Icelandic Vikings | We Will Rock You

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Meanderer said:

This giant gold ring was dropped by a giant Viking in Essex (link)​

The size and weight of the ring suggest that it was most likely worn by a man. It weighs over 32 grams and we know from X-ray fluorescence analysis at the British Museum that the metal is over 95% gold, the rest being silver and copper.

That’s fairly common for gold of this date, to be a good standard. Vikings were very concerned with the purity of the metal. On silver coins you sometimes find little nicks made with a knife blade where they were testing that they’d got decent quality silver.

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It’s got a little bit of damage – probably hit by a plough or something in the thousand years that it’s been buried – but it’s our policy to preserve the ring as found and not try to restore it to ‘as new’ condition.

The ring was made by twisting two strands of gold wire and then twisting these with two tapering gold rods to form a hoop. The thin ends of the rods and wires were joined at the back of the hoop by beating them together into a flat, diamond-shaped plate. The plate is decorated with tiny punched circles.
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This ring is beautiful! It's so large; I'm wondering if it's a thumb-ring.

The site looks interesting too. I'll go have a visit.
 

RadishRose said:
This ring is beautiful! It's so large; I'm wondering if it's a thumb-ring.

The site looks interesting too. I'll go have a visit.
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"In ancient Greece, only very powerful men or women would wear thumb rings as a sign of strength and dignity. In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin and yang come into play. It is believed that the yin (left) thumb ring represents self-confidence, and the yang (right) thumb ring represents flexible nature. Nowadays, the thumb ring is most often associated with willpower and masculinity. Many people believe that wearing a ring on the thumb means strength, freedom, independence and individuality".
 
https://theretiredviking.com/2017/09/28/viking-attitude/
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Live Fearless

Be Strong when others are weak

Be dangerous when others are threatening

Be gentle to those who are meek

Be loving to those closest to you

Get up again every time (every time) you fall

Never take defeat as the final answer

Glare back at challenges

Win before you ever set foot on the field

Be a champion

Live fearless… all day… every day…
 
Who are the Valkyries?

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A valkyrie (pronounced “VAL-ker-ee”; Old Norse valkyrja, plural valkyrjur, “choosers of the fallen”) is a female helping spirit of the god Odin.

To some extent, a tendency toward sanitization is present even in the later Old Norse sources, which focus on their love affairs with human men and their assisting Odin in transporting his favorites among those slain in battle to Valhalla, where they will fight by his side during Ragnarok.

Whether in their loving or bloodthirsty modalities, the Valkyries are best understood as part of the extensive and dynamic complex of shamanism that permeates pre-Christian Germanic religion.

https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/valkyries/

 
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They Never Wore Horned Helmets​

"There has never been any evidence discovered by archaeologists that would prove the Vikings wore horned helmets. However, they did wear skullcaps, which were obviously intended to protect their skulls from any impact".

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"The idea of the horned helmets came about during the 19th century, however, it was Richard Wagner’s cycle of four operas that implanted the horned helmet image into our imaginations. To this day, there are still many filmmakers, cartoonists, and artists who continue to keep this myth alive".
 

Oldest Viking settlement possibly unearthed in Iceland​

"Archaeologists have unearthed what may be the oldest Viking settlement in Iceland".

"The ancient longhouse is thought to be a summer settlement built in the 800s, decades before seafaring refugees are supposed to have settled the island, and was hidden beneath a younger longhouse brimming with treasures, said archaeologist Bjarni Einarsson, who led the excavations".

"The younger hall is the richest in Iceland so far," Einarsson told Live Science. "It is hard not to conclude that it is a chieftain's house." (read more)

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The oldest of the two Viking longhouses at Stöð dates from around A.D. 800, several decades before the commonly accepted date of the settlement of Iceland in A.D. 874. (Image credit: Bjarni Einarsson)

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The youngest of the two longhouses contained the most valuable horde of objects ever found in Iceland and was probably the hall of a Viking chieftain. (Image credit: Bjarni Einarsson)
 
Also from Live Science-
Warrior Woman
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(Image credit: Drawing by Tancredi Valeri; Copyright Antiquity Publications Ltd.)
In 2017, a group of researchers in Sweden did a genetic analysis on the bones of a warrior Viking, long assumed to be male. However, the results showed that the individual had XX chromosomes, revealing that the deceased was, in fact, a woman.

There were so many questions about this discovery, that the researchers just published a new study that delved deeper into the finding. Here is an illustration of what the female warrior may have looked like. The clothing details are based, in part, on material found within the burial chamber, the researchers said.
 

Viking Gender Roles (link)​

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This probably never happened.

"Most importantly in a Viking Age context, however, there’s no evidence that women ever fought in battle; as far as we can tell, this was left entirely to men.[8][9][10] Only men could become warriors and travel to lands far from their farms with their warband to fight on behalf of the warband’s leader. The only thing women did on a Viking Age battlefield was flee so they wouldn’t be raped by the victorious army.[11]"

"(Note: those who believe that a recent archaeological find proves the opposite should see here and here.)"

"Some people have hoped to find in the warlike valkyries a mythical image of female warriors that had some counterpart in historical reality. But the historical, human counterpart of the valkyries wasn’t female warriors.[12] Rather, it was sorceresses, who used magic with the intent of influencing the outcome of battle but didn’t physically participate in it.[13]"
 
Yes the Valkyrie were only choosers of which of the dead got to be with Odin.

