3 Comments
May 26, 2023·edited May 26, 2023Liked by shieldmaidenpdx

It seems likely that there was the occasional woman warrior as there were in other early medieval cultures.

However they were not militarily significant in numbers, nor could they be in practical warfighting terms.

A warrior has to engage in war and Viking warfare involved a large amount of shield wall fighting, it was the standard of battle and all warriors had their place in the wall. Preference to the lead ranks of the wall was given to the strongest, most experienced and heaviest armed men because the initial clash often decided the battle. Your enemy was certainly going to bring their best and if you didn't match that you would be crushed.

Simply put, a large number of women warriors in the shield wall would weaken the wall. You would lose battles.

It's simple and obvious military logic. Anything else is fantasy.

Expand full comment