Viking Women Research Paper

“Most women had little control over the direction their lives took. Once widowed, they had autonomy over considerable financial resources” (Bovey). Women were weak and men had control over their whole lives unless they were widowed. “Women didn’t have political rights, and they didn’t get to choose if they got married or had children. Women didn’t have an education and only if they inherited land they would have the same rights as men” (C N). This was the only case where women had the same rights as men. This rarely occurred because not very many women inherited land, men usually inherited it. Women generally didn’t have an education, so there was little chance for them to be better than men or in a higher power. They were not allowed to know what men did so they were always at A disadvantage. “Women had to obey men but a lot of times they were treated well. Women were treated by their social rank” (Women During the Middle Ages). Not only did men control women, but women were also defined by their social rank. How much money they had determined when they got married, there clothes, there husbands, and where they lived. “Poor women lived in small houses. Wealthy women had servants to do everything for them” (Women in the Middle

Men fought their enemies and held great honor doing so. They hunted buffalo, deer, and other wild animals (Deloria 240). The men's main priority in life was to make sure his family was safe and well-cared for. He was the protector and provider of all things. Women packed the houses each times the camp moved; they guarded all belongings during the march. Once they stopped, the women were in charge of unpacking and setting up the tipi. They laid out all bedding, gathered firewood, brought water, cooked, passed out food, and took care of children (Deloria 240). It was the women's job to run the household. She prepared what the men provided to care for the family. “Men's and women's worlds were complementary, but very much compartmentalized.” (Deloria 241). Gender roles do not include just physical responsibilities, they are also thought processes and emotions. Dakota women were more concerned with the welfare and reputation of their brothers, children and husbands. They learned to honor themselves by honoring others first. They held traditions that are similar to what some women are taught today, such as, it is up to the man to pursue a relationship with a woman, to dress modestly so that men see you and not your body first, etc. While some may find these ideas as sexist, personally, I don't think they are. I think it is how culture has played a role in my life. It is what has been engraved in me and not because I am

The Vikings were a group of Scandinavian raiders that were around from about the 8th century to the 11th. They mainly attacked the British Islands , the Frankish empire, England, but they also plundered places such as the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa. Vikings did not always settle into the places that they found, for instance after exploring North America they left the place never to return again. Even so, after landing on Greenland they colonized themselves there, and ancestors of the Vikings still live there today. So now that you know a little about the history of the Vikings lets go into detail about the specifics of the Viking age. (Peter Sawyer, Oxford Ill. History of the Vikings p. 1-19)

Primarily, Vikings changed Europe from atrocity to pleasantry through the use of commerce and trade. Europe’s economy was transformed from an exchange system into a commercial trade economy. During the Viking Age, the Scandinavian economy was primarily a subsistence economy. Many families lived on small farmsteads, producing only enough to sustain that one family’s needs. The average citizens owned little to any luxury items. Men were usually in charge of the trading and marketing. Trading could be perilous due to the sea or vast land along with interactions with people whom are aliens, one must always be cautious. It is key to be agreeable to maintain friendship with all merchant men. Many use witnesses during purchases in case something goes wrong. It was ordinary for the men to occupy their merchant areas until about lunch, keeping all prices reasonable so they would be valued in the market. Learning laws came in handy when

Traditional historiographies and archaeological research perceived the Viking world as being dominated by men with the majority of studies being concerned with exploring the life and material culture of the male part of the society. There is no denying that archaeology is a discipline which has traditionally been deeply colored by a predominantly male bias, and the historical dominance of men over women had been accepted to such a degree that it appeared to be the natural order of things . Popular imagination was of male Viking warriors with their long beards, large axes, colorful shields, and bloodied swords. The presence of women was limited within the scope of early works. The historiographical study of women’s rights within the Viking Age is in its early stages. The academic fields of gender and women’s studies gained greater prominence beginning in the 1970’s, coinciding with the feminist movement. Early gender archaeology can be said to have been a search for women in the past, which was closely tied with the second wave feminism of the 60s and 70s . It is not surprising that the earliest practitioners in gender archaeology wanted to show that there were in fact women in the past, and that these women were not just important, they were just as important and integral to the development of cultures as their contemporary men.

