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Women in the Viking Age

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Through runic inscriptions and behind the veil of myth, Jesch discovers the true story of viking women.Well-illustrated, closely argued and fascinating. GUARDIANThis is the first book-length study ...
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  • 24 October 1991
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Through runic inscriptions and behind the veil of myth, Jesch discovers the true story of viking women.

Well-illustrated, closely argued and fascinating. GUARDIAN

This is the first book-length study in English to investigate what women did in the Viking age, both at home in Scandinavia and in the Viking colonies from Greenland to Russia. Evidence for their lives is fragmentary, but Judith Jesch assembles the clues provided by archaeology, runic inscriptions, place names and personal names, foreign historical records and Old Norse literature and mythology. These sources illuminate different aspects of women's lives in the Viking age, on the farms and in the trading centres of Scandinavia, abroad on Viking expeditions, and as settlers in places such as Iceland and the British Isles. Women in the Viking Age explores an unfamiliar aspect of medieval history and offers a new perspective on Viking society, very different from the traditional picture of a violent and male-dominated world.

JUDITH JESCH is Reader in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham.
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Price: $29.99
Pages: 248
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Boydell Press
Publication Date: 24 October 1991
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9780851153605
Format: Paperback
BISACs: HISTORY / Europe / Medieval, European history: medieval period, middle ages, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, HISTORY / Europe / Spain, Archaeology
REVIEWS Icon
Well-illustrated, closely argued and fascinating.

A coherent, tangible and convincing picture of the age as a whole.

This excellent study gives a thorough and learned survey of the subject of the title, assembling evidence from a wide range of sources.

A fine example of the interdisciplinary nature of both viking and women's studies... the study demonstrates the author's mastery of an impressive array of linguistic and methodological tools.

A lively and compelling book...the author's particular strengths lie in her study of literature. Judith Jesch has captured the spirit of Viking women. Her book is a fitting tribute to them.