Love those helmets

I’m sure you’ve heard stories of the Vikings: the fearsome raiders from Denmark and Norway who raided the coasts of Europe and Britain in their longships; terrifying small towns, enslaving the inhabitants, and carrying off cattle, food and whatever plunder they could find. The great stories of the Vikings are told in the sagas, which are long, complex tales of adventure, battle, heroes, gods – and Alfhild the girl pirate.
The saga was first written down in the twelfth century, and it tells the story of a beautiful princess, Alfhild, whose father tried to keep her locked away from everyone until he could find her a suitable husband. But Alfhild refused to get married. Instead, she “exchanged woman’s for man’s attire and …began the life of a warlike rover.” Alfhild had an all-female crew, and there were many other brave and warrior-like women described in the sagas.
Alfhild might even have come up in battle against one of the Vikings’ most brilliant opponents: the English general Aethelflaed, daughter of King Alfred the Great.
You can read more about the lives of real pirates on the Swashbuckler website.