they made a name for themselves in history.
This historiographic tendency makes the Viking women who did manage to make a name for themselves in the history books even more impressive. But the fates are none of the female goddesses are recorded. Even the stories of the goddesses are lost.įor example, surviving versions of the Ragnarok prophecy record the fates of most of the male deities and giants, down to Hel’s guard dog Garm. In patriarchal societies with histories written by men about men, we often lose sight of the roles of women, grand and humble. It is a sad truth that until recent generations, most women have been obscured from history.
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