Freydís Eiríksdóttir and the Skræling A section of “Eiríks saga rauða” (the saga Erik the Red wrote on his exploration of North America) makes mention of an alleged incident in which a Viking camp was attacked by a tribe of “Skrælings”, or “Skrælingjar”, the Norse word for Native Americans. The tribe shot what were believed to be catapults at the Viking warriors, who had never seen such weaponry before and began to flee in confusion. Erik’s daughter, Freydís, was heavily pregnant at the time, and upon seeing the men and warriors of her camp retreating, shouted to them:
“Why run you away from such worthless creatures, stout men that ye are, when, as seems to me likely, you might slaughter them like so many cattle? Let me but have a weapon; I think I could fight better than any of you.”
Her fellow Vikings still gave no heed to her words, so Freydís took matters into her own hands by lunging out of her tent and picking up the sword of one of her fallen brethren. As the Skræling warriors advanced on her, Freydís lowered her tunic and struck her breasts with the sword, shouting a furious battle cry. The Skrælingjar, frightened and intimidated, began to flee and rush back to their boats. Despite single-handedly stopping the attack and driving away the attacking force, her fellow Vikings chastised and rebuffed her for her reckless behaviour.
