Mary Wilhelmine Williams
1920
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NOTE |
Mary Wilhelmine Williams (1878–1944) was an American scholar and feminist who wrote a number of works on Latin American and European history. He Social Scandinavia in the Viking Age (1920) offered a lengthy feminist treatment of the role of women in medieval Viking culture, anticipating by a century modern views of Scandinavian women. In 2018, Legends of the Lost with Megan Fox presented an episode recapping Williams's argument, virtually point for point and stringing recent archaeological discoveries onto a framework Williams had pioneered from historical sources.
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CHAPTER VII
POSITION OF WOMEN
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Thore, Enraade’s brother, erected this stone in memory of his mother and sister, good women. The death of the mother is the greatest misfortune for the son.
From an ancient rune stone. |
The Scandinavian women of the early Middle Ages were the product of the time in which they lived; into their mental composition went much of the strength and freedom of the Viking North. For though they were legally under guardianship to some male member of their family practically the whole of their lives, and though matrimony at the time involved unusual risks, they nevertheless enjoyed more independence than any other women of contemporary Europe. In the intense life of the period they played a leading part, and their qualities made them worthy of the roles allotted to them. Like the goddesses of their mythology, they were well developed, all-round women. Since there was but little difference in the mental training of the two sexes, each could find intellectual companionship in the other. For they were not, during the heathen period, shut out from communion with the men, as were the women of the Athenian world, and looked into the kitchen and nursery—forcibly doomed to isolation in the “quiet world of home.” Instead, they lived in such close fellowship with their men folk that the aims and ideals of the latter largely colored their own lives. They, therefore, represented what is commonly known as the “masculine” type of womanhood, which is, after all, only a well-developed human type.
Since it was customary for all women to take part in the various activities making up the life of their time, even the most energetic of them and the most “advanced” were honored and respected, if they were women of worthy character. In this regard, the North contrasted especially well with classical Greece, where a woman, in order to preserve the esteem of others, was forced to remain strictly at home, since those who mingled with the men and shared their interests—which were only human interests—were likely to be classed as “bad.” [1]
But while possessing the strength and courage making them worthy sisters, wives, and mothers of the warriors who terrorized Christendom during three centuries, they also displayed qualities generally classed as feminine —tenderness, self-sacrificing love, loyalty, and devotion. Many a Scandinavian mother saved her new-born child from the death to which its father had condemned it; and there are repeated instances of wives and daughters who perished with the men of the family when their home was set afire by an enemy, preferring death with to life without them; and also of women who harbored and cared for their outlawed men folk, in defiance of the law, or chose voluntary exile with them.
In view of the time, the women were deferred to and protected to a remarkable degree. Custom demanded that they be permitted to leave a house about to be burned, and they were the first to be removed from a sinking vessel. [2] The honor, at least of the well-born girl, was jealously guarded by her male relatives; any wrong done her was promptly avenged; and in the early Christian days, if not before, there were laws in most of the provinces for inflicting punishment upon men insulting or otherwise wronging women. The legislation of the island of Gotland in this regard was particularly praiseworthy. [3] In general, women were also the equals of men before the law, the chief exceptions being the discrimination shown against them in the matters of divorce and inheritance; but in the latter case the partiality shown their brothers was probably more apparent than real, for it seems likely that in many parts of the North the difference was made up by the amount which they received for their dowers.
Because of the respect which the men had for their opinions, the women wielded great influence in warfare, whether on the foreign battle-field, or at home in following up a feud. Sometimes they exerted themselves in behalf of peace, but more frequently they urged the men on to fighting, for they seem to have been even more resentful than the latter of all violation of family honor; and many a feud which doubtless would have died out of itself was kept burning through the efforts of the women. “The women at home shall never be told that I sought shelter from sword-strokes,” sang Hjalmar in his death song, “nor shall the fair, wise-hearted lady in Sigtown ever hear that I flinched.’’ [4] And,’’ Never,’’ cried the mother in the Volsunga, “shall the maidens mock these my sons at the games, and cry out at them that they fear death.” [5]
With the opening of the Viking Age came an improvement in the condition of the women and a general exaltation of their status. They now had a freedom, never possessed before, to be themselves and to develop naturally. In consequence, there was a new growth in individualism which is reflected in the strong, clear-cut female personalities portrayed in the sagas. Whether working for evil or for good, these women were determined and fearless, shrewd and resourceful, and when the issue turned against them, they faced defeat with proud self-control.
