>>15993114they were real but tv shows like vikings heavily exaggerate their presence and role . there was one episode where you see an academy of little girls training to be shieldmaidens which is just fucking ridiculous
they also tend to gloss over the fact shieldmaidens were relatively rare because it was mostly the result of widowed women deciding to take vengeance on the slayers of their husband, instead of resorting to the usual rite of live cremation atop his funeral pyre. the norse took the loyalty of wives very seriously, and it was believed the only ways a widow could prove their loyalty to their husband was in death, either by fire or blood. does not exactly line up with the feminist picture of le based viking amazon warriors sticking it to men, so they usually drop that whole aspect of nordic culture, which is honestly upsetting since it was a very important thing to them, and something they had in common with the old aryans. it might be offensive to modern liberal sensibilities but thats how people were back then, idk why they try to make viking shows but sugarcoat the more savage aspects of them
