There is this meme, this common belief among the population at large, that in cultures like the Norse and Celts, women were of the “Sit down and shut up” variety. Folks look at mythology like the Indo European ones, and somehow think that women were considered less important than men. I will not speak to the Greek and Roman ones, those are not my area of expertise, I will say that, especially in Norse Mythology and culture, that is simply not the case.

I know that some sources suggest that it was. There is very little, if any, written documentation of Norse culture before the Christian Era. Most of what we have was written in the late Viking period, and either written and transcribed by priests. While most may have been well meaning, we cannot say that those priests did not have a political or religious agenda, and we don’t know how they changed the original texts to suit their agenda. The best known texts we do have are the Poetic and the Prose Eddas. These were written by a Christian man, not so much to preserve the mythology, but to demonstrate to poets the proper ways of writing Norse style poetry and prose. That has to be taken into consideration when reading or digesting the information it contains.

On a superficial level, what do the Eddas and other myths contain? They contain stories of Goddesses that seemed somewhat weak, that were concerned with hearth, home and sparklies. One of the best known stories of a powerful goddess is that of Freya and how she acquired Brisigamen, her necklace of power. She is seen as somewhat of a tramp, because she lay with the dwarves as the price of the necklace. This is a false reading of the myth. Brisigamen is a necklace of power. What she did was give power, in the form of her body, for power, in the form of the necklace. It was an exchange of equal power, not some woman sleeping with the dwarves for a pretty. Freya was a Goddess of extraordinary power. Half of the valiant dead that fell in battle were hers to command, the other half went to Odin. Interestingly enough, the lore is very clear on the fact that Freya chose hers before Odin, and Odin took the rest. That honor is not given to Xena Warrior Prostitute, it is given to one of immense power and influence.

Frigga is considered by some to be simply a home keeping woman. She concerns herself with her husband and her children, rarely seen except to try and save her son Balder from death and Hel’s realm. What isn’t so frequently talked about is that, just as Odin is the All-Father, she is the All-Mother. She has the gift of being all knowing and she neither tells what she sees, nor tries to stop events from unfolding as they should  (with, of course, the exception of Balder.)

Those are stories, what do we know of the actual lives of women?? Not much, I’m afraid. We can, however, extrapolate from recent archeological finds and the mythology, quite a bit. We have found women who have been buried with rich grave goods including swords. Swords are not buried with just anyone, and not often with women. If, as some say, women were just home keeping who did nothing besides keep house and cater to men, it would never have happened.  The women that the swords were buried with were powerful and important, not just in their homes, but in society at large.

We can also tell by laws that we knew existed that women were important, listened to and carried great sway in society. Women were able to obtain divorces, and when divorced, lost nothing. They kept, after the dissolution of the marriage, all property they came into it with, and equal access and say in the lives of their children. Compare that to other cultures that, if a woman was divorced, lost those things and led lives of poverty and exclusion from society. Women could hold property and inherit, often in equal shares with their brothers. Upon marriage, a woman received, as part of the ceremony, the keys to the home. This not only acknowledged the fact that she was now the manager of the property, she was often considered the owner, as her husband likely spent much time away.

Terrific, you say. What the Hel does that have to do with anything anymore?

In these times where, in many parts of the world, women are marginalized to the point where they have no right to speak, it’s necessary to note that it wasn’t always this way. In the US, where one political party is seeking to do away with a woman’s right to choose just about everything, we have to remember that our ancestors did things differently.

On a personal level, this means that I don’t have to put up with this shit any longer. It means that the strength of my Mothers runs in my veins and that I need not fear speaking out. It means that I have a voice and that if I do not speak out loud enough to be heard, I can shout and scream until I am.

All women have the voice. Society as a whole has marginalized women long enough, using tradition and faulty scriptures and lore as an excuse. Recent events have made me take stock of some of beliefs, and have forced me to examine my life in a different way. I have been told to sit down and shut up in ways both blatant and overt. Recently, while posting on a social networking site, I was told, on my own page, that I was on the “Gynocentric Bullshit Train.” He said, flat out, that women ARE equal by law, and that efforts to abolish abortions and curtail women’s rights were just trying to make the playing field with men more even, since when it comes to reproduction, men have little say.

Well if fighting for my rights to determine what’s best for me and my body is driving the Gynocentric Bullshit train, then that’s what I’m doing. I’m not going to stay on the tracks either. I’m gonna run right over anyone stupid enough to wander on the tracks, and I’m going to keep on driving.

My mothers, my sisters, and my daughters deserve no less. I will pick up the sword and carry on. It’s the traditional thing to do….