These forceful personalities were found throughout the North. The fragmentary records for continental Scandinavia afford glimpses of them here and there; but the sagas of Iceland furnish Women a whole gallery of portraits of interesting women, who, because of the frontier environment in which they lived, were, probably, on the whole, even more individual than their sisters farther east.
Two particularly interesting personalities from the continent may be mentioned,—Gyda, the daughter of King Eric of Hordaland in the present Norway, and Sigrid, mother of King Olaf of Sweden. Gyda is described as a “maiden exceeding fair, and withal somewhat high-minded.” The latter quality came out when King Harold Hairfair’s representative solicited her hand in matrimony for his master. The young princess is reported to have replied scornfully that she would not consider Harold for a husband until he had conquered the whole of Norway and brought it under his rule, as Eric had done in Sweden and Gorm in Denmark. The King’s messenger wished to punish the girl for her independence, but Harold was much struck with her reply and wondered that he had not thought of undertaking the conquest before. He accordingly vowed that he would not have his hair combed or cut until he should have brought under his dominion the Land of Norway, and he promptly proceeded to make war upon his neighbors so effectively that he soon had the whole country united under his control, and was able to claim the high-minded Gyda for his bride. But before these double aims were gained, the saga says, his hair had grown so long and thick as to win for him the nickname, Harold Hairfair. [6]
Queen Sigrid, “the wisest of women and foreseeing about many matters,” was annoyed by the persistence of two unwelcome wooers—the one, a ruler to the west of her son’s dominion, and the other, a sovereign in a small territory to the east—and determined to rid herself of them. Accordingly, in the night when the men, who had returned to plead their suits, were sleeping in the hall in her home, she had the building attacked with fire and sword, and all within were burned to death. “Said Sigrid hereat that she would weary these small kings of coming from other lands to woo her,” which caused her thereafter to be known as Sigrid the Haughty. [7]
Among the Icelandic women, one of the most clearly portrayed and of the least pleasing is Hallgerda, who plays a prominent part in the Njal Saga. She is the most conspicuous example of the strong women of the saga time who misdirected their energies and misused their talents. Proud, resentful, bad-tempered, extravagant and grasping, with a dislike for housekeeping and a fondness for brewing trouble, she was the cause of the murder of the first two of her three husbands, and had a large part in creating the feud which resulted in the destruction of Njal and his sons.
Signy, another wilful woman, but one less harmfully so, is amusing because so suggestive of many a latter-day matron, in her fondness for doing as she pleased. Desirous of making a visit to her kinsfolk, she asked her husband’s permission to do so, and he consented to her absence for half a month. But Signy ignored the limitation placed upon her stay and remained away the whole winter, letting her family get along as best it could without her while she made the most of her opportunity for enjoyment and “went to feasts at men’s houses.” [8]
Aud, wife of Thorthr, was an unlovely character representative of the somewhat “wild Western” mannish type that the frontier settlements in Iceland occasionally produced. She insisted upon wearing man’s trousers, for which cause her husband divorced her. But after being repudiated by Thorthr she determined upon revenge, donned the offending garments, and, arming herself with a sword, rode in the night time to where her former husband was staying, and, finding him in bed, wounded him with the weapon which she had brought. [9]
Another interesting woman of remarkable spirit was Thurithr, who showed herself unusually equal to a difficult emergency, caused by the fact that her husband deserted her and their child, leaving them without means of support. When she found that he had cast her off and was planning to take ship from Iceland, she took the baby and followed him to the harbor, boarded his ship, and found him upon it, asleep in his hammock. Placing the child beside its father, she helped herself to the man’s greatest treasure, his sword, which was believed to possess magical powers, and took her departure. The husband, wakened by the cries of the child, missed his sword and, suspecting the reason for its disappearance, rushed forward only to see his wife being rapidly rowed away in the boat in which she came. In spite of his commands and curses, the boat of Thurithr continued to make for the shore, and it later escaped the party sent in pursuit of it. The wronged wife presented the captured sword to a kinsman, and subsequently entered into a second marriage which proved more successful. What became of the unfortunate infant the saga fails to report. [10]
Thorberga, who was married to Njal, is an example of the loyal wife. When Njal’s enemies surrounded their home in preparation for burning it, she unhesitatingly chose to die with him.
