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[[https://onesearch.uark.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_gale_infotracmisc_A404008855&context=PC&vid=01UARK_INST:01UARK&lang=en&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=COMBINED&query=any,contains,Self,%20Kathleen%20M.%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Valkyrie%E2%80%99s%20Gender-%20Old%20Norse%20Shield-Maidens%20and%20Valkyries%20as%20a%20Third%20Gender.%E2%80%9D&offset=0|Library Link]]

{{ :kathleen_m._self_valkyrie_s_gender.pdf |}}

====== Abstract ======

This article argues that the medieval Scandinavian valkyrie and shield-maiden,
overlapping categories of warrior, are best understood as a third gender, a hybrid of
masculine and feminine attributes. Found in a variety of texts, myths, and legends of
heroes, for example, these figures are clad in masculine attire, armor, and weapons,
and exercise masculine power as they fight and choose who will die in battle. At the
same time, linguistic markers, literary devices, and other of their activities mark them
as feminine. The article further argues that the shield-maiden who chooses a male
spouse subsequently transitions from the third gender to the feminine gender. As a
consequence, she loses many of the powerful abilities of a warrior woman, along with
her armor and weapons. Furthermore, her subjectivity is altered so that it is founded
and dependent on that of her husband. When he dies, she is left with a diminished
social network that, given the construction of subjectivity in this medieval context,
leaves her personhood diminished as well.

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