Thilde Kold Holdt: The archaeological inspiration behind the women of The Hanged God Trilogy
8th March 2022
Throughout March, Thilde Kold Holdt, author of the fantastic Hanged God Trilogy, is celebrating Women’s History Month by sharing the legendary, archaeological and historical inspirations behind the women in her series.
This International Women’s Day, we’re delighted to share how a skeleton discovered in 1900 influenced one of Thilde’s heroines…
While legendary stories are a great source of inspiration, reality is not far behind. When digging into the earth, we sometimes find mysterious pieces of the lives of Vikings whose stories are yet to be told. Stories we can only imagine from the little we’re given. Such is the fate of a skeleton in Norway called C 22541.
This is a rare and incredibly exciting discovery. Not only was the woman at Nordre Kjølen buried with an axe, she was also buried with a sword. And unlike axes, double-edged swords have no household functions. They were expensive items in the Viking Age and were weapons purely used for war.
Grave C 22541was unearthed in 1900, and scientists at that time conducted osteological examinations that led them to the conclusion that the person in the grave was a woman. She was 155cm tall, 18 or 19 years old, and had a head wound, that might or might not have led to her death, for there is signs of healing to be found on the skull.
The woman was put to rest with a sword, an axe, a spear, five arrowheads and a shield. As well as the skeleton of a horse with bridle and a few other tools. The skeleton is dated to somewhere in the mid 900s, which in terms of the Hanged God Trilogy is just around the time of birth of our very own Hilda.
In a re-evaluation of the grave in 1984, Per Hernæs especially noted the woman’s height and asserted that, being so short, she simply could not have been a warrior.
Yet, if we have learned anything from reading the sagas, it must be that Vikings fought with their wits as much as their strength. In battle a sword strike was as valid as a kick to the crotch, which would significantly even the odds for a shorter warrior. All is fair in Viking warfare.
We don’t yet know much about the woman in grave C 22541. Why was she buried with so many expensive weapons? Why did she die at such a young age? Was she recovering from the huge headwound which shattered part of her skull? How had that happened? So many questions left to ponder and inspire.
Thanks to the renewed interest in the area of shieldmaidens in more recent years, new studies are being made about the woman from Nordre Kjølen. I have speculated about this woman for a long time, so I eagerly await the results to finally be able to hear more about this real-life Hilda.
Slaughtered Gods, the third and final book in The Hanged God Trilogy, is out this October.