Cool stuff.
” It is no longer tenable to ignore that occasionally, demonstrably female bodies were laid to rest with weapons and demonstrably male bodies with feminine article such as jewellery.”
http://thethegns.blogspot.se/2013/03/shield-maidens-and-cross-dressing.html
Originally shared by Elin Dalstål
Shield maidens were a real thing
Great article and discussion about findings of Viking graves with gender mixed grave goods and the other material and literal sources for the complex gender roles in Viking society
http://thethegns.blogspot.se/2013/03/shield-maidens-and-cross-dressing.html
http://thethegns.blogspot.se/2013/03/shield-maidens-and-cross-dressing.html
I think the quote is a fairly conservative phrasing. Yes, of course, the ratio wasn’t 50-50, for obvious cultural, historical, economical, religious, biological, traditional, etc etc reasons.
But cross-dressing, female soldiers or military leaders, and mixed gender roles have “occasionally, demonstrably” existed in many cultures throughout history with a fair amount of regularity. We have had other forms of evidence for a while. There’s this weird notion that these are all modern, liberal and decadent inventions. But it is this rigidly sexist society that we had to grow up that is an artefact of modernity if anything.
Not to say that the past wasn’t full of rigidly defined roles. Sagas is very much about the suffocating nature of those. But they were still more fluid than we’d expect.
Still, cool article and it’s great that these things are coming to light giving the argument additional weight.
My thoughts exactly!