46. Shieldmaidens - Lagertha and Freydis Eiríksdóttir

"There were once women in Denmark who dressed themselves to look like men and spent almost every minute cultivating soldiers' skills; they did not want the sinews of their valour to lose tautness and be infected by self-indulgence . . . As if they were forgetful of their true selves they put toughness before allure, aimed at conflicts instead of kisses, tasted blood, not lips, sought the clash of arms rather than the arm's embrace, fitted to weapons hands which should have been weaving, desired not the couch but the kill, and those they could have appeased with looks they attacked with lances." In this reverse damsel episode, Kat and Rachel discuss the Viking Age, Valkyries, and famous Shieldmaidens, Lagertha and Freydis Eiríksdóttir.