The Frykat Woman
Viking Age, DENMARK
During the Viking Age the town of Fyrkat was home to a great ringed fortress planted in the centre of the Jutland peninsula. Founded by the ambitious King Harold Bluetooth in a bid to consolidate his power. Bluetooth’s reign was a turbulent one, dominated by violence. During the 1950s archaeologists surveying the fort discovered a cemetery, consisting of thirty graves, at the base of its walls and decided to investigate further. The Fyrkat Woman was to be the most surprising and unique discovery of the excavations. Buried on her back the woman was placed under a roofed burial ‘house’ and alongside a specially designed wooden walkway through the cemetery. Her burial was, by far, the richest of those in the cemetery and stands as one of the richest female burials of the Viking Age. However, unlike other wealthy female burials, the Fyrkat woman appears not to be from a ruling class or family. The grave goods deposited with the woman indicated that her status may have come from her connection to Viking Age Ideas of magic. Specifically, archaeologists have suggested the Fyrkat woman may have been a seeress; an important Norse-pagan shaman. It is believed the Norse viewed these shamans as closely linked to the magic of Odin and, as such, sought them out for religious services.
We see elements of these practices in the various ‘charms’ buried with the Fyrkat woman, including animal bones and a silver pendant of a chair - thought to be the rendering of a throne used for seances. The Fyrkat woman also wore a pouch filled with henbane seeds, a powerful hallucinogen. Beside her body was a copper container containing animal fat. Thanks to a medieval manuscript that details a recipe for ‘witches ointment’ we can suggest the fat could be mixed with the henbane seeds to form a kind of hallucinogenic body butter. We can also thank a brave experimental archaeologist who decided to test the ointment for themselves - describing the effect as an intense feeling of flight. Another vessel, made from glass, contained a mixed substance of calcium, white lead and phosphorus - thought to be another another recipe for ointment. Laid to the side of the body was an iron staff, thought to be a wand, that may have been wielded in ceremony. Similar staff examples have been discovered in Scandinavia. One example, from Romsdal, Norway, appears to have bent before being deposited, perhaps to render its magical qualities useless.
It is clear from written accounts of the seeresses that the Fyrkat woman was a formidable member of the community. She would have been viewed with both respect and caution. Her important and influential position is also reflected in her grave goods. She wore an expensive blue costume detailed with red stitching alongside a veil of golden thread. It is also apparent the Fyrkat was well connected or knew people who were; buried with her was a rare ‘Gotland box brooch’, of which we have very few examples, and the copper vessel that may have come from central Asia.
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A Gotland Box Brooch
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The Norse left us very few first hand sources regarding their religious activity, prior to Christianity. Owing to this, we may never fully understand the power and influence of the seeress in her community. One further mystery regarding the Fyrkat woman is also yet to be solved: She was buried with great care during the time of Harald Bluetooth, a king who violently installed christianity during the unification of Denmark. Why is it then that the pagan Fyrkat woman’s burial was permitted alongside the walls of his brand new fortress?
