Shieldmaiden Freydis

If you had the misfortune to cross Freydis Eiriksdottir's path today, it would be in your best interest not to mess with her. Frydis as Lagertha was a valiant shieldmaiden and a ruthless warrior.

To say she was wild and out of control is almost an understatement. Freydis Eiriksdottir was a large woman who feared nothing and an unpredictable Viking warrior that could inflict on even the bravest of men.

She was the daughter of the famous Viking Erik the Red, now remembered for his colonization of Greenland. Freydis Eiriksdottir is mentioned in two Norse sagas, the saga of the Greenlanders and the saga of Erik the Red. Her half-brother was the great Viking explorer Leif Erikson.

Around 1004, she made her first trip to Vinland. And that expedition ended in a fierce battle with the Native Americans, when the Vikings, while trying to negotiate with them, were at night attacked on their camp. The Indians fired catapult weapons at the Norsemen. According to sagas’ descriptions, the weapon was a spear that made an unusual sound when it was thrown through the air. Vikings who had never seen such a weapon in their lives fled, but one shieldmaiden remained until the end refusing to flee - Freydis Eiriksdo

Freydis was eight months pregnant, but her physical condition did not stop her from taking on the Native Americans.

She called out, "Why run you away from such worthless creatures, stout men that ye are, when, as seems to me likely, you might slaughter them like so many cattle? Let me but have a weapon; I think I can fight better than any of you", and went fighting the natives alone, until her countrymen returned, causing the Natives to flee in horror at her bravery and savagery, albeit pregnant.

After this episode, Freydis returned to Greenland where, hearing about new expeditions, she convinced two Icelandic men, Helgi and Finnbogi, who were brothers, to lead a private expedition to Vinland and with her to split all the profits in half. Freydis Eiriksdottir set a trap for them, beating herself (where have I seen this?) to make her look like she's been mistreated.

Returning to the Greenland, she told her husband that the two Icelandic brothers had offended and assaulted her, demanding revenge or she would leave him.

With no other options, Torvald murdered the two brothers but saved their women's lives. This made Freydis furious. She took an ax and killed their women.

There isn't much more information about what happened to Erik the Red's daughter afterwards. The two Norse sagas present a different biography of her. In the Greenland Saga, she is portrayed as an evil, cunning, ruthless and greedy woman who almost resembles the biblical Jezebel. The Saga of Erik the Red features a female warrior worthy of admiration and accommodation in Valhalla.