Not Just Window Dressing: How Viking Society Viewed Women

The Vikings were a seafaring people who lived in Scandinavia from the late eighth to the eleventh century. Their society was based on a system of laws and customs that were unique to them, and it has been suggested that their treatment of women was different from comparable societies of the time, which begs the question: how did Viking society treat the women of their age?

Firstly, it is important to note that Viking society was a patriarchal society, meaning that men held the majority of the power and authority. However, women were not completely powerless. They were able to own property, could initiate a divorce, and could even become warriors in some cases. This is in contrast to other societies of the time, such as the Anglo-Saxons, who did not allow women to own property or participate in political life.

One of the ways in which Viking society treated women differently was in regards to marriage. In Viking society, marriage was a contractual agreement between two individuals, and women had a say in who they married. It was not uncommon for women to refuse a marriage proposal if they did not like the suitor. Additionally, women had the right to divorce their husbands if they were unhappy in the marriage. This was in contrast to other societies where women had little to no say in who they married and were often…