Unable to claim power in their own names, they could only rule on behalf of a male relative. Both were outsiders, marrying into the Merovingian family, a Frankish dynasty that barred women from inheriting the throne. They did all this while shouldering the extra burdens of queenship. They collaborated with foreign rulers, engaged in public works programs and expanded their kingdoms’ territories. And these queens did much more than simply hang on to their thrones. Fredegund was queen for 29 years, and regent for 12 of those years, and Brunhild was queen for 46 years, regent for 17 of them. Janus-like, they looked back toward the rule of both the Romans and tribal barbarian warlords, while also looking forward to a new era of nation-states.Ī 15th-century illuminated manuscript depicts the wedding of Sigibert and Brunhild in the Austrasian capital of Metz, now a city in northeast France.īoth ruled longer than almost every king and Roman emperor who had preceded them. And they ruled during a critical period in Western history. When chroniclers and historians did make note of them, Brunhild and Fredegund were dismissed as minor queens of a minor era.Īnd yet the empire these two queens shared encompassed modern-day France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, western and southern Germany, and swaths of Switzerland. But as with so many women before them, history blotted out their successes and their biographies. During their lifetimes, they grabbed power and hung on to it they convinced warriors, landowners and farmers to support them, and enemies to back down. The ghosts of these two Frankish queens are everywhere. The Valkyrie’s fictional story is an amalgam of the real lives of Brunhild and her sister-in-law and rival, Queen Fredegund, grafted onto Norse legends. Portrait of Fredegund painted in the late 18th century, during a revival of interest in the queens.īecause while millions are familiar with the operatic Brünnhilde, few today recall that she shares a name with an actual Queen Brunhild, who ruled some 1,400 years ago.

First, though, she belts out a poignant aria, giving rise to the expression, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” Her character became yet another way to casually ridicule women’s bodies and their stories. At the end of the 15-hour opera cycle, she throws herself into her lover’s funeral pyre. In Wagner’s story, Brünnhilde is a Valkyrie, tasked with carrying dead warriors off to the heroes’ paradise of Valhalla. Portrait of Brunhild painted in the late 18th century, during a revival of interest in the queens. This article is a selection from the January/February issue of Smithsonian magazine Buy Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $12

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