Women and Goddesses in Old Norse Mythology and Folklore

While the pagan deities of the Old Norse world have long fascinated scholars, it has mainly been the male gods who have captured public attention, and scholars have followed this trend, interpreting late Iron Age Scandinavian society from a male perspective. This volume aims to adjust the balance by bringing together leading scholars working on the Old Norse world and its mythology. The chapters gathered here cover a range of academic fields, from literature and history of religion to folklore, onomastics, and archaeology, with the aim of reassessing the roles played by both women and goddesses in Iron Age Scandinavia.

List of Illustrations

Introduction
Tommy Kuusela and Ingunn Ásdísardóttir

Section I: Supernatural Women in Germanic Religion

The Fateful Feminine: Reading mythology against Snorri
Merrill Kaplan
Seiðr and ergi:  Limited Sources, Diverse Explanations
Kendra Willson

Section II: Case Studies Of Jǫtunn-Women, Celtic Parallels, and Place Names

Fighting and Womanizing in Hárbarðsljóð
Ingunn Ásdísardóttir
Fatherly Mothers: The Roman Iron Age Female Germanic Goddesses
Rudolf Simek
The Shameless Goddesses: Fecundity versus Chastity
Britt-Mari Näsström

Section III: Old Norse Interpretations of Women Across Time and Genre

Interpretations of the Feminine across Medieval Icelandic Mythology and Folklore
Judy Quinn, Adèle Kreager, Ellis Wylie, Eric Ania Haley-Halinski, Katherine Marie Olley, Alisa Valpola-Walker, and Lee Colwill

Section IV: Women in Archaeology

Of Lynx and Ladies: Women Buried with Lynx Skin as Grave Goods c. AD 350–950 in Eastern Sweden, and their Possible Connection to the Old Norse Goddess Freyja
Torun Zachrisson
Women and Miniature Weapons in the Viking Age
Leszek Gardeła
Femininity – Reflections on Sex Determination of Graves
Anne-Sofie Gräslund

Section V: Women, Rituals, and Folklore

Guðrún and the Cailleach
Karen Bek-Pedersen
Freyja, Frigg, and the Ladybird Beetle: Entomology, Historiography, and Mythology
Tommy Kuusela
Lamenters, Mythic Knowledge and Ritual Practice: The Question of Traditions in Late Iron Age and Medieval Scandinavia
Frog and Eila Stepanova