Women in Old Norse Society

by Jenny Jochens

Jenny Jochens captures in fascinating detail the lives of women in pagan and early Christian Iceland and Norway―their work, sexual behavior, marriage customs, reproductive practices, familial relations, leisure activities, religious practices, and legal constraints and protections. Women in Old Norse Society places particular emphasis on changing sexual mores and the impact of Christianity as imposed by the clergy and Norwegian kings. It also demonstrates the vital role women played in economic production.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Gender Studies, Historical, Scandinavian Literature

288 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Historian of medieval women.

Reviews

[Annemarie]

This started off really strong, really interesting, but I found myself having to force myself to pay attention in the latter half. I kept finding other things to do instead of reading, which is not a good sign.

[Sarah Schanze]

Much more informative than I expected, though the last chapter lost me a bit with the focus on the economics of homespun (though an important item and indicative of the invisible labor of women). Books like these definitely drive home the idea that women of the past weren't freer than we thought they were. If anything this book, with plenty of literary evidence from the sagas to contemporary medieval accounts to law records, really reinforce the idea that, whether pagan or Christian, being a woman back then sucked.

[Hayley Stone]

It cannot be overstated how excellent of a book this is, and how seminal to the growing body of work on women in Norse society. Jochens research is extensive and well-documented, while her analysis helps clarify some of the muddier aspects of Scandinavian culture and the roles of women within it. If you only get one book on this subject, you can do no better than this one.

[Lynda]

I had some issues with this book. The tie back to the sagas was excellent. There was very little on child rearing, and what happened to dyeing? It wasn't mentioned at all.

[Margie Dorn]

The title says exactly what the book is about. It is well-researched tho not a page-turner like some history and non-fiction can be. I read it for a book group.

[Ginny Kaczmarek]

A thorough, scholarly review of women in old Norse society. Dense with details, this is a good reference book though not exactly an easy read.

[Wilga]

It is not popular science, and not an easy read. It is a dilligent, amazing study (or a research paper) with very detailed in-depth analysis of saga and legal texts, fishing out all elements pertaining to women and their lives in Medieval Iceland, with important focus at the change brought about with introduction of Christianity into the heathen world. No romanticising, no trumpets and glory, just daily toil and grind.

Either way, long story short, the position and life of Nordic women in Medieval times sucked moneky balls and the key and main feature of the sad female fate was all sorts of male aggression, especially sexually driven one, and female dependance due to mostly pregnancies and lack of rights. It is a sad story as usual.