A digital reconstruction of the face of a Viking woman buried at the site of Coppergate in York, carried out by a team from the University of Dundee, has called into question some traditional assumptions about these Nordic invaders.
Benedict Watson, a researcher on the project, said he was shocked to see the result of the reconstruction. “I have to admit, I shuddered,” he said. “I had always assumed that Viking women all looked like blonde Swedish supermodels, but if we’ve got this right this one looked more like Shrek’s cousin. I’ve rarely seen anyone with such an intense concentration of unpleasant facial features. Look at her eyebrows! Ugh. just put it away, will you?”
This groundbreaking research shows that far from being strong yet beautiful Valkyrie types, or slender, elegant shield-maidens like Eowyn out of The Lord of the Rings, we may have to begin to accept that Viking women were stout, square-jawed old washerwomen with terrible taste in bonnets.
By Prawn
