Shield-maiden

A shield-maiden (Old Norse: skjaldmær [ˈskjɑldˌmæːr]) was a female warrior from Scandinavian folklore and mythology.

Jesch argues against this usage in academic works, as to avoid confusion between textual and literal Shield-maidens.

In the Viking Age, valkyries served drinks in Vahalla and choose the dead in battle, but were not warriors in the same way as shield-maidens in the sagas.

Princess Hed, Visna, Lagertha and Veborg are female warriors named in Gesta Danorum.

The first of these Hervors was known to have taken up typically masculine roles early in her childhood and often raided travelers in the woods dressed as a man.

Later in her life, she claimed the cursed sword Tyrfing from her father's burial site and became a seafaring raider.

[5] Saxo Grammaticus[6] reported that women fought on the side of the Danes at the Battle of Brávellir in the year 750: Now out of the town of Sle, under the captains Hetha (Heid) and Wisna, with Hakon Cut-cheek came Tummi the Sailmaker.

When she ends up married to Guðrún's brother Gunnarr instead of Sigurðr, the man she intended to marry, Brynhildr speaks a verse comparing the courage of the two men:[7] Sigurd fought the dragon And that afterward will be Forgotten by no one While men still live.

Similar to her male counterparts, the shield-maiden prefers to do things straightforwardly, without the deception considered stereotypically feminine in much of medieval literature.

By killing the child, she demonstrates an understanding of feud and filial responsibility; if he lived, the boy would grow up to take vengeance on Brynhildr's family.

"[8] In her later marriages, however, she is willing to kill her children, burn down a hall, and send her other sons to avenge the murder of her daughter, Svanhildr.

[10][11] Some scholars, such as professor Judith Jesch, have cited a lack of evidence for trained or regular female warriors.

[17] When Leif Erikson's pregnant half-sister Freydís Eiríksdóttir was in Vinland, she is reported to have taken up a sword and, bare-breasted, scared away the attacking Skrælings.

The show depicts Lagertha (played by Katheryn Winnick) as the greatest shield maiden in the world.

Some who are include Éowyn in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings[21] and Thorgil in Nancy Farmer's The Sea of Trolls trilogy.