P. 54 The female poets who did compose skaldic verse were perfectly at ease with the conventions, proving that they could take on the outrageously arrogant persona of a skald, one poet – if the verse really was composed by a woman – pitting her patron god Thor against the feeble Christ with all the swagger of a contemporary rapper. One court poet we know by name is Jorunn, nicknamed skaldmoer (poetgirl), who was active in the early 10th century. Her poem Sendibitr (Biting Message) is an elegant political comment on the disagreement and reconciliation of King Harald Fairhair Halfdanarson and his son Halfdan the Black.. The component maer (maiden) rather than jona (woman) in her nickname may indicate she was, like more of her male counterparts, young and unmarried. Since no other poems have been preserved, perhaps she moved on to other pursuits after a stint at court… We know the name of at least one other woman who was a Viking court poet, Viborg, who was active in Norway in the late 11th century… more female sada characters who are the creations of an author are said to have uttered original verses, which the authors could not have got away with unless their audiences knew that women poets existed.”
P. 64 What then of the famous shield-maidens we know from sagas and popular culture. They’re in Norse texts that could be characterised as a medieval version of the modern historical fantasy genre. Icelandic sagas set in the legendary Scandinavian past and the mythical-heroic portion of Saxo’s History of the Danes recount stories about women warriors who receive training in battle skills and make a career of being Vikings and pirates… These characters are successful for a time, exerting military power that proves more than their opponents can handle, and both the narrators and the other characters seem just as in awe of them as modern audiences. This period of their lives is usually followed by marriage and the remouncing of weapons… … There is nothing strange about retiring from Viking life: most men are not Viking warriors forever either, and unless they die in battle, they use it as a springboard to power and status, becoming kings or rulers… the story of Hervor has a serious subtext about what happens if a man has no sons to inherit him. Hervor’s father is at first reluctant to acknowledge his daughter as a valid heir, but when she’s proven she can hold her own against him, he yields and recognises her right to inherit his sword and status.”
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