Saxo’s Amleth triumphantly ascends the throne after his uncle’s death and his first task is to berate his countrymen for their feebleness in failing to overthrow Fengi. Read more | Who are the most famous Vikings?.They end up in Iceland, where they live in reduced circumstances as farmers when Amleth tracks them down. The fate of Gudrún and Fjölnir takes a downward turn soon after Aurvandil’s murder and, following an invasion by the Norwegian king Harald ‘Fairhair’, they must escape their kingdom, which is on an island north of Scotland. In the process, this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the myths and legends to reveal the dynamic, diverse lives of Viking women.Rather than Saxo’s mythical-legendary world, the film is set in a recognisably 10th-century context: after his father’s murder, Amleth joins a band of Viking berserkers and goes harrying in Rus (present-day Ukraine and Russia). Drawing on the latest historical and archaeological evidence, Valkyrie introduces readers to the dramatic and fascinating texts recorded in medieval Iceland, a culture able to imagine women in all kinds of roles carrying power, not just in this world, but pulling the strings in the other-world, too. The women in these stories take full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities, for better or worse. Rather than their death being futile, it is their destiny and good fortune, determined by divine beings. Viking myths about valkyries attempt to elevate the banality of war – to make the pain and suffering, the lost limbs and deformities, the piles of lifeless bodies of young men, glorious and worthwhile. They protect some, but guide spears, arrows and sword blades into the bodies of others.
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield.
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