In today’s post I will take a look at the overlap between the two sides of my work and personal practice: the side concerning fairies and the Heathen side. They are not at all separated as they may appear, one area of contingency being women’s relationship to power as it is described in the fairy lore, myth, saga material and historical records from North-Western Europe.
This year at the Mystic South, the conference that takes place in Atlanta each summer, I gave a presentation titled “Woman Politics &Power in pre-Christian Scandinavia”. For the past several years my work – published books, articles, conference presentations- have been almost exclusively centered on fairy lore and associated magical traditions. So, this year’s conference it seemed like a complete departure. But was that really the case?
Fairies, both the Irish sidhe and Scandinavian elves, are described in the lore as living in worlds adjacent and sometimes overlapping with the world of humans (Daimler, 2023, 2024). Stories passed down through generations, both orally and in writing, depict fairies as transgressive of gender roles as such roles had become established with the rising and spreading of Christianity throughout Europe. We read about fairy women who take lovers as they please, have children with whoever they want, rule as monarchs and make political and military decisions (Wenz, 1911; Lenihan, 2004; Daimler, 2017). These stories did not sit well with the new religion who equated fairies with devils and tried hard to stamp out fairy beliefs and practices because they were the most obvious antithesis to the Church’s moral codes regarding gender (Green, 2018).
With the passing of time, society took on praising women who were submissive, quaint and pious. Women were “meant” to be fragile and weak in their judgement thus dependent on men. Well into the 20th century it was still believed that certain types of exertion would physically hurt women and in general, women were deemed too emotional therefore untrustworthy to handle money or property (Lewis, 2019) .
This image is a far cry from the one found in Norse mythology and writings with historical character that depict Scandinavian society in the Viking Age. Norse myth is populated with powerful feminine figures. Freyja is not only a goddess associated with abundance and passionate love but a warrior figure as well who takes for herself half the battle dead, the other half claimed by Oðinn. The Norns shape people’s destiny, and Frigga can outsmart her husband, the wise and powerful Oðinn. (Ellis Davidson, 1990; Waggoner, 2021; Daimler, 2023)
The objection here might be that these are only stories. However, one must keep in mind that such stories arise from people’s beliefs and that mythologies shape spiritual and religious practices thus shaping norms and mores in society. From the Icelandic sagas we learn that women had the right to get a divorce on the grounds of domestic violence. They could own land, run businesses, and participate in trade and warfare (Auerbach, 1998; Palsson, 1989; Magnusson, 1975)Histories of Norway and Denmark mention warrior women, queens who ruled independently and also women participating in politics indirectly by influencing kings and chieftains - their husbands or sons (Elton, 2023; Monsen, 1990). Last but not least women exercised power in their roles of ritual specialist whose counsel was sought after by everyone, including kings and other people of high status. (Gardeła, 2023)
Those who recorded the fairy lore, same as those who wrote down the myths and tried to reconstruct histories of Norway and Denmark were in their majority clerics, some of them highly educated. Whether monks or historians these men were the product of their own society. Their own cultural lenses were bound to color how and what they wrote about. But despite the Christian treatment of some themes and criticism of women’s un-fitting behavior, there’s enough in these texts to allow the discerning eye to see the full picture: whether fairies or women from the mortal realm, they lived in a time when bravery, industriousness, cleverness and physical strength were praised qualities in women and not unnatural traits to be suppressed.
Whether fairies or women-warriors of the Viking Age, their behavior is subversive of gender norms prevailing at the time their stories were written down.
Bibliography
Auerbach, Loren “Female Experience and Authorial Intention in Laxdœla Saga”, Saga – Book, vol XXV (1998-2001)
Daimler, Morgan, “21st Century Fairy: The Good Folk in the new millennium” (2023)
Daimler, Morgan, “Fairy: The Otherworld by Many Other Names” (2024)
Daimler, Morgan “Fairies: A Guide to the Celtic Fair Folk” (2017)
Daimler, Morgan “Freya: Meeting the Norse Goddess of Magic” (2023)
Ellis Davidson, Hilda “Gods and Myths of Northern Europe” (1990)
“Eyrbyggja Saga”, Hermann Palsson, Paul Edwards translation, (1989)
Grammaticus, Saxo, “Gesta Danorum. Books I- IX” Oliver Elton translation (2023)
Green, Richard Firth “Elf Queens and Holy Friars: Fairy Beliefs and the Medieval Church”, (2018)
“Laxdœla saga”, Magnus Magnusson and Herman Pálsson translation (1975)
Lenihan, Eddie, “Meeting the Othercrowd: The Fairy Stories of Hidden Ireland” (2004)
Gardeła, Leszek, Sophie Bonding & Peter Pentz, editors, “The Norse Sorceress: Mind and Materiality in the Viking World” (2023)
Lewis, Jone Johnson “A Short History of Women’s Property Rights in the United States” (2019) retrieved at https://www.thoughtco.com/property-rights-of-women-3529578
Sturluson, Snorri, “Heimskringla or The Lives of Norse Kings”, Erling Monsen translation and notes (1990)
Waggoner, Ben “Our Troth: Heathen Gods” (2021)
Wenz, Walter Evans, “The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries” (1911)
