Shield-maiden forgetfulness given to Sigurðr so he forgets his previous relationship with her. Brynhildr is upset not only for the loss of Sigurðr but also for the dishonesty involved. Similar to her male counterparts, the shield-maiden prefers to do things straightforwardly, without the deception considered stereotypically feminine in much of medieval literature. She enacts her vengeance directly, resulting in the deaths of herself, Sigurðr, and Sigurð's son by Guðrún. By killing the child, she demonstrates an understanding of feud and filial responsibility; if he lived, the boy would grow up to take vengeance on Brynhildr's family. Guðrún has a similar concern
Shield-maiden Neil Price showed that a 10th Century Birka-burial excavated in the 1970s containing a large number of weapons and the bones of two horses turned out to be the grave of a woman upon bone analysis by Anna Kjellström. In 2017, DNA analysis confirmed that the person was female; the so called Birka female Viking warrior, but others including respected scholar of the Vikings, Judith Jesch says that conclusion is premature. While women warriors are a staple of fantasy, they are not often referred to as shield-maidens. Some who are include Éowyn in J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of