Due to the warlike grave goods, archaeologists assumed since the end of the 1880s that they were standing in front of the grave of a – male – Viking king. Swords, arrowheads and the skeletons of two sacrificed horses were found in his resting place. In this heyday of the Vikings more than a millennium ago, a wealthy Viking warrior was buried in a magnificent tomb. Birka was the most important trading centre in Scandinavia from the 8th to the 10th century, while Adelsön on Hovgården was the king’s residence. Birka and Hovgården are places located on two neighbouring islands in a lake in Sweden, the Mälaren.
It was found in the 19th century in Birka. The discovery of the grave as such is by no means new, the conclusions however are. So where does the legend come from and above all – is it true?Ī spectacular discovery in a Viking tomb seems for the moment to confirmįor the first time that there is some truth in the myth of the Germanic woman warriors. But Wagner only used the myth, he did not invent it. Who has not heard of the story of Wotan’s nine beautiful daughters riding their fiery horses through the night to bring fallen heroes to Walhall? At least since Wagner’s masterpiece ‘Die Walküre’ (The Valkyrie) we know the myth that women were active as warriors among the Germanic tribes.
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