Marriage was not on their bucket lists, these infamous women chose to become pirates instead of walking down the aisle!
Stikla, she was the sister of Rusla and Tesondus who followed her sister into piracy because she enjoyed the state of war versus marriage.
Rusla, also known as The Red Maiden, fought with her brother, King Tesondus, for many years over the lose of his crown to a Danish King. Rusla felt he was useless, and in her revenge and anger, she sent her fleet of pirates to attack Denmark, where she sank his ship.
Alwilda, was different to the other women pirates on this short list, in that she ultimately got married. However it wasn’t a simple walk down the aisle for this 5th century Viking lady. Alwilda refused her arranged marriage, instead she set sail to help the Saxon in their conflict against the picts of Scotland. She became such a strong and infamous pirate, that the Prince that she was engaged to followed and captured her. Alwilda likes his bravery, so he decides to marry Prince Alf.
This might seem like an extreme reaction to the idea of marriage, but according to Smithsonian magazine author, Lorraine Boissoneanult, “For women this was appealing because they were able to more completely divest themselves of the repressive roles that they had been cast in in their own societies. They were able to make themselves anew.”
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