The culture of early Norse people is often associated with war, rape, and pillage. Like a pack of wild animals, flaxen-haired barbarians, destroyed, burned, and killed everything in their path. Surely, these savages took no thought of art, song, or storytelling. Yet, history says otherwise. Centuries of oral tradition passed down tales of kings and tinkers, Valkyries and dragons. From these tales, the Icelandic Sagas were recorded. Just as any modern novel reflects our world, these historical texts open a window into a much maligned people. Though they depict a society sharply divided along gender lines, the women of the Sagas are not all the shrinking violets and damsels-in-distress you may expect. (1)
