RG 14

English W170
Representations of Vikings

RG 14: tor.com Half the Warriors were Female

1) How would the titular claim of this article, that half of Viking warriors were female,
change the way you think about medieval Vikings? Why do you think this news went
viral as quickly as it did last year?
This claim would change my view of the Vikings because of the existing concept that
the majority of warriors in the Viking age were male that the modern day population
has become accustomed to. I think this news went viral so quickly because of the
shock factor it presented with its information that went against the majoritys
previous belief.
2) In rhetorical study, we often call the main idea that a text is trying to sell us its
pitch. Yes, this article is informing us of a new set of archaeological approaches, but
go deeper. What is the pitch of this piece? Why is the author so excited about a new
way of analyzing Viking graves? Find a couple pieces of textual evidence to support
your claim.
The pitch of this piece seems to be the busting of previous myth that women were not
usually present during battles in the Viking Age. A piece of evidence that presents
itself early in the passage is when after the author states his findings, the comment
behind that states, (We knew it! We always knew it.), which displays the authors
excitement for this evidence. He also consistently speaks on how impressive the
evidence is to him, stating, fifty/fifty is pretty damn good., when regarding the
statistics discovered. This shows the authors emotion towards his pitch and his
attempt to pass on those emotions to his audience.

3) Speaking of archaeology and digging beneath the surface, can you uncover any
hidden assumptions that the author of this piece has about gender? What is the
relationship between the new discovery being reported and the following quotation:
The presence of female warriors also has researchers now wondering just how
accurate the stereotypes of raping and pillaging actually are. ?
The author seems to convey a secondary message regarding the idea of the Vikings
association with raping and pillaging being false. He states in the article that the
women graves discovered may suggest that rather than rape victims, these women
were accompanied by male Vikings who were, marriage minded colonists..
4) Think outside the text-box: how might this secondary source change the way you
look at another of our primary sources? In other words, how might this perspective
on the Viking/gender dynamic change the way you see that dynamic in texts such as
Thor and Loki, Egils Saga, or Thorsteinn Staff-Struck?
This secondary source may change my view of Thor and Loki by making the idea of
females being able to be dominant in battle a much more likely concept, rather than
an abstract notion. This source would change my view of Thorstein Staff-Struck by
possibly altering my outlook on certain females characters in the book such as
Bjarnis wife, and the importance of their importance in the story.