Princess Alfhild – ‘The Pirate Princess’
This is a story of a princess in an ivory tower… with a twist! Because this princess, rather than ride off into the sunset with her prince on the white horse, became a formidable Viking pirate, leading a fleet of rebel pirate girls.
Princess Alfhild was the daughter of Siward, King of the Goths, who locked Alfhild in a high tower guarded by two vicious snakes. Any man who wanted to marry his fair maiden had to first defeat the reptilian monsters. If he failed, the suitor would be killed, his head displayed on a spike for all to see. Well, many literally lost their heads over the gorgeous princess until Prince Alf, son of King Sigar of Denmark came along.
Young Alf was a Viking, as cunning as he was fierce. He swathed “his body with a blood-stained hide” to make the snakes crazy with bloodlust and thus lose control. After getting rid of them, Alf triumphantly claimed his princess. Yet, King Siward, as old-fashioned as he seemed, declared that if his Alfhild was to marry it would have to be her own ’free & decided choice’. Alfhild decided to go out and slay her own dragons. She ran away from Alf and her palace and set sail for a life of piracy.
Soon, Alfhild commandeered her own ship, her crew consisting of young female rebels also keen to stay single. The Pirate Princess and her girl gang learned to wield axes and swords like pros, quickly establishing a fearsome reputation across the Scandinavian seas. They were so successful that the Danes sent several expeditions to stop their plundering. One of these hunts was led by Prince Alf, and by the time he tracked down, Alfhild was waiting for him on her ship, sword in hand, a helmet covering her blond curls. The face-off was epic, because each side fought to secure their future: Alf fought for a wife, Alfhild fought for her freedom. Who would win?
Well, keep in mind that even though genealogists have confirmed that many of the people portrayed in the Norse sagas did exist, these stories were written down by Christians, several centuries after the fact. And so, we read that Alf, after knocking Alfhild’s helmet off, seeing ‘the smoothness of her chin’, realized that ‘he must fight with kisses and not with arms’. They kissed, Alfhild gave up her pirating, and followed him to his castle. Hmm, a bit too patriarchy-friendly to be true, don’t you think? I prefer this Viking ending: Alfhild beat Alf, put his head on a spike, and sailed off into the sunset with her shield maidens. They lived happily ever after.
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