Leszek Gardeła - Women and Weapons in the Viking World: Amazons of the North

Published in the United States in 2021 by

CASEMATE PUBLISHERS

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OXBOW BOOKS

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Oxbow Books and the author 2021

Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-068-8

Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-63624-069-5 (epub)

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Front cover: Photo by Rebeca Franco Valle

In memory of

Sbjrg Walaker Nordeide

Contents

List of figures

Plate section

List of tables

Acknowledgements

This book is the final outcome of the most challenging and at the same time most rewarding project in my academic career so far. Originally entitled Amazons of the North: Armed Females in Old Norse Literature and Viking Archaeology , the project ran in the years 20182019 and was generously supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD P.R.I.M.E.) with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Union.

I spent the first year of the project at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion (AHKR) at the University of Bergen where I worked under the mentorship of Professor Sbjrg Walaker Nordeide, one of the leading Norwegian archaeologists and expert on the Viking Age. From the very beginning of my stay in Bergen, Professor Nordeides belief in me and my Amazons project gave me strength and confidence and guided me towards my goal. I remember always being in awe of her kindness and generosity, beautiful qualities which one does not witness often enough in todays world. The informal talks and seminars with other colleagues at the AHKR also contributed to the quality of my time in Norway and to the eventual shape of this book, and it is therefore my pleasure to give my sincere thanks to Randi Barndon, Heidi Lund Berg, Anne Drageset, Marte Mokkelbost and Joseph Ryder for their great companionship. The image that graces the cover of this book was taken by Rebeca Franco Valle, a talented researcher and artist also from the AHKR, and I am deeply indebted to her for this outstanding work.

The year I spent in Bergen was a profoundly formative period when many things changed for the better in both my professional and private life. The outstandingly supportive and stimulating academic environment at the AHKR contributed immensely to my productivity, while the magnificent Nordic scenery I could see whenever I looked out the window of my cliffside apartment at Skivebakken kept me immersed in the atmosphere necessary to write a book about the Viking Age. These wonderful experiences will always remain in my heart.

After a year in the north, I returned to Germany the country that soon became my new home to commence the textual stage of my project at the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literatures at the University of Bonn. My host was Professor Rudolf Simek, with whom I had collaborated on a range of Viking-related projects before. Working with Professor Simek is always a great privilege and I will forever remain indebted to him for his kindness, enthusiasm and undying support. During my time in Bonn, I also had a number of opportunities to discuss my thoughts and findings pertaining to the Amazons project with my German colleagues and I wish to especially acknowledge the kind help and advice I received from my dear friend Matthias S. Toplak. Not only did he read the entire manuscript of this monograph ahead of its official submission but also provided many valuable comments which improved my arguments and the overall quality of the text. Over the last couple of years we have worked on a number of Viking projects and I look forward to many more in the future. I am also indebted to my family and international colleagues who have either read and commented on parts of this work or provided their good advice, support and encouragement: Joonas Ahola, Gunnar Andersson, Maths Bertell, Henrik Brinch Christiansen, Clare Downham, Mads Dengs Jessen, Matthias Egeler, Ann Kristin Engh, Marianne Hem Eriksen, Frog, Jhanna Katrn Fririksdttir, Igor Grewicz, Daniela Hahn, Wilhelm Heizmann, Dustin Arne Hemmerlein, Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, Judith Jesch, Kamil Kajkowski, Klaudia Karpiska, Tommy Kuusela, Mirosaw Kuma, Carolyne Larrington, Christina Lee, Charlotta Lindblom, Marianne Moen, Luke John Murphy, Simon Nygaard, Peter Pentz, Peter Vang Petersen, Neil S. Price, Ben Raffield, Keith Ruiter, Einar Selvik, Daniel Svborg, Trine Srben, Barbara Turzaska, Marianne Vedeler, Rolf Warming, Izabella Wenska, Howard Williams, Tom Vlasat, Jakub Zbrnek and Jan Zbrnek.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the whole team at Oxbow Books, especially Julie Gardiner, Felicity Goldsack, Declan Ingram and Jessica Scott for their excellent assistance and support during the process of producing this book.

Since I am one of those archaeologists who likes to take every opportunity to personally see and examine the archaeological finds they write about in their books and articles, I spent a substantial part of the Amazons project studying artefact collections in museums in Scandinavia and Germany. I thoroughly enjoyed these experiences and I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the curators at the University Museum of Bergen, Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, Archaeological Museum in Stavanger, Norwegian University of Science and Technology/NTNU Vitenskapmuseet in Trondheim, Historical Museum of Northern Jutland, Museum of Southwest Jutland and the Archaeological Museum Schloss Gottorf for making my research stays both pleasant and fruitful. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the kind help of Hanne Lovise Aannestad, Torben Trier Christiansen, Zanette Tsigaridas Glrstad, Torkel Johansen, Terje Masterud Hellan, Volker Hilberg, Brita Hope, Mari Hgestl, Birgit Maixner, Mette Hjmark Svs, Morten Svs and Melanie Wrigglesworth.

Presenting new discoveries and ideas at seminars and international conferences is a hugely important part of the academic lifestyle. In that regard, the years 20182019 were remarkably intensive for me, as I took part in over a dozen scholarly events in Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. I should like to express my thanks to their organisers and participants for the constructive critique and advice they gave me and for reassuring me that the path I decided to take with this project was really worth pursuing.

There have also been other stimulating developments in my professional life arising from the Amazons of the North project which have helped me to fulfil my childhood dreams of becoming involved with historical movie production. In 2018, I was invited to present the results of my ongoing academic work in two documentaries focusing on Viking Age women. Originally filmed for the Travel Channel ( Legends of the Lost ) and the Smithsonian Channel ( Viking Warrior Women ), they are now widely available on various media platforms around the world. Although I had previously appeared in traditional and online media, these were actually my first experiences with full-scale TV productions and I owe deep thanks to Lauren Deuterman, Sebastian Peiter and their teams for introducing me to the exciting nuances of professional movie making. In 2019, I was also invited to appear as an expert in a National Geographic documentary on Viking Warrior Women and in a special programme for the Swedish Television (SVT) called Vetenskapens Vrld , both of which provided further opportunities to hone my skills in presenting archaeology to the wider public. In the course of the Amazons project I was also interviewed by a number of international newspapers and recorded two podcasts on women and weapons for Medievalists.net and The History of Vikings. My cordial thanks go to Danile Cybulskie and Noah Tetzner for their friendly and very professional approach. In the meantime with the expert help of my fianc Mira Fricke I also produced a short video portraying my museum-based work in Norway. Mira also accompanied me on several fieldtrips to investigate the dramatically beautiful Viking Age landscapes of Scandinavia. I have very fond memories of all our travels.