Shield-Maidens: Fact or Fiction?

In the HTTYD franchise, female characters Astrid Hofferson, Ruffnut Thorston, and Heather from the TV series are all very reminiscent of the Viking shield-maidens of legend. Each character is a formidable warrior within her own right and is able to demonstrate more military prowess than much of the male cast. Astrid’s combat skills in particular surpass that of almost all the other characters in the movies/TV series. Compared to the inventive yet physically weak Hiccup, nerdy gamer Fishlegs, dimwitted Snotlout, and exasperating Tuffnut, the girls are presented as the backbone of the group and as some of their best riders. The use of the shield-maiden in fiction is common and the legend is well-known. However, the question of whether or not these warrior women did, in fact, live and fight in the Middle Ages is still contested by historians.

Astrid threatening Hiccup with her axe after he screws up during dragon training.

While some Viking sagas tell tales of women who could wield a weapon, such as Brynhildr Buðladóttir, Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Leif Erikson’s sister), and Lagertha (the first wife of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok), the reality of the existence of shield-maidens is much harder to ascertain. The majority of the sources that describe these warrior women are questionable as to their accuracy, as oftentimes they are written very long after the supposed events of the narrative and do not concern themselves with documenting accurate history as opposed to a fantastical account of events that elevates a person or family’s societal standing. The shield-maidens’ further connection with folkloric literature can be gathered from their likeness to the Valkyries, or the handmaidens of Odin who choose which fallen warriors to bring to Valhalla. Because of the difficulties in determining which parts of the sagas are historically accurate and which are falsified, it is hard to make a definite case for the existence or nonexistence of the shield-maiden.

A painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo depicting the death of shield-maiden Hervor in the Hervarar saga

While the usage of shield-maidens in modern literature and media may not be the most historically accurate in terms of events that occurred in the past, it does do justice to the concept of shield-maiden that appears in the literature of the Middle Ages. Astrid of HTTYD may not have been a woman of the Viking age in reality, but she bears a striking resemblance to Saxo Grammaticus’s Viking shield-maiden Lagertha and her courage and valor in battle. In this sense, the shield-maiden is an easily well-utilized aspect of medieval literature that is taken advantage of by the creators of today’s media.

Misplaced Accusations of Sexism, Missing Accusations of Stereotypes

Eaters of the Dead presents itself as the translation of the entirely factual journey of Ibn Fadlan, a 10th century Muslim traveler. Up until the “A Factual Note” that concludes the work, the reader is left unaware that the book is fiction. Michael Crichton’s entire goal when writing the work is to convince the reader of the truth of his work. Every detail is included for the sole purpose of persuading the reader to throw off their better judgement and believe his tale, which is why Crichton often takes artistic license and introduces anachronisms to his work. Crichton intends to use the reader’s knowledge, or lack thereof, of the Middle Ages, Vikings, and Islam, to make the tale believable.

A topic that was discussed at length during class was the treatment of women in the tale. Many called it “appalling” and in this, I agree. However, we must view this in context and from the perspective of a 10^th century Muslim traveler, as Crichton intends. Hailing from a more sexually “modest” region, Fadlan views the Vikings sexual openness to be disgusting. The constant mentions of this aren’t meant to arouse the reader as in modern works, but to use the reader’s stereotypes against them. Crichton hopes to reign in our disbelief of parts of the work, through Fadlan’s observations of the Viking’s sexual promiscuity. After battles that may stretch our suspension of disbelief, more base observations that play off of modern reader’s stereotypes of Muslim and Viking society bring the reader’s attention back to the supposed truthfulness of the tale.

Further, once a reader familiar with the tale of Beowulf identifies Eaters of the Dead as a similar story, major changes to the plot would destroy that suspension of disbelief. Strong female characters that enrich works of fiction by not senselessly dehumanizing half of mankind are a relatively modern concept. Such an egregious anachronism would be so completely out of place in a tale from the 10^th century that it would move the story from believable to unbelievable. Crichton again plays on modern stereotypes of Muslims- a reader might also view Muslims as sexist due to modern media, and extrapolate that stereotype a millennium back, thus viewing Fadlan’s general exclusion of females as a result of his own sexism, rather than the reader themself.

In actuality, Viking women had greater rights than in most other societies at the time, but Crichton disregards facts. He yet again uses stereotypes to portray the Vikings as more barbaric than they were, making the reader not doubt the also untruthful plot. In conclusion, the outrage over the lack of female characters is misplaced. The misrepresentation of Vikings and Crichton’s use of modern reader’s stereotypes towards Muslims are where the blame should lie instead.

Medieval Stereotypes and their influence on Modern Medievalism

One major topic of discussion regarding Eaters of the Dead is Crichton’s motives for writing this novel. In his introduction, Crichton states that he began writing Eaters of the Dead because of a challenge he received from a friend. Specifically, Crichton was attempting to adapt the legend of Beowulf into a more interesting story. This statement caused our class to criticize Crichton, as he appeared to be writing his novel for the purpose of pandering to consumers and not for the love of literature. However, I propose that Crichton, along with any other aspiring Medieval artist, are bound in their artistic freedom by modern stereotypes of Medieval themes.

In the modern era, we as consumers have specific stereotypes etched into our brains regarding various medieval themes. When we picture Vikings, we think of savage barbarians with horned helmets and axes, who pillage, plunder, and set things on fire as a way of life. When we imagine the knight, we think of a soldier in a gleaming metal suit, riding on horseback, armed with a lance, and adhering strictly to the code of chivalry. Whether or not these images reflect historical accuracy, these images are what the modern consumer perceives as true. Furthermore, when a consumer reads a book, watches a movie, or plays a video game, these are the representations that they expect to see, and if these expectations are not met, consumers will stop purchasing your book, movie, or video game. As a result, artists are limited in their freedom of choice because if they stray too far from these specific stereotypes, their work will not sell.

In my opinion, the video game industry provides the best examples of the constraints placed on artists by consumers regarding medieval games. While the gaming industry’s appeal to female consumers is rapidly growing, it has been a historically male dominated market, creating a very specific group of consumers with particular expectations. As a male consumer of medieval themed video games, I can say that what you expect to play as a large, strong male character with badass combat moves who can kill a variety of enemies to save the day. If this expectation is not met, I personally would most likely return the game after a just a bit of play time. However, these expectations clearly do not only belong to me, as the gaming industry continues to pump out games filled with these kinds of protagonists and content. For example, a new game, For Honor, was recently announced that continues to fulfill these expectations, demonstrating that they are common in the market for medieval games:

These Consumer expectations limit the freedom of artists, whether they be a game developer, film studio, or author, if they want their creation to be enjoyed by the masses. Coming back to Crichton, I think he too was limited in his artistic choices if he truly wanted to create a version of Beowulf that would interest a wide variety of people. We as consumers expect certain characteristics to be ascribed to Vikings, and if these expectations are not met, many people will simply stop reading. Crichton himself also points at these limitations, when he has Ibn Fadlan describe the northmen as “giant”, but uses a footnote to state that this was not the case, as the average height of a Scandinavian male was around 5’7″ in the tenth century. However, Crichton recognizes that readers think of vikings as massive warriors, so that is what he gives us.