The saga of Gisla presents an even more devoted wife in Auda, wife of the outlaw from whom the story takes its name. Long after her loyalty had first been tried, Eyjolf, an enemy of Gisla, handed Auda a bag of silver as a bribe to induce her to betray her husband. Another loyal relative, observing this, became alarmed and told Gisla, who replied, “Be of good heart; that will never be. My brave Auda will never betray me.” And Auda very promptly justified his faith in her by flinging the money into Eyjolf’s face, bidding him remember as long as he lived that a woman had beaten him. Later, when the pressure of his enemies forced Gisla to take refuge in a hiding place among the rocky cliffs, Auda still accompanied him; and when his pursuers found him here, she seized a club and beat back Eyjolf, the leader, whereupon Gisla remarked: “Long ago I knew I was well wedded, though I never knew I was so well wedded as I am.”
Asgerda, daughter of Egil Skalagrimsson, is, on the other hand, typical of the devoted daughter. She was married and living at a distance, but when she learned that her father, heart-broken over the death of his much-beloved son, was determined to end his own life by starvation, she promptly returned to her paternal home, and through the display of shrewd tact and tender affection, she succeeded in rousing in the old man the desire to live on in order to commemorate his son in song. [11]
Aud, sometimes called the Deep-Wealthy, was the most famous and most powerful of all of the women mentioned in connection with the settlement of Iceland. She was the widow of Olaf the Wealthy White who had ruled Dublin. After her father had died and her son had met his death in an attempt to conquer Scotland, Aud determined to move to Iceland, where two of her brothers were already living. In spite of the vigilance of her enemies in Scotland, she had a ship secretly built in the woods, escaped in it with several members of her family and a number of her freedmen, and started on the voyage northward. But, pausing on her way at various islands off the Scotch coast, she arranged influential marriages for her granddaughters. Upon reaching Iceland, she established her title to a large tract of land, some of which she parcelled out to relatives and other supporters. The remainder she kept for herself, and administered it so well that she was from the first recognized as a person of importance in the island. So noted was she for sound judgment and wise action that the men folk of her family quite willingly went to her for counsel.
When she felt old age and the end close at hand, Aud made her youngest grandson, Olaf, her heir, and arranged a marriage for him. Under her direction an elaborate wedding feast was provided and great numbers of guests were bidden to it. Aud was a large, tall woman, of queenly appearance as well as of action, and when she greeted her guests they noticed that, in spite of the burden of her years, she carried herself with her former stateliness. After greeting all courteously and seeing that they were properly served, she left the banqueting hall with a firm, quick step and retired to her bed. Upon the following day she did not appear at the usual time, and her grandson went to her sleeping-room. And there was Aud, propped against her pillow, dead. When Olaf returned to the hall and reported, all of the guests marveled greatly at the way in which their hostess had sustained her queenly dignity up to the very end. [12]
Widows, and the very occasional women not possessed of near male relatives, were the most independent. The latter, at least after they reached years of maturity, appear to have been quite without guardians; and the former were not under tutelege except in Iceland. With this one exception, throughout Scandinavia both classes could betroth themselves and care for their own property; and, hence, could carry on business transactions as freely as a man. [13]
But as regards the women legally under tutelage, it should be remembered that then, as now, the personal equation counted for much. Though the husband was the guardian of his wife, many men, while abroad, entrusted their wives with the administration of important financial matters, as well as with the supervision of large farms; and occasionally wives dominated their guardian-husbands to such a degree that the latter were well qualified for the modern “hen-pecked” class.
