When the Danes decided to attack Sweden, it seemed like all hope was lost. But what the Danes did not know was that Sweden was home to Blenda. During the reign of King Alle, the Geats decided to launch an attack on Norway. He gathered up as many men as he could and set out to attack. As a result of this, there was not a lot of men left to fight, and the kingdom was left unprotected from its enemies. The Danes were aware of this, and seized the opportunity to strike. A particular part of the kingdom the Danes found defenseless was Småland, home to our hero Blenda. So, they proceeded to attack. Blenda was said to have been a woman of noble birth, and after hearing about the impending attack, she decided to rally the women together and defend Småland. She did this by building a fiery cross and many women answered her call from Kongo, Albo, Kinnevald, Norrvidinge, and Uppvidinge.
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| Blenda by August Malmström (1829-1901) |
The women responded to Blenda's message with hardiness. All the women agreed that they could not take on the men by themselves. So, they decided to take a more cunning approach. When the Danish soldiers approached, the women leaders came to them and told them how impressed they were with the men in battle. They then invited them to a banquet where there was plenty of eating and drinking. The Danes had their fill of food and wine, ended up getting drunk, and falling asleep. As they slept, the woman warriors killed all of the men in their sleep with axes and staffs. When King Alle returned, he commended the woman on their heroism. As a reward, he bestowed new rights to Blenda and all the women who assisted her in the task. These rights included equal inheritance of land, property, and money as their husbands and brothers, the right to wear belts around their waists, and the right to beat the drum at weddings.
Something that really impresses me about this story is how all the women took things into their own hands. It always seems like the men have to take over the role of protector, but when there are no men around, these women took on that role. Blenda realized the danger, but instead of trying to fight with brawn, she fights back with brains. And even though it was not Blenda's place to fight back, she went against the odds and did what she had to do to protect her home. Another part of the story that resonates with audiences is how some of these aspects also relate to the world we live in today. There is still a wage gap between men and women and there are still issued with what women can and can not wear. And these issues are brought up at the end of the story when the king bestows these rights to the women. So it is interesting to see a story that has been told for so long still have real world problems women face today.
Work Cited:
-Dhwty. “Blenda: The Cunning and Courageous Swedish Woman Who Defeated the Danish Army.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, 21 Oct. 2018, www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/blenda-cunning-and-courageous-swedish-woman-who-defeated-danish-army-007494.
-Kane, Njord. “The Legendary Viking Heroine Blenda.” Spangenhelm, 6 Sept. 2019, spangenhelm.com/legendary-heroine-blenda/.
I was not aware of Blenda but I wish I was, for a woman to form a group that can defeat a bunch of Danish soldiers is extremely noteworthy. The Danes assumed the town would be undefended and failed to account for the female presence. Blenda did not have to take it upon herself to destroy the Danish army and it shows the strength of a female group fighting for an agreed upon cause. I liked the connection you made between the king awarding them equal inheritance and the right to wear an item of clothing, which is still a modern day struggle. The narrative was interesting and gave a glimpse into the actions of women at a time when they otherwise had no voice within their communities.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting story that I never heard before. I loved how the women used their wit and companionship to defeat the Danish army. The men were not expecting the women to be capable of such an accomplishment, which led to their downfall. Again, this is another story that demonstrates how much people underestimate the power of women.
ReplyDeleteThe legendary story of Blenda is a classic in Sweden, it's really awesome to see that you wrote about her! It's a pretty classic folktale there. Although historians don't really know if Blenda ever existed, there have been Scandinavian women warriors throughout history! You might be interested in learning about the Birka Warrior (as she's called), who is also from Sweden! (Sorry Scandinavian folklore is my major so I'm rambling a bit.) Anyways, you did a really great job!
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