Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Valkyries' Loom: The Archaeology of Cloth Production and Female Power in the North Atlantic

The Valkyries' Loom: The Archaeology of Cloth Production and Female Power in the North Atlantic

Smith, Michèle Hayeur
Richardson, Ann

Audio Book

AnthropologyScandinavian HistoryWomen's Studies

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN13: 9798212947398
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Published: Oct 31 2023
Language: English
Using textiles to understand gender and economy in Norse societies

This groundbreaking study is based on the author's systematic comparative analysis of the vast textile collections in Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Scotland, and the Faroe Islands, materials that are largely unknown even to archaeologists and span 1,000 years. Through these garments and fragments, Hayeur Smith provides new insights into how the women of these island nations influenced international trade by producing cloth (vaðmál); how they shaped the development of national identities by creating clothing; and how they helped their communities survive climate change by reengineering clothes during the Little Ice Age. She supplements her analysis by revealing societal attitudes about weaving through the poem Darraðarljoð from Njál's Saga, in which the Valkyries--Óðin's female warrior spirits--produce the cloth of history and decide the fates of men and nations.

Bringing Norse women and their labor to the forefront of research, Hayeur Smith establishes the foundation for a gendered archaeology of the North Atlantic that has never been attempted before. This monumental and innovative work contributes to global discussions about the hidden roles of women in past societies in preserving tradition and guiding change.

2 different editions

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Women's Studies

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