The kinds of work done a thousand years ago by Scandinavian women in connection with the home differed very little from their present-day occupations on Scandinavian farms. To them fell Connection lighter labor out of doors, such as helping with the with the hay-making, feeding and bedding the Home livestock, and milking the cows. If the family was wealthy, this work was performed by women slaves or servants; if poor, by the wife and daughters. Indoors, they had full charge of the house-work, cooking, mending, and sewing, as well as the care of the children; and in addition they had to serve the men, who required a great deal of waiting upon, as they do still in the country districts of the Scandinavian North. The women had not only to be in attendance at meal time, and to keep the men’s clothes clean and in order, but they also washed the men’s heads, scrubbed them in the bath, and pulled their clothes off for them at night when they retired. [14] And the women of Iceland still perform the last-named service. [15]
But other occupations were open to women besides those connected with household routine or farm work, and to these quite a large fraction gave a part or the whole of their time. A few of them had financial interests in ships engaged in foreign commerce; and they sometimes occupied themselves with direct trade at the local markets. [16] Some women were sculptors, or, at least, cutters of runes upon monumental stones. [17] Occasionally a woman became noted as a poet or skald, but it was quite unusual for them to take up poesy as a serious profession, as did the men. [18] Once in a while they were priestesses, and, as such, they took care of the temples and offered sacrifice. But work of this last sort was hardly likely to come to women except in a few cases when the man who built the place of worship did not desire to perform the religious duties himself. [19] In the early time—perhaps before the Viking Age—the military profession also was open to women; they were trained to handle arms, and some of them performed service upon the battle-field. The valkyriur, or Valkyries, the “choosers of the slain” of Northern mythology, were probably deified reflections of real warriors. Such women had the word hildr, meaning warfare or warrior, attached to their names as a mark of their calling, as Brynhild, Ashild, Svanhild. Later, in the viking time, when women were discouraged, or prohibited, from attempting to gain military glory, the professional significance of the word was disregarded, and “hild” names were borne by women, regardless of profession. [20]
Women in the above-mentioned occupations were quite exceptional, but there were two professions outside the home of which they had almost the monopoly; these were medicine and surgery, and witchcraft and prophecy. Women skilled in healing had the word laeknir, physician, attached to their names; and those versed in the occult used the word volva in the same manner. Representatives of both of these callings probably traveled through the community, or even through large districts, stopping wherever their services were required; but more often they were sought in their own homes, by, or in the interest of, the sick or wounded, or those seeking supernatural aid. Sometimes the “leech women” took the wounded away with them from the scene of battle and cared for them until well, thus turning their homes into private hospitals on a small scale. [21] And in those militant days women were perhaps much more frequently called upon to dress and care for cuts and stabs than to exercise medical knowledge in the cure of diseases.
Dabbling in magic was, in the heathen days, by no means frowned upon, unless used for evil purposes, for the gods themselves at times practiced sorcery; and the volva, because of her power, was probably more highly regarded than the woman who was a mere healer. It should be stated, however, that the two professions to some extent overlapped, for the laeknir often resorted to magical devices for effecting cures. [22]
It has been stated that the Viking Age elevated the status of the Scandinavian women. It is no less true that this period also eventually brought about their degradation in some respects, and a restriction of some of the liberties upon the which had been theirs. This change was to some extent due to the fact that the women abused some of their new privileges, which their lack of experience prevented them from appreciating. But the stronger transforming influence doubtless came through contact with southern lands, where two things inclined the Northern men to less respect for women in general,—their own with the rest. The one was the inferior character of the women of the Roman world, who suffered from the taint of Imperial decay; the other, and more powerful, was certain of the teachings of the Christian church—largely based upon the writings of Saint Paul—which changed the attitude of the men of Christendom towards women. And the heathen men from Scandinavia gradually followed the examples of the men in the south; thus the curse arising from the leading part played by Eve in the tragedy of the “fall of man” descended upon the women of the Northland even while they were still pagan. [23]
The poetic compositions of the later viking time reflect this decline of respect towards them; they are represented, in a manner suggestive of Solomon’s proverbs, as fickle and unstable:
“On a whirling wheel are their hearts shapen, [24]
And fickleness laid down in their breast,”
is the cynical view of one of the poets of the period. And though the actual adoption of Christianity again brought some ameliorating changes—especially in protecting the wife against rival women—these were accompanied by various aggravating restrictions, particularly in Iceland, though here women had previously enjoyed unusual opportunities for self-expression and self-development. Much of the earlier freedom was now lost; the women were bound more closely to house and home; and if any wished an independent unmarried career, she could secure it only in the service of the church. This perhaps accounts for the fact that in the Christian Middle Ages we do not find so many strong female personalities in Scandinavia as during the pagan time. [25]
Since it was customary for all women to take part in the various activities making up the life of their time, even the most energetic of them and the most “advanced” were honored and respected, if they were women of worthy character. In this regard, the North contrasted especially well with classical Greece, where a woman, in order to preserve the esteem of others, was forced to remain strictly at home, since those who mingled with the men and shared their interests—which were only human interests—were likely to be classed as “bad.” [1]
But while possessing the strength and courage making them worthy sisters, wives, and mothers of the warriors who terrorized Christendom during three centuries, they also displayed qualities generally classed as feminine —tenderness, self-sacrificing love, loyalty, and devotion. Many a Scandinavian mother saved her new-born child from the death to which its father had condemned it; and there are repeated instances of wives and daughters who perished with the men of the family when their home was set afire by an enemy, preferring death with to life without them; and also of women who harbored and cared for their outlawed men folk, in defiance of the law, or chose voluntary exile with them.