The Vikings escaped from tyranny and fled Europe. They found and settled in Iceland and Greenland. They made expeditions to find new lands were others wouldn't dare go. If it wasn't for the Vikings, the world would be drastically change. Some lands might not have even been discovered or even inhabited. Thankfully, the Vikings were there so, they we could find them and discover new and precious metals and resources. That of which, the world uses and is grateful for today. Vikings really cherished time spent voyaging with their family and closest friends. One of the reasons their

The Vikings lived about one thousand years ago in the lands that we now call Iceland, Lapland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. To most people the Vikings were raiders that got in their longboats and sailed somewhere and then went from town to town killing and pillaging. This is not completely true, because the Vikings were also

3Daily life was different for all of the classes of Vikings because the slaves had almost no freedom as their owners could do what ever they wanted to them. The bonds man, which was a freed slave had many more freedoms and choices that they could make. Farmers were the most common kind of Viking and would plant the crops and take care of the cattle, the tenants owned and leased the farrm land, a free holder was a Viking who had held a piece of land for six generations, the chieftain owned 18 farms and lived in luxury, and the kings were later added in the Viking period

The vikings had their own groups of people which included landowning chieftains, freeman, and also young clan members who seeked over sea adventures. While the viking members were at home, they can be described as independent farmers, but at sea the vikings became raiders. During viking period it seemed as if the Scandinavians had a surplus amount of manpower that seems practically inexhaustible, who could organize warriors into conquering armies and bands. The bands negotiated the seas in their longships,also known as a viking ship, and mount raids on nearby cities and towns that were along the coast of Europe. Their brutal way of living and manpower earned them the name vikingr, or viking in old english, which was the name for a pirate in early Scandinavian language.

The Vikings were important in the Middle Ages. The warriors disrupted a lot of European countries. Europe benefited the attacks because it helped spead of tech. , trading and settling. Vikings were explorers and conquered lots of settlements throughout Europe. Vikings stated from the time they began their raids. In 793 the Vikings raided France. They killed lots of monks, destroyed churches and took treasures. The British were shocked and mad about these raids. Most of the raids were targeted to monasteries. The monasteries was place of learning and the raids disrupted the education in Europe. The Vikings broke up power structure in England and Scotland strengthing the Scots. According to

Viking history and culture have been depicted in many movies, television series, and stories. Vikings are commonly known as barbarians that raid villages and intimidate others with huge ships with dragon heads, and horned helmets. This information is based on facts, but has been distorted and exaggerated over many years and tales. Viking history spans from the years 780 until 1100, which is the time span of the Viking raids. Not every Scandinavian was a Viking; Vikings were known as the men that conducted raids and bloody battles. The old definition of Viking was synonymous with the term pirate. The modern definition is relevant to the Scandinavian medieval culture, to include farming, crafting and trading.

During the Early medieval period national armies had not been established, and as such armies were comprised of peasant levies. As previously mentioned women’s role was to look after a man’s estate and household while he was gone. While this is largely true for Pagan Scandinavia as well, exceptions to this rule, though uncommon, were frequent enough to note. Women were sometimes recording to forgo the typical role of women and become explorers, raider, and warriors alongside men. These women were typically unwed and younger.

During the Viking Age, Scandinavian men and women had already travelled to many regions of Europe and beyond Europe as well, in a cultural diaspora witch has left its touches from Newfoundland to Byzantium. By the late 11th century, royal families had been legitimized by the Catholic Church and begun asserting their prowess and might with of course extreme authority and determination, and the three famous empires of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had already got into shape. Towns seemed functioning as both secular and religious administrative centers and market places, and even the monetary economies had begun to arise being influenced upon the English and German prototypes. Christianity had occupied in the roots of Denmark and Norway with the

The Vikings spent most of their time raiding villages and killing people. They sailed very far distances in their longships to find land to raid. The Vikings mostly raided western and eastern parts of Europe. They also raided places like Greenland and Canada. While raiding the Vikings would basically kill anyone that got in their way and they would destroy villages completely. If you survived a Viking raid, you were extremely lucky. When the Vikings raided they would steal anything they could, including money, food, cattle and loot from churches. The Vikings would usually not leave places alone. Once they had raided them one time, they would do it again and keep stealing and killing. One famous raid that the Vikings did was in Northumbria, North-east England. Here the Vikings arrived in their longships and burned down buildings, murdered monks, stole things and frightened everyone. Apparently some of the Christian church leaders said

When you think of the Vikings, chances are you think of horned helmets, raids, and bloody battles. But on the other side of the spectrum, there are the women of Nordic culture. Women are mostly thought of as looking like Viking warriors fighting alongside their men. But that was hardly the case. In reality, women were important in many other ways. They were treated very differently than other women in different European cultures at that time.