LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE Valkyries: the female supernatural beings that
choose who dies and who lives on the battlefield. They protect some but guide spears arrows
and sword blades into the bodies of others. 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. Rather than their death being futile it
is their destiny and good fortune determined by divine beings. The women in these stories take
full part in the power struggles and upheavals in their communities for better or worse.
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. In the process this fascinating book uncovers the reality behind the
myths and legends to reveal the dynamic diverse lives of Viking women.