But the body they found buried as a warrior was proven to be a woman. well, at least according to the article.

As far as Judith Jesch and the other article, I say Bah, dang it! Hahahaha
 
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RadishRose said:
Yes the Valkyrie were only choosers of which of the dead got to be with Odin.

But the body they found buried as a warrior was proven to be a woman. well, at least according to the article.

As far as Judith Jesch and the other article, I say Bah, dang it! Hahahaha
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There are two links in bold that address the finding of the bones, (in the 1800's) and the exact location these sacks of bones were found.
"(Note: those who believe that a recent archaeological find proves the opposite should see here and here.)"
 
Meanderer said:
There are two links in bold that address the finding of the bones, (in the 1800's) and the exact location these sacks of bones were found.
"(Note: those who believe that a recent archaeological find proves the opposite should see here and here.)"
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I read over your links. My opinion of them was jokingly "Bahh". LOL, I just wanna believe the body was female. After all, I named my dog Boudica, the Warrior Queen back when the Romans were in Britain.

iu
 
RadishRose said:
I read over your links. My opinion of them was jokingly "Bahh". LOL, I just wanna believe the body was female. After all, I named my dog Boudica, the Warrior Queen back when the Romans were in Britain.

iu
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(Link): "As with all social norms everywhere, there were exceptions; there were a few individual Norse men and women who acted against their society’s gender norms. Some of them even don’t seem to have been looked down upon by the wider society for it. But so as to not have this article turn into an entire book, we’ll just be focusing on the widespread, general rules rather than the few exceptions".
 

10 Best Female Viking warrior in the history​

November 1, 2019 by Richard Marrison

"The standard history popularized in the 19th Century tells us that only men were Viking Warriors. They did trading, fought wars, and treated women in a poor manner.
But, Norse mythology and now science tells us differently.
History does teach us that Norse women were much more liberated than other women at that time. They had the chance to enjoy social freedom".

"They could own property, conduct business, get a divorce, and gain custody of their children. And, Norse folklore and mythology claim that women were also fierce warriors. Poems and stories feature weapon-wielding women called shield maidens".

"The female Vikings are mostly mentioned by Snorri Sturluson in the 12th and 13th Century Iceland Sagas. And, some are mentioned in the writings of historical and semi-historical writers".

Here are the top 10 female Viking warriors in descending order:

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Conclusion:

"Despite all of the details about these warrior women, female Vikings or their sagas, are taken as unrealistic events. They are considered as the events of magics or myths which cannot be relied upon".

"Though it is believed that there are no or very little scientific pieces of evidence of the existence of strong, courageous female warriors, goddesses, Vikings, or deities in the present day. We could still find various mythology or literature about them in the past".

"As we go with the literature of the ancient civilization, there were deities with powers. Such as Minerva, Fortuna: who could tell about the luck of a person. The homes of the Vikings were managed by the skill work of women".

"Wars during the Viking age were basically fought using axes, swords, and spears. Women somehow were compelled to take part in such wars with weapons of their comfort".

"Even after the Evolution of Christianity that started denying women’s rights and equality. Warriors like Brynhild or Hervor were worshipped by women doing household works, thinking that even women could be so courageous and powerful compared to males".
 
Meanderer said:

10 Best Female Viking warrior in the history​

November 1, 2019 by Richard Marrison

"The standard history popularized in the 19th Century tells us that only men were Viking Warriors. They did trading, fought wars, and treated women in a poor manner.
But, Norse mythology and now science tells us differently.
History does teach us that Norse women were much more liberated than other women at that time. They had the chance to enjoy social freedom".

"They could own property, conduct business, get a divorce, and gain custody of their children. And, Norse folklore and mythology claim that women were also fierce warriors. Poems and stories feature weapon-wielding women called shield maidens".

"The female Vikings are mostly mentioned by Snorri Sturluson in the 12th and 13th Century Iceland Sagas. And, some are mentioned in the writings of historical and semi-historical writers".

Here are the top 10 female Viking warriors in descending order:

Veborg.jpg

Conclusion:

"Despite all of the details about these warrior women, female Vikings or their sagas, are taken as unrealistic events. They are considered as the events of magics or myths which cannot be relied upon".

"Though it is believed that there are no or very little scientific pieces of evidence of the existence of strong, courageous female warriors, goddesses, Vikings, or deities in the present day. We could still find various mythology or literature about them in the past".

"As we go with the literature of the ancient civilization, there were deities with powers. Such as Minerva, Fortuna: who could tell about the luck of a person. The homes of the Vikings were managed by the skill work of women".

"Wars during the Viking age were basically fought using axes, swords, and spears. Women somehow were compelled to take part in such wars with weapons of their comfort".

"Even after the Evolution of Christianity that started denying women’s rights and equality. Warriors like Brynhild or Hervor were worshipped by women doing household works, thinking that even women could be so courageous and powerful compared to males".
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Wow @Meanderer you did a lot of work to post all this. I really loved all of the stories about them. Thank you so much for bringing this!

I almost began reading the next group about female Russians also one of my favorites. I have saved the site for later reading.

Thanks again for taking the time to research and post!
 


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