Grave goods can tell us a lot about the person buried there: what they did, how they died, what their status was in life, and even their gender. Generally, weapons are associated with warriors who were usually men. But in the case of the Finnish Suontaka sword, it was found in the grave of not a man, but a woman. This alludes to perhaps the differing roles of women throughout the viking age.
This particular sword was found in Suontaka, Finland. The exact date of excavation is unknown, but the sword itself is dated to around the 10th century. The blade is made of iron and probably originated from Europe as most iron works did, but the hilt is distinctly Finnish. Although we do not know the exact use of the sword, it is clear that this sword was for weaponry. Contrary to what might be expected, some women were buried with swords. These swords however were known more accurately as weaving swords or weaving beaters. They were shorter and specialized to work with the vertical and warp-weighted loom and found exclusively in women’s graves.¹ They weren't used for battle.
Traditionally, women were confined to roles that included household activities such as weaving and cooking. However, the Suontaka sword was a weapon sword, not a weaving sword. In the context of other discovered weaving swords, this discovery makes us rethink the roles that women played in viking society. Although it is clear from literature that the weaving was a woman’s task and that males and females had differing primary roles in society, this grave find suggests that females might have in some contexts possessed warrior roles and had been buried with their swords to prove it.

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