Get the look: Female Viking warrior Nordre Kjølen

In this blog, we take you to the Nordre Kjølen near the Norwegian Solør. Here, the grave of a 10th-century Viking woman has been discovered. She was laid in her grave with a sword, spear, axe, and arrows. Her bow likely decayed over time. During the burial, she was laid with her head on a shield. 

Although it was not the norm, women in the Viking culture sometimes engaged in martial activities. The female Viking warrior of Solør belonged to the Norwegian Viking elite. 

The composition in this blog is inspired by the Viking women's grave of Solør and is not a complete replica. This way, you have more freedom of interpretation without reproducing the woman of  Solør. 

The woman of Solør was 18-19 when she died. She is buried in a central place that clearly marks her grave. When archaeologists discover a grave with weapons, it is generally assumed to be a man's grave. Moreover, graves often lack remains that can be used for DNA analysis to determine the gender. For years, it was assumed that her weapons had a purely ceremonial function. But this Viking woman reveals a different grim reality.

For this photoshoot, we chose to work with a female model of the same age as the woman found in the grave. 

The woman of Solør is not alone. Graves have also been found in Birka and Bogøvej in Denmark where women with weapons are buried. Was this ceremonial? 

The evidence for this is seen in the skull of the woman of Solør. At a younger age, probably around her 16th-17th year, this woman experienced something terrible. During a battle, an enemy axe struck her directly in her skull. The trauma on the skull must have been enormous, causing at least a concussion and loss of consciousness. During the blow, her skull was dented. For the rest of her life, she would have had to live with a large, deep scar on her forehead, if this wound was not already fatal. 

In any case, confronting evidence shows how violent, short, and harsh life in the Viking Age must have been for both men and women . 

Written sources also mention female Viking warriors. The Byzantine historian John Skylitzes wrote about the battle with Sviatoslav I of Kiev where Viking women fought. The Greenland saga recounts how Leif Erikson'ss pregnant half-sister Freydís Eiríksdóttir attacked the Skrælings (Inuit) in Vinland (Canada). Saxo Grammaticus mentions that Danish women also fought in the Battle of Brávellir. Åsa Haraldsdottir, in the Saga of the Ynglings, is described as a skilled seafarer who led sea expeditions and was likely a warrior as well as a captain.  

These written sources and these graves have one thing in common: the women in question were exclusively of aristocratic descent. It is possible that within aristocratic families, both men and women were trained to fight. And so they did. 

The woman in this composition is much less known than the female Viking warrior of Birka. But we can only look with the greatest respect at the sacrifice this woman made for her family and her tribe. In this reconstruction, we call her Ingibjorg.

We know little about Ingibjorg's life, except that it was violent and short. Ingibjorg died at the time when the Solør region had just become part of the unified kingdom of Norway. She lived just after the reign of the semi-legendary Viking king Harald Fairhair. Several rivers run through Solør. The Glåma River is the longest river in Norway. It was a central traffic artery at a time when travel over land was difficult. Ingibjorg's family may have acquired a piece of land during Harald Fairhair's conquest war.

Fun side note, Harald himself was, according to Snorri Sturluson, married for a number of years to Ragnhild the Mighty. Her nickname suggests that she too knew how to fight.

As a member of such a powerful family, Ingibjorg learned to fight. Enemies were numerous for the fertile area of Solør. At the age of 16 or 17, she was struck in a battle against an enemy tribe with a axe. It is unclear whether she recovered or if the head wound was fatal.

According to Scandinavian religion, she earned a place in Valhalla by falling on the battlefield. Valkyries descended from the sky and took her from the battlefield. They brought her to the great hall. Until the day of Ragnarok, she fights here with other heroes and feasts every evening with the gods Odin and Thor.

According to the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, Æthelflæd wore men's clothing during the war against the Vikings. This provides more freedom of movement than a long dress. Ingibjorg was not always dressed as a man. Outside of training and battles, Ingibjorg wore traditional Viking women's clothing. This is detailed in a separate blog.

In this reconstruction, Ingibjorg wears a long undertunic. This offers extra warmth. The additional layers displayed her wealth. The more clothing, the richer the Viking.

Over her undertunic, Ingibjorg wears a light blue tunic. This is a relatively rich colour. Remember, the brighter the colour, the wealthier the person. 

Ingibjorg wears typical Viking baggy trousers as depicted on the 9th-century Oseberg tapestry. 

Ingibjorg wears leg wrappings that keep her lower legs and feet extra warm in the cold Norwegian climate. 

Ingibjorg wears Viking shoes that are based on finds from the Oseberg ship burial. In this grave, the tapestry was also found on which her baggy trousers are depicted.

Ingibjorg wears a caftan that keeps her warm in the cold Norwegian climate. Probably not all Vikings wore kaftans. They were based on an earlier type of Germanic overcoat or influenced by the steppe peoples that Scandinavians encountered during their travels.

Although the Scandinavians traded in fur, this would only be incorporated into their clothing by the wealthiest. Unfortunately, the cloak from this photoshoot is no longer available, but we do offer alternatives.

The sword in Ingibjorg's grave is laid in a remarkable way. In most Viking graves, the sword was placed with the tip towards the feet. In this grave, the sword tip pointed towards the head.

The shield also stands out. Instead of being placed next to the body or at her feet, Ingibjorg was laid with her head on the shield. The wood of the shield has decayed, but it was probably a round shield like the well-known Viking shields.

The axe in the grave was a Petersen type A.

Only the arrows were found in the grave, probably because the natural materials of the bow and any quiver have decayed. Recurve bows were used throughout the Viking world and were called hornbogi, named after the multiple layers from which the bow is constructed. 

https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/nl/sword-kopen/archery/recurvebow/ 

Want to know more about what Ingibjorg would have worn off the battlefield? Click through to this next blog where we elaborate on what Norwegian Viking women wore: https://www.celticwebmerchant.com/nl/blogs/info/get-the-look-viking-vrouw-nordre-kjoelen/