"Hail, Ye Givers," Sex and Gender in the Viking Age A discussion of Sex and Gender in Birka 581 and The Oseberg Burial

Though much work has been done regarding sex and gender in history and prehistory, there lacks an interdisciplinary perspective regarding the use of textual sources of mythology-based religions combined with archaeological evidence. Utilizing the historical texts of the Poetic Edda and the sagas recorded in tandem with an osteobiographic approach, we can see evidence for a non-strict gender system that allows for mobility between traditionally male and female roles. Using the Birka 581 and Oseberg burials in combination with the religious mythology, it is clear that gender in the Viking age likely was not a simple binary but a spectrum that allowed for multiple expressions of gender.