Shieldmaiden Collection - For Women

This is our Shieldmaiden Collection of Viking-inspired pieces for women. While everything in the VKNG store is unisex, here we have selected finer pieces, including earrings, hair beads, slender rings, and bracelets, necklaces, and brooches ideal for women.

Many of the pieces are inspired by genuine pieces from the Viking age. Many rich female burials survive, most famously the Osberg ship burial. This ship contains the body of a very important woman, who may even have been a Volva, a Viking witch! They lived outside social norms and were welcome everywhere due to their great power.

We have named our collection for the shieldmaidens, the female Viking warriors like Lagertha in the History Channel’s Vikings.

There certainly were women who fought and raided alongside men in the Viking world. The most famous may be Freydis Eriksdottir, who was one of the first Europeans to sail to the new world in around 1000. When her camp was attacked by natives, she fought they off single handedly while seven months pregnant!

But most women would have remained behind while their menfolk set sail. This was necessary to protect the home and manage crops for the coming winter. But this did not mean that women weren’t warriors! They were the manager of the home, the teacher of sacred knowledge to younger generation, and the defenders of property. Only a woman with the heart of a warrior could survive in the Viking world!

The goddess Freyja is the most prominent female deity in the Viking pantheon. She was the goddess of love and beauty, and many legends about the gods start with giants causing trouble due to the beauty of Freyja. She was also a fertility deity and seen as a nurturing influence. She is the goddess most referenced in the surviving sources.

Other important female goddesses from the Norse world included Frigg, Odin’s wife, and the goddess of the household. She was a great seer, but never told anyone what she saw.

Sif is the wife of Thor and a fertility goddess with golden hair representing a successful harvest.

Sigyn is the goddess of victory and was the wife of Loki. When he was condemned by the gods for his role in the death of Balder, she stayed by his side. She caught the venom from the snake hung over his head to protect him from the pain. The split loyalties of the goddess of victory may be one of the reasons why neither side can win at Ragnarok.

Idun is the goddess that attends the orchards of the gods and keeps the fruit that maintains the youth of vigor of the gods.

The Valkyries are fierce warriors who help Odin decide the results of battle. They also choose the bravest of the fallen warriors to dwell in Valhalla in the afterlife. There they live in paradise until they are called on to fight again alongside the gods at Ragnarok. While they are often represented as angelic warriors in modern art, the Viking sources describe them as bathing in the blood of men!

There are also many compelling giantesses in Norse mythology. Hel is the daughter of Loki and was born half living and half dead. As such, she was given jurisdiction over Helheim, another Viking afterlife. Here her power is supreme, and even Odin himself cannot command her.

Angrboda is the fearsome giantess who mated with Loki and gave birth to Hel, Fenrir and Jormungandr. She can shapeshift into a wolf and is the leader of a wolf pack in the Ironwood.

Some of the pieces that you will find featured in this collection include:

• Hair beads embossed with the runes, that were believed to possess magical powers.
• Slender rings featuring the triquetra, a symbol of natural magic known from the Celtic world that was also connected with Seidr magic in the Viking world.
• Hanging earrings featuring Yggdrasil, the might tree that sits at the center of the Norse cosmos and holds the universe together.
• Fine Jormmungandr bracelets featuring the Midgard Serpent. He represents the things that men and gods fear most, but fears that must be faced.
• Fine pendants featuring classic symbols such as Mjolnir and the Valknut, and also genuine magical symbols from the Icelandic grimoires, including Aegishjalmur (Helm of Awe) and Vegvisir (Norse Compass).

Shop the collection to find the perfect piece for a modern female Viking warrior shieldmaiden.