Category Archives: Warrior identities

Fierce females – names of Iron and Viking Age women

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Before I wrap up the project, I want to address the really interesting theme of female names. I have been working on a paper about this since the beginning of the ArcNames project, but the subject just keeps growing. In later years, there has been much discussion about evidence for armed women in the Viking Age and whether burials of women with weapons reflect real life shield maidens. This has been an especially hot topic following a 2017 paper about a woman buried with weapons in Viking Age Birka (an overview of the discussion with further references can be found Continue reading Fierce females – names of Iron and Viking Age women→

Names of The Barbarians

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Name use in the Netflix series and in early Germanic tribes The 2020 Netflix series Barbaren or Barbarians, retells the famous story of Arminius, a Roman-raised Germanic prince, who led a conglomerate of Germanic tribes to victory over three Roman legions in the Teutoburg forest in the year 9 AD. A historical turning point and a fascinating chain of events which we know about from several Roman sources. In recent decades, archaeological evidence has even emerged in Northern Germany that could be related to the battle.  I generally really enjoyed the Barbarians very much and found that the creators had Continue reading Names of The Barbarians→

Wolves of war

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Iron Age naming behavior and warrior identity Scandinavian Iron and Viking Age people had a strong fascination of the wolf and seem to great extend to have identified themselves with this animal. Wolf symbolism played a key part in the world perception.This can be concluded from both mythology, artwork and naming behavior, together stretching over a very long period. Already in the 3rd c. AD, we find a name, Widuhundaz on an elaborate silver brooch from Himlingøje, Zealand. This name is a compound of the words ‘wood/forest’ and ‘dog’ and are thought to refer to the wolf. The brooch was Continue reading Wolves of war→

Weapons in names, names on and of weapons

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Human-object relations reflected in personal names Being an archaeologist, a thing that interests me about Scandinavian Iron and Viking Age personal names is the common use of words for objects. A survey through the material has shown that almost all objects represented are weapons or in other ways related to battle. This reflects how the Iron Age society was built around a warrior ideology – especially the social groups who wrote their names in runes on objects and stones. In later years, archaeologists have been occupied with relationships between objects and humans and the capacity of certain objects to be Continue reading Weapons in names, names on and of weapons→

An anonymous past?

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A short introduction to personal names in the Scandinavian Iron Age Names, qualities and characteristics When we get to know someone, one of the first things we learn about them is usually their name. As an archaeologist, you can get very close to prehistoric people. You excavate the remains of a house, to which the door once opened and closed several times a day, letting people walk in and out and through the rooms. We hold in our hands their personal objects such as tools and ornaments that are worn from long continued use. We even deal with remains of Continue reading An anonymous past?→