Hidden Lives of Viking Women

Michèle Hayeur Smith is a research associate with the Smithsonian Institution, Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC. She holds a PhD from the University of Glasgow and is an anthropological archaeologist with research interests in gender, textiles, dress, adornment and material culture studies. She is largely known for her work in the North Atlantic and Iceland and has been undertaking National Science Foundation funded research projects focused on gender and the production and circulation of textiles from the Viking Age to the early 19th century. She is also a founding member of Osprey Heritage Consulting. Alexandra Sanmark undertook her undergraduate and postgraduate training at the University of London and obtained her PhD on the Christianisation of Scandinavia from University College London. She was then employed in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Uppsala, where she was Programme Leader for the MA programme Viking and Early Medieval Scandinavia. After two years as Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, she started working for the University in 2009, first in Orkney and currently in Perth.

• 1. IntroductionMichèle Hayeur Smith, Alex Sanmark and Kevin P. Smith2. Aspects of violence connected to women in the Old Norse legal systemsAnne Irene Riisøy3. Migrants, conquerors, settlers: Viking women in BritainShane McLeod4. Women in trade and exchangeUnn Pedersen5. Women as partners – gender balance and cooperation in the Viking Age householdAlex Sanmark and Tara Athanasiou6. Choosing the hero: drink and the institutionalization of heroismKaren BekPedersen7. The housewife and cult leader Friðgerðr Þorðardóttir in Viking Age IcelandOlof Sundqvist8. The Völva’s toolkit: Viking Age ritual specialists and the tools of their tradeLeszek Gardeła9. Women’s Textile Magic in Viking Age IcelandMichèle Hayeur Smith