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In the Viking age, a free Norse woman could own property, run the farm while her husband was away and, for certain reasons, divorce him. These rights stopped well short of equality and did not apply to enslaved women.

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Most of the evidence comes from Iceland: the Grágás law collection, written down in the 12th and 13th centuries, and family sagas of the same period describing earlier times. The mistress of a household, the húsfreyja, ran its stores and daily work, and keys buried with women are often read as a sign of that authority. A daughter could inherit when there was no son. A wife could declare a divorce before witnesses for causes such as violence; in Laxdæla saga, Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir leaves a husband who struck her. A divorced wife could usually take back her dowry. Women could not speak at the assembly, act as chieftains or serve as judges, and their marriages were mostly arranged by male relatives.

Türkçe oku
Viking Çağı'nda özgür bir İskandinav kadını mülk sahibi olabilir, kocası uzaktayken çiftliği yönetebilir, belirli gerekçelerle ondan boşanabilirdi. Yine de bu haklar eşitlikten çok uzaktı ve köle kadınları kapsamıyordu.

Kanıtların çoğu İzlanda'dan gelir: 12. ve 13. yüzyılda yazıya geçirilen Grágás yasaları ile aynı dönemde yazılıp daha eski zamanları anlatan aile sagaları. Evin hanımı, yani húsfreyja, kileri ve günlük işleri yönetirdi; kadın mezarlarından çıkan anahtarlar çoğu zaman bu yetkinin işareti olarak yorumlanır. Oğul yoksa kız çocuğu mirasçı olabilirdi. Şiddet gibi gerekçelerle kadın, tanıkların önünde boşandığını ilan edebilirdi; Laxdæla Sagası'nda Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir kendisine tokat atan kocasını bu yolla bırakır. Boşanan kadın çoğunlukla çeyizini geri alabilirdi. Buna karşılık kadınlar mecliste söz alamaz, reis ya da yargıç olamazdı; evliliklerini de çoğunlukla erkek akrabaları ayarlardı.

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Background reading: Viking Age
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