"Well-illustrated, closely argued and fascinating." - "Guardian". This is the first book-length study in English to investigate what women did in the Viking age, both at home in Scandinavia and in the Viking colonies from Greenland to Russia. Evidence for their lives is fragmentary, but Judith Jesch assembles the clues provided by archaeology, runic inscriptions, place names and personal names, foreign historical records and Old Norse literature and mythology. These sources illuminate different aspects of women's lives in the Viking age, on the farms and in the trading centres of Scandinavia, abroad on Viking expeditions, and as settlers in places, such as Iceland and the British Isles. "Women in the Viking Age" explores an unfamiliar aspect of medieval history and offers a new perspective on Viking society, very different from the traditional picture of a violent and male-dominated world. Judith Jesch is Reader in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham.
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Archaeology, runic inscriptions, onomastics, foreign historical sources, art history, and Old Norse literature and mythology illuminate different aspects of women's lives in the Viking age - on the farms and in the trading centres of Scandinavia, abroad on Viking expeditions, and as settlers in places such as Iceland or the British Isles; the study is therefore a valuable corrective the usual view of the Scandinavian raider-warriors and merchants who emerged on the European scene in the late 8th century. Archaeological evidence brings us into close physical contact with Viking age women, their dress, work and daily life. Runic inscriptions and literary texts allowing us to hear the authentic voice of women in the Viking age are studied in detail. History, art, myth and literature further demonstrate the differing perceptions of Viking age women by their male contemporaries in Scandinavia and in the countries affected by Viking activity, as well as the romantic myths of medieval Icelandic literature - the Norse sagas - responsible for modern views of Viking women. This survey of women's history covers most aspects of the Viking age.
It should also serve as a useful general introduction to the period. Detailed notes and a full bibliography are included.
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