Viking Women (Radio Edit)

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in medieval Scandinavia by historian Dr Eleanor Barraclough and comedian Chloe Petts to learn about the fascinating women of the Viking age.

The popular stereotype of the Vikings is pretty macho: bearded men on boats, heading out to raid, pillage and burn down monasteries. There are some famous images of Viking warrior women: shieldmaidens, Valkyries and various goddesses. But what about the lives led by ordinary women in medieval Scandinavia and across the Viking world?

In this episode we look at the real history behind the myths and stereotypes, exploring daily life for Viking women: their roles as wives and mothers, the work they did as weavers and healers, the gods they prayed to, the archaeological traces they left behind, as well as the sad reality that many women in the Viking world were enslaved. We also look at women who lived lives out of the ordinary – as queens, sorceresses, and warriors.

This is a radio edit of the original podcast episode. For the full-length version, please look further back in the feed.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Clara Chamberlain Written by: Clara Chamberlain, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Emma Barnett. For most of my career, I've been on live radio, and I love it.
0:13.3	But I've always wondered, what if we'd had more time? How much deeper does the story go?
0:19.2	I remember having this very sharp thought that what you do right now, this is it.
0:24.3	This defines your life.
0:26.0	I'm ready to talk and ready to listen.
0:28.3	I'm insulted by how little the medical community is ever bothered with this.
0:33.9	Ready to talk with me, Emma Barnard, is my new podcast.
0:37.0	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:40.3	Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:45.1	My name is Greg Jenner. I'm a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today, we are loading our loom weights and launching our longship as we sail back to medieval Scandinavia to learn all about Viking women.
0:56.4	And to help us, we have two very special guests.
0:59.0	In History Corner, she's a historian, writer and broadcaster based at Bath Spa University,
1:03.4	where her research focuses on the cultures, literatures and languages of the medieval North.
1:08.4	You may have read her sensational new book, Embers of the Hands,
1:11.2	Hidden Histories of the Viking Age. It's a wonderful book. And you will definitely remember her.
1:14.8	From our episode on Laif Eriksson is Dr. Eleanor Baraklough. Welcome back, Eleanor. Yay, thank you so much for having me back. Delighted to have you back. And in Comedy Corner, they're an award-winning, Sorry, and in comedy corner, they're an award-nominated stand-up comedian.
1:28.0	When it comes to awards, I am famously always the bridesmaid never... Sorry, and in Comedy Corner, they're an award-nominated stand-up comedian.
1:32.1	When it comes to awards, I am famously always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
1:35.9	And what you just did, your mouth typo just cut deep.
1:37.2	I'm so sorry, Clive.
1:39.0	Okay, okay.
	...

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