Women
of power. I’ve never cared for helpless women in life or fiction. One, I can be
a jerk. I need a woman who will growl back at me if I’m out of line. Two, helpless
anybody is too high maintenance; you’re always putting out one fire or another.
Give me a woman that can dust it up any day. This doesn’t mean she has to be physically
stronger than the men. I make this point with Sigurlina when she fills in for
the men on the oars, so that they can relieve themselves or get a bite to eat.
She can keep up with the other rowers for a short time, but only for a short
time. This acknowledges the simple truth that men have more upper-body strength
than women. Women have better oxygen metabolism, endurance, and generally a
higher pain threshold. Plus Sigurlina is a Seith, she wins hands down. :-)
In
Horn of the Kraken I play to strong women doing many of the roles they would have
done in Norse society. The Norse did have a division of labour based on gender.
Men did not work looms or grind flower. This didn’t unbalance their society
because both sides had restrictions. I have been told that if a man wanted to
study Seith he would have to live as a woman while he did so. Dressing as a
woman doing woman’s work, the whole nine yards. Conversely, if a woman wanted
to go a Viking she would have to live as a man for the voyage. Frankly, on a
small ship this makes a lot of sense. Gender
was defined by clothing and social function similar to some of the North American
first people’s tribes.
I
was temped to include this aspect in Horn of the Kraken, but for the sake of
the Fjorn, Sigurlina relationship, and the mind set of modern readers, I
decided against it.