In view of the time, the women were deferred to and protected to a remarkable degree. Custom demanded that they be permitted to leave a house about to be burned, and they were the first to be removed from a sinking vessel. [2] The honor, at least of the well-born girl, was jealously guarded by her male relatives; any wrong done her was promptly avenged; and in the early Christian days, if not before, there were laws in most of the provinces for inflicting punishment upon men insulting or otherwise wronging women. The legislation of the island of Gotland in this regard was particularly praiseworthy. [3] In general, women were also the equals of men before the law, the chief exceptions being the discrimination shown against them in the matters of divorce and inheritance; but in the latter case the partiality shown their brothers was probably more apparent than real, for it seems likely that in many parts of the North the difference was made up by the amount which they received for their dowers.
Because of the respect which the men had for their opinions, the women wielded great influence in warfare, whether on the foreign battle-field, or at home in following up a feud. Sometimes they exerted themselves in behalf of peace, but more frequently they urged the men on to fighting, for they seem to have been even more resentful than the latter of all violation of family honor; and many a feud which doubtless would have died out of itself was kept burning through the efforts of the women. “The women at home shall never be told that I sought shelter from sword-strokes,” sang Hjalmar in his death song, “nor shall the fair, wise-hearted lady in Sigtown ever hear that I flinched.’’ [4] And,’’ Never,’’ cried the mother in the Volsunga, “shall the maidens mock these my sons at the games, and cry out at them that they fear death.” [5]
With the opening of the Viking Age came an improvement in the condition of the women and a general exaltation of their status. They now had a freedom, never possessed before, to be themselves and to develop naturally. In consequence, there was a new growth in individualism which is reflected in the strong, clear-cut female personalities portrayed in the sagas. Whether working for evil or for good, these women were determined and fearless, shrewd and resourceful, and when the issue turned against them, they faced defeat with proud self-control.
These forceful personalities were found throughout the North. The fragmentary records for continental Scandinavia afford glimpses of them here and there; but the sagas of Iceland furnish Women a whole gallery of portraits of interesting women, who, because of the frontier environment in which they lived, were, probably, on the whole, even more individual than their sisters farther east.
Two particularly interesting personalities from the continent may be mentioned,—Gyda, the daughter of King Eric of Hordaland in the present Norway, and Sigrid, mother of King Olaf of Sweden. Gyda is described as a “maiden exceeding fair, and withal somewhat high-minded.” The latter quality came out when King Harold Hairfair’s representative solicited her hand in matrimony for his master. The young princess is reported to have replied scornfully that she would not consider Harold for a husband until he had conquered the whole of Norway and brought it under his rule, as Eric had done in Sweden and Gorm in Denmark. The King’s messenger wished to punish the girl for her independence, but Harold was much struck with her reply and wondered that he had not thought of undertaking the conquest before. He accordingly vowed that he would not have his hair combed or cut until he should have brought under his dominion the Land of Norway, and he promptly proceeded to make war upon his neighbors so effectively that he soon had the whole country united under his control, and was able to claim the high-minded Gyda for his bride. But before these double aims were gained, the saga says, his hair had grown so long and thick as to win for him the nickname, Harold Hairfair. [6]
Queen Sigrid, “the wisest of women and foreseeing about many matters,” was annoyed by the persistence of two unwelcome wooers—the one, a ruler to the west of her son’s dominion, and the other, a sovereign in a small territory to the east—and determined to rid herself of them. Accordingly, in the night when the men, who had returned to plead their suits, were sleeping in the hall in her home, she had the building attacked with fire and sword, and all within were burned to death. “Said Sigrid hereat that she would weary these small kings of coming from other lands to woo her,” which caused her thereafter to be known as Sigrid the Haughty. [7]
Among the Icelandic women, one of the most clearly portrayed and of the least pleasing is Hallgerda, who plays a prominent part in the Njal Saga. She is the most conspicuous example of the strong women of the saga time who misdirected their energies and misused their talents. Proud, resentful, bad-tempered, extravagant and grasping, with a dislike for housekeeping and a fondness for brewing trouble, she was the cause of the murder of the first two of her three husbands, and had a large part in creating the feud which resulted in the destruction of Njal and his sons.
