Viking-age perspectives on pregnancy, particularly when it came to a child destined for revenge: a father's tragic fate retold.
In the captivating world of the Vikings, pregnancy and the unborn weren't just physical realities, but topics shrouded in ambiguity and intrigue. Scarcely mentioned in texts or emphasized in art, the Viking Age offered a fascinating mix of varied perspectives on pregnancy.
A landmark study published in 2025, titled "Womb Politics: The Pregnant Body and the Archaeologies of Absence," sought to delve into this mystery, unraveling the enigma surrounding Viking women and their pregnancy experiences. The research team examined centuries of texts, images, and burial evidence from the Viking Age, all in an effort to shed light on the female life cycle and its role in Old Norse culture and society.
The study revealed a culture where the unborn were sometimes perceived as social entities with their own destinies, yet in other cases, treated more like health conditions with no hint of a separate identity. Perhaps the most striking observation was the frequent absence of pregnancy in the historical record, a deliberate omission, the researchers posited, rather than an oversight.
Women in the Viking Age had diverse experiences, says Marianne Hem Eriksen, one of the study's authors. Many lived on rural farmsteads, everyone contributing to the collective work, farming tools found in both male and female burials. While some women may have been connected to long-distance trade or metalworking, textile production seemed a particularly female-gendered task.
Despite the centrality of pregnancy in the lives of these women, it was seldom discussed in written sources. Researchers dug deeper, searching sagas, poems, law codes, and Christian writings for insights into Viking perceptions of pregnancy.
Guðrún's story from the Laxdaela Saga offered a striking example of when the Vikings ascribed "more existential weight" to the fetus. In this tale, Helgi wiping blood from Guðrún's shawl demonstrated a belief that the fetus was already seen as a separate entity with its own fate, foreshadowing the child's future actions.
Yet, other Old Norse phrases for pregnancy, like "to go not a woman alone" and "to walk with child," hint at a different view, one that viewed pregnancy as merely a female health condition.
So, could Vikings see unborn children as integrated social persons? Probably not that straightforward.
The study also pointed to physical evidence, such as burials and artefacts, to complement the textual sources. One intriguing find was a 3.8cm tall silver figurine from Aska, Sweden, depicting a pregnant woman cradling a round belly with her arms. This woman may also wear a helmet with a cloverleaf-shaped nose guard, raising questions about whether pregnant Viking women were regarded as warriors.
However, one puzzling aspect emerged from analyzing the burial record. Despite high death rates during pregnancy and childbirth, only 14 examples of mothers being buried with their infants were found. The researchers speculated that newborns might have been used as grave-goods or may not have been formally buried at all, raising the unsettling question of whether the Vikings grieved over dead babies.
The Viking Age understanding of pregnancy remains a complex puzzle. While the unborn could be seen as future warriors, or not as people at all, pregnancy could be viewed as powerful or a health burden. This inconsistency contrasts with the immense value the Vikings placed on kinship and family, leaving us with more questions than answers.
Were pregnant women their own beings with their own lives ahead of them, or not? Was pregnancy simply a state of health? Could pregnant women even be warriors, in some form or another? And what happened to the mothers and infants who didn't survive the experience?
The Viking Age's ambiguous views on pregnancy underscore a period where birth, life, and death were ever-present and deeply intertwined, with the unborn caught in the midst of this intricate web.
Science delved into the enigma of Viking Age perceptions toward pregnancy with a landmark study in 2025, titled "Womb Politics: The Pregnant Body and the Archaeologies of Absence." The study highlighted that health-and-wellness beliefs and social expectations were interwoven in Viking views on the unborn, shifting between perceiving them as social entities with their own destinies and health conditions with no separate identity.
Despite the complicated understanding of pregnancy during the Viking Age, it remains unclear if pregnant women were viewed as their own beings with distinct lives or simply regarded as being in a health-and-wellness state. This intriguing paradox stresses the need for further investigation to gain a deeper understanding of how the Vikings viewed one of the most transformative life experiences.
