![]() The sagas tell of impotence, the husband wearing an effeminate shirt, and the woman wearing pants as grounds for divorce. A wife was as free as a husband to seek divorce. A wife did not take the name of her husband, but kept her own patronymic, and was free to ally with either family if they fell into dispute. ![]() Her father also supplied a dowry for the wedding, but this was repaid if the marriage terminated in divorce. This bride-price, as well as a gift given by the husband to his wife the day after the wedding, remained the property of the wife. Though a man might often consort with many concubines under one roof, the legal wife's status was ensured primarily by the 'bride-price' paid by her husband. It is unclear how often this happened in reality, but the sagas are filled with women who goad their husbands into action with taunts and jibes. The narrative of the legendary swordswoman Hervǫr, daughter and heir to the berserker warrior Angantýr, suggests at the very least that post-Viking saga audiences did not find the idea of heroic warrior ancestresses impossible. The culture prized women who were autonomous and spirited. Women in Norse culture enjoyed a fair bit more stature than those of many other concurrent cultures in Europe. ![]() Women in Viking Society A depiction of the goddess Freyja in an Icelandic manuscript from the 17th century.
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