Signy, another wilful woman, but one less harmfully so, is amusing because so suggestive of many a latter-day matron, in her fondness for doing as she pleased. Desirous of making a visit to her kinsfolk, she asked her husband’s permission to do so, and he consented to her absence for half a month. But Signy ignored the limitation placed upon her stay and remained away the whole winter, letting her family get along as best it could without her while she made the most of her opportunity for enjoyment and “went to feasts at men’s houses.” [8]
Aud, wife of Thorthr, was an unlovely character representative of the somewhat “wild Western” mannish type that the frontier settlements in Iceland occasionally produced. She insisted upon wearing man’s trousers, for which cause her husband divorced her. But after being repudiated by Thorthr she determined upon revenge, donned the offending garments, and, arming herself with a sword, rode in the night time to where her former husband was staying, and, finding him in bed, wounded him with the weapon which she had brought. [9]
Another interesting woman of remarkable spirit was Thurithr, who showed herself unusually equal to a difficult emergency, caused by the fact that her husband deserted her and their child, leaving them without means of support. When she found that he had cast her off and was planning to take ship from Iceland, she took the baby and followed him to the harbor, boarded his ship, and found him upon it, asleep in his hammock. Placing the child beside its father, she helped herself to the man’s greatest treasure, his sword, which was believed to possess magical powers, and took her departure. The husband, wakened by the cries of the child, missed his sword and, suspecting the reason for its disappearance, rushed forward only to see his wife being rapidly rowed away in the boat in which she came. In spite of his commands and curses, the boat of Thurithr continued to make for the shore, and it later escaped the party sent in pursuit of it. The wronged wife presented the captured sword to a kinsman, and subsequently entered into a second marriage which proved more successful. What became of the unfortunate infant the saga fails to report. [10]
Thorberga, who was married to Njal, is an example of the loyal wife. When Njal’s enemies surrounded their home in preparation for burning it, she unhesitatingly chose to die with him.
The saga of Gisla presents an even more devoted wife in Auda, wife of the outlaw from whom the story takes its name. Long after her loyalty had first been tried, Eyjolf, an enemy of Gisla, handed Auda a bag of silver as a bribe to induce her to betray her husband. Another loyal relative, observing this, became alarmed and told Gisla, who replied, “Be of good heart; that will never be. My brave Auda will never betray me.” And Auda very promptly justified his faith in her by flinging the money into Eyjolf’s face, bidding him remember as long as he lived that a woman had beaten him. Later, when the pressure of his enemies forced Gisla to take refuge in a hiding place among the rocky cliffs, Auda still accompanied him; and when his pursuers found him here, she seized a club and beat back Eyjolf, the leader, whereupon Gisla remarked: “Long ago I knew I was well wedded, though I never knew I was so well wedded as I am.”
Asgerda, daughter of Egil Skalagrimsson, is, on the other hand, typical of the devoted daughter. She was married and living at a distance, but when she learned that her father, heart-broken over the death of his much-beloved son, was determined to end his own life by starvation, she promptly returned to her paternal home, and through the display of shrewd tact and tender affection, she succeeded in rousing in the old man the desire to live on in order to commemorate his son in song. [11]
Aud, sometimes called the Deep-Wealthy, was the most famous and most powerful of all of the women mentioned in connection with the settlement of Iceland. She was the widow of Olaf the Wealthy White who had ruled Dublin. After her father had died and her son had met his death in an attempt to conquer Scotland, Aud determined to move to Iceland, where two of her brothers were already living. In spite of the vigilance of her enemies in Scotland, she had a ship secretly built in the woods, escaped in it with several members of her family and a number of her freedmen, and started on the voyage northward. But, pausing on her way at various islands off the Scotch coast, she arranged influential marriages for her granddaughters. Upon reaching Iceland, she established her title to a large tract of land, some of which she parcelled out to relatives and other supporters. The remainder she kept for herself, and administered it so well that she was from the first recognized as a person of importance in the island. So noted was she for sound judgment and wise action that the men folk of her family quite willingly went to her for counsel.
