Women in the Viking Age Book

Jesch seeks to illuminate the lives and roles of women in an era in which so much is said about the exploits of the men that the women seem to be an afterthought. She notes a surprising number of cases of women making appearancese in Viking-era culture, and based upon a wide swath of what little we do know, is able to make a number of educated deductions about the importance and role of women. She looks critically as sources such as the Sagas (which are post Viking-era) and grave finds, which provide tantalizing if incomplete or biased clues, and extrapolating what is likely to be our most accurate picture of the lives of Norse women to date.

Of course, as in most Viking-era studies, what little we know leads to more questions than answers, and she is careful to provide caveats to her conclusions. Still, one can get an overall picture of the cultures generally termed "Viking", and from a perspective that, in being different from the typical politica/martial, reveals more about the private lives and social structure of the Viking peoples.