Shanna Bryman

Shanna Bryman

Supervisors

Prof Alexandra Sanmark (INS UHI), Dr Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson (Uppsala Universitet), and Dr Erin Goeres (University College London)

Research title

Making Herstory: Evaluating Female Leadership in the Viking Age

Research abstract

Women in the Viking Age held more power and prestige within society than previously believed, engaging in power play as co-rulers, and in some cases, sole rulers. However, in many studies, women are too often relegated to positions of passivity, or their stature in society often revolves around men (i.e. they are identified as the wives of men in powerful positions, rather than being shown to take on these positions themselves); and assumed gender roles and male-bias play a significant factor in the association of grave goods with gender and status in Viking-Age archaeology. My thesis provides a new approach at evaluating women in leadership positions by using modern leadership theory to identify key leadership traits within medieval texts, identifying leadership terminology in the original Old Norse as it applies to men and women, and creating a new leadership criterion of archaeological evidence with the aim of identifying women who may have held leadership positions in the Viking Age. I explore the possibility of women coming into power in their own right, what leadership looked like for the women in these roles, and whether they were successful and effective leaders. Gender roles in the Viking Age are also addressed as is the assumption of power assigned to individuals based on the perceived gender of grave goods. 

Biography

Shanna Bryman (she/her) is a full-time PhD candidate with the Institute for Northern Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Shanna earned her MLitt in Viking Studies with UHI in 2021, and is currently supervised by Prof Alexandra Sanmark, Dr Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, and Dr Erin Goeres. Her MLitt dissertation focus was an in-depth evaluation of the relationship between the Picts and the Norse in the Northern Isles, and her current PhD thesis focus is an in-depth evaluation of the effectiveness of female leadership in the Viking Age.

Related links

https://uhi.academia.edu/ShannaBryman

Contact email address: 19008336@uhi.ac.uk