![]() In the process, this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women. Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, Valkyrie introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland, a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of roles carrying power, not just in this world, but pulling the strings in the other-world, too. The women in these stories take full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities, for better or worse. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war – to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World is a significant book. ![]() They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others. ![]() LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. But Valkyrie's emphasis on women's lives, based on an excellent collection of high quality data collected over the past century, offers a far more complex and ultimately compelling vision of the world of the Viking Era, roughly 800-1200 CE, when the climate of the North Atlantic was warmer than it is today (though this is, of course, changing. ![]()
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