About this item

"Once again, Brown brings Viking history to vivid, unexpected life -- and in the process, turns what we thought we knew about Norse culture on its head. Superb." -- "Magnificent. It captured me from the very first page..." -- "A complex, important, and delightful addition to women's history." -- In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history, and literature to imagine her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined.Brown uses science to link the Birka warrior, whom she names Hervor, to Viking trading towns and to their great trade route east to Byzantium and beyond.



About the Author

Nancy Marie Brown

My books combine extremes: Sagas and science. Science and faith. History and fantasy. They ask, What have we overlooked? Whose story must not be forgotten? For 20 years, I worked as a science writer at a university. Now I write from a farm in Vermont. Four Icelandic horses graze outside my window, and every year I travel to Iceland in search of adventure--and inspiration.



Read Next Recommendation

Report incorrect product information.