When she felt old age and the end close at hand, Aud made her youngest grandson, Olaf, her heir, and arranged a marriage for him. Under her direction an elaborate wedding feast was provided and great numbers of guests were bidden to it. Aud was a large, tall woman, of queenly appearance as well as of action, and when she greeted her guests they noticed that, in spite of the burden of her years, she carried herself with her former stateliness. After greeting all courteously and seeing that they were properly served, she left the banqueting hall with a firm, quick step and retired to her bed. Upon the following day she did not appear at the usual time, and her grandson went to her sleeping-room. And there was Aud, propped against her pillow, dead. When Olaf returned to the hall and reported, all of the guests marveled greatly at the way in which their hostess had sustained her queenly dignity up to the very end. [12]
Widows, and the very occasional women not possessed of near male relatives, were the most independent. The latter, at least after they reached years of maturity, appear to have been quite without guardians; and the former were not under tutelege except in Iceland. With this one exception, throughout Scandinavia both classes could betroth themselves and care for their own property; and, hence, could carry on business transactions as freely as a man. [13]
But as regards the women legally under tutelage, it should be remembered that then, as now, the personal equation counted for much. Though the husband was the guardian of his wife, many men, while abroad, entrusted their wives with the administration of important financial matters, as well as with the supervision of large farms; and occasionally wives dominated their guardian-husbands to such a degree that the latter were well qualified for the modern “hen-pecked” class.
The kinds of work done a thousand years ago by Scandinavian women in connection with the home differed very little from their present-day occupations on Scandinavian farms. To them fell Connection lighter labor out of doors, such as helping with the with the hay-making, feeding and bedding the Home livestock, and milking the cows. If the family was wealthy, this work was performed by women slaves or servants; if poor, by the wife and daughters. Indoors, they had full charge of the house-work, cooking, mending, and sewing, as well as the care of the children; and in addition they had to serve the men, who required a great deal of waiting upon, as they do still in the country districts of the Scandinavian North. The women had not only to be in attendance at meal time, and to keep the men’s clothes clean and in order, but they also washed the men’s heads, scrubbed them in the bath, and pulled their clothes off for them at night when they retired. [14] And the women of Iceland still perform the last-named service. [15]
But other occupations were open to women besides those connected with household routine or farm work, and to these quite a large fraction gave a part or the whole of their time. A few of them had financial interests in ships engaged in foreign commerce; and they sometimes occupied themselves with direct trade at the local markets. [16] Some women were sculptors, or, at least, cutters of runes upon monumental stones. [17] Occasionally a woman became noted as a poet or skald, but it was quite unusual for them to take up poesy as a serious profession, as did the men. [18] Once in a while they were priestesses, and, as such, they took care of the temples and offered sacrifice. But work of this last sort was hardly likely to come to women except in a few cases when the man who built the place of worship did not desire to perform the religious duties himself. [19] In the early time—perhaps before the Viking Age—the military profession also was open to women; they were trained to handle arms, and some of them performed service upon the battle-field. The valkyriur, or Valkyries, the “choosers of the slain” of Northern mythology, were probably deified reflections of real warriors. Such women had the word hildr, meaning warfare or warrior, attached to their names as a mark of their calling, as Brynhild, Ashild, Svanhild. Later, in the viking time, when women were discouraged, or prohibited, from attempting to gain military glory, the professional significance of the word was disregarded, and “hild” names were borne by women, regardless of profession. [20]
Women in the above-mentioned occupations were quite exceptional, but there were two professions outside the home of which they had almost the monopoly; these were medicine and surgery, and witchcraft and prophecy. Women skilled in healing had the word laeknir, physician, attached to their names; and those versed in the occult used the word volva in the same manner. Representatives of both of these callings probably traveled through the community, or even through large districts, stopping wherever their services were required; but more often they were sought in their own homes, by, or in the interest of, the sick or wounded, or those seeking supernatural aid. Sometimes the “leech women” took the wounded away with them from the scene of battle and cared for them until well, thus turning their homes into private hospitals on a small scale. [21] And in those militant days women were perhaps much more frequently called upon to dress and care for cuts and stabs than to exercise medical knowledge in the cure of diseases.
