What evidence, both archaeological and literary, do we have for female Viking warriors?
In 1878, on the Swedish isle of Birka, an archaeologist unearthed a Viking warrior seated on a saddle surrounded by weapons. For over 100 years, this burial, numbered Bj581, was considered the ultimate Viking warrior’s grave. In 2017, DNA tests proved the bones were female.
Five years earlier, in 2012, near the village of Hårby in Denmark, an intricately detailed figurine of gilded silver, about an inch tall, in the shape of a woman carrying a sword and shield was discovered. Similar depictions have been found throughout northern Europe.
These archaeological finds mirror the dozens of women warriors found
