What Are Women's Roles In The Viking Age?

Ravagers, Pirates, pagans: These words sums up the Vikings for the people who lived in europe during medieval times. Although the Vikings are seen as barbaric fighters, they brought many important technological inventions and had many achievements that made a great impact on european culture. The Vikings had great achievements in technology on a wide range of things, one of which is their weapon crafting skills. They were able to craft swords, spears, javelins, battle-axes, knives, bows, arrows, shields, and body armor with intricate designs (Lamoureux).

Stereotypical women in the Dark Ages was controversial because they were treated with idolatry and reverence, but were not respected as capable members of the human race. Much of the chivalric code that knights prided themselves on was based on the assumption that women could not achieve much for themselves, and therefore, men had to accomplish it for them. However, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight demonstrates that women possessed the ability to achieve their demands and utilize their influence however they desired. Morgan le Fay, Guinevere, and Lady Bercilak reveal that the accurate power of women is accomplishing their goals by any means necessary, including deceiving men, even in Camelot, a society ruled by men.

Pugh claims that ‘People had simply changed their minds in the sense that male prejudice against women had melted in face of revelations about their capabilities during wartime and their contribution to war effort’. Pugh’s view has somewhat strong validity because women were able to move away from stereotypical roles as they took on male jobs and endured the horrible work conditions and pay - this helped support their country showing patriotism and shifting society’s mindset. This can be supported as on factories and farms it was usually calculated that it would need three women to do the work of two men. Statistics support this claim as the number of women employed was between 1-2 million, this was impacted by the help of the Women’s War Register providing employment. However, not all views were changed as some employers made agreements with unions promising to protect skilled men’s jobs after the war; portraying traditional views of women were still present - they were still expected of maintaining their ‘wife and mother’ role.

While Viking warriors were fierce fighters that didn’t fear death or the cut of a blade they had a more peaceful side. Norsemen believed in many Deities that stood for both great things such as the sea to rituals or objects that you see or do in everyday life. Some Deities include Baldur, God of Light, Freyja, Goddess of Abundance and Fertility, Frigga, Goddess of Marriage and Prophecy, Heimdall, Protector of Asgard, Hel Goddess of the Underworld, Loki, the Trickster, Njord, God of the Sea, Odin,

Women had a much higher level of recognition than in most other medieval societies. Any comparison of a Mongolian woman to an animal is extremely implausible and not supported by quality information. In fact, the Yassa, the major law codex of the empire, specifically prohibited treating women like property and other kinds of discrimination. Plural Marriage and having kept woman were allowed, but adultery in an official marriage was punished by death both for men and women. Children from concubines were often introduced into the family and allowed a share in inheritance.

One of these rough patches was the Articles of Confederation, which taught us that a balance of power is of great importance. We abandoned the Articles of Confederation and adopted a new Constitution because of State powers, and lack of Congressional powers. The fear of a Central Government like Great Britain led The United States away from having such a strong Central Government. So the States were given autonomy to make most decisions & have many powers under early American Government.

Women are greatly judged by their looks throughout the book. They believe that a woman is successful if any of her direct family have an important position (e.g. King, God) or is a heroic figure. Even though Athena and Calypso are very different, one evident similarity, is their ability to influence and control men. Athena greatly interferes in Telemachus’ and Odysseus’ lives by utilizing her intellect. Her power, influence and control on men can either be seen as a positivity or as a negativity.

They feared that the colonised countries would use the gained knowledge against them. Eastern Europe is aware of multiple nations and is proud of it, as Dracula explains, he is a proud Szekely in whose “veins flows the blood of many brave races.” (Stoker 33). Since they do not have a national identity, they are willing to blend their Otherness with other nations. England cannot accept the idea of a foreigner invading their own concept of nationality, beliefs and values.

In Anglo-Saxon culture, women had a variety of laws protecting them; thus, allowing them to own property, and it was forbidden to marry them without their consent. The Anglo-Saxons regarded men as the dominant gender in their society. One of the fundamental roles women executed in this society was to settle feuds through marriage; in result they were commonly known as peace-weavers. In addition, society labeled them as cupbearers since they served their lord, his kinsmen, and troops in mead halls. The unknown author of the epic poem “Beowulf” presents various female characters to depict the different roles and characteristics each performed and represented in Anglo-Saxon culture and society; these include queen Wealhtheow, Grendel’s mother, queen Hygd, Freawaru and Hildeburh.

Since artists portrayed themselves as having abilities of the gods, this made pagans believe that certain artists should be viewed as a god because of their creative and masterful works. " In pagan theologies, the very act of creativity is a form of worship, magic, and reverence" (Shakur para. 2). From this last source, pagans believed that creativity should be respected and honored. Creativity was held at high level for the pagans. When they observed an artist who had exceptional works, they believed that they were one of the gods.

In Greek epics, tragedies, and mythology women are portrayed in various ways. Women are mainly considered to be weak and less important than men, but there are some women who are shown to be strong and heroic, despite the reputation that was placed onto them in Ancient Greek civilizations. There were two particular women that were strong and took the roles of their husbands while the men left to fight in the Trojan War. These two women were Penelope, wife of Odysseus, and Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon. These two women were different in how they chose to rule while their husbands were at war and how they acted once they got back.