Dabbling in magic was, in the heathen days, by no means frowned upon, unless used for evil purposes, for the gods themselves at times practiced sorcery; and the volva, because of her power, was probably more highly regarded than the woman who was a mere healer. It should be stated, however, that the two professions to some extent overlapped, for the laeknir often resorted to magical devices for effecting cures. [22]
It has been stated that the Viking Age elevated the status of the Scandinavian women. It is no less true that this period also eventually brought about their degradation in some respects, and a restriction of some of the liberties upon the which had been theirs. This change was to some extent due to the fact that the women abused some of their new privileges, which their lack of experience prevented them from appreciating. But the stronger transforming influence doubtless came through contact with southern lands, where two things inclined the Northern men to less respect for women in general,—their own with the rest. The one was the inferior character of the women of the Roman world, who suffered from the taint of Imperial decay; the other, and more powerful, was certain of the teachings of the Christian church—largely based upon the writings of Saint Paul—which changed the attitude of the men of Christendom towards women. And the heathen men from Scandinavia gradually followed the examples of the men in the south; thus the curse arising from the leading part played by Eve in the tragedy of the “fall of man” descended upon the women of the Northland even while they were still pagan. [23]
The poetic compositions of the later viking time reflect this decline of respect towards them; they are represented, in a manner suggestive of Solomon’s proverbs, as fickle and unstable:
“On a whirling wheel are their hearts shapen, [24]
And fickleness laid down in their breast,”
is the cynical view of one of the poets of the period. And though the actual adoption of Christianity again brought some ameliorating changes—especially in protecting the wife against rival women—these were accompanied by various aggravating restrictions, particularly in Iceland, though here women had previously enjoyed unusual opportunities for self-expression and self-development. Much of the earlier freedom was now lost; the women were bound more closely to house and home; and if any wished an independent unmarried career, she could secure it only in the service of the church. This perhaps accounts for the fact that in the Christian Middle Ages we do not find so many strong female personalities in Scandinavia as during the pagan time. [25]
NOTES.
[1] Bajer, Fredrik, “Oldnordens Qvinde,” in Nordisk Månedskrift for Folkelig og Kristelig Oplyaning, Mar., 1871, p. 181.
[2] Origines Islandicae, II, 86; Gull-Thoris Saga, 34.
[3] Guta-Lagh, 47-49; Kong Erics Sjellandske Lov, 85.
[4] Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I, 161-162.
[5] p. 11.
[6] Saga Library, III, 93.
[7] Ibid., 286.
[8] Origines Islandicae, II, 51.
[9] Laxdoela, 99-101.
[10] Ibid., 84-87.
[11] Egils Saga, 257-259.
[12] Origines Islandicae, I, 76-85; Laxdoela, 7-13.
[13] Njála, 37-38, 74; Origines Islandicae, II, 605.
[14] Corpus Poeticum Boreale, II, 357; Origines Islandicae, II, 729.
[15] Hendersen, Ebenezer, Iceland, I, 114-115.
[16] Origines Islandicae, II, 608.
[17] Kermode, P. M. C, Manx Crosses, 90.
[18] Bugge, Die Wikinger, 74, 83.
[19] Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 46; Kålund, Familielivet på Island, 338.
[20] Bugge, Tforges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 218.
[21] Origines Islandicae, II, 552.
[22] For further consideration of these subjects see pp. 357-358.
[23] Bugge, Die Wikinger, 88-89; Weinhold, Altnordischea Leben, 256.
[24] Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I, 11.
[25] Bugge, Die Wikinger, 84; Du Chaillu, Viking Age, II, 1; Grágás, IV, 203; Origines Islandicae, II, 119.
[2] Origines Islandicae, II, 86; Gull-Thoris Saga, 34.
[3] Guta-Lagh, 47-49; Kong Erics Sjellandske Lov, 85.
[4] Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I, 161-162.
[5] p. 11.
[6] Saga Library, III, 93.
[7] Ibid., 286.
[8] Origines Islandicae, II, 51.
[9] Laxdoela, 99-101.
[10] Ibid., 84-87.
[11] Egils Saga, 257-259.
[12] Origines Islandicae, I, 76-85; Laxdoela, 7-13.
[13] Njála, 37-38, 74; Origines Islandicae, II, 605.
[14] Corpus Poeticum Boreale, II, 357; Origines Islandicae, II, 729.
[15] Hendersen, Ebenezer, Iceland, I, 114-115.
[16] Origines Islandicae, II, 608.
[17] Kermode, P. M. C, Manx Crosses, 90.
[18] Bugge, Die Wikinger, 74, 83.
[19] Bugge, Norges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 46; Kålund, Familielivet på Island, 338.
[20] Bugge, Tforges Historie, vol. I, pt. II, 218.
[21] Origines Islandicae, II, 552.
[22] For further consideration of these subjects see pp. 357-358.
[23] Bugge, Die Wikinger, 88-89; Weinhold, Altnordischea Leben, 256.
[24] Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I, 11.
[25] Bugge, Die Wikinger, 84; Du Chaillu, Viking Age, II, 1; Grágás, IV, 203; Origines Islandicae, II, 119.
Source: Mary Wilhelmine Williams, Social Scandinavia in the Viking Age (New York: Macmillan, 1920), 109-122.
