Rikke Malmros was born on the 9^th May 1939, and passed away suddenly on the 26^th March 2022. She was a historian of the Viking Age, with a particular interest in the history of the Scandinavian military-naval levy known in Old Norse as the leiðangr. Her studies led her to examine topics including the construction of longships, the organisation of armed forces, institutions of taxation,  the relation of peasants to the martial elite. She published articles in Historisk Tidsskrift, Scandia, and Aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie. Several of her articles were collected in her first book, which was also examined as a PhD thesis, Vikingernes syn på militær og samfund. Her second book, Bønder og leding i valdemartidens Danmark, was published in 2019. She also contributed entries to standard reference works in the field, and was an active and insightful reviewer.

Research culture in the humanities in Denmark traditionally features foreboding barricades between disciplines. People who describe themselves as historians have a tendency to see saga material – especially forms of poetry like skaldic verse – as the domain of literary scholars. Rikke gamely circumvented these hurdles. She saw skaldic verse as a crucial source for her work, and so she plunged into the material. In doing so, she forcefully reminded Danish historians and philologists alike that the filigree verses which are largely preserved in prosimetrum in the sagas (and sometimes as excerpts in learned treatises) need not be viewed as riddles, or quasi-mathematical problems to be solved, but also potentially as slices of life from the Viking Age. She was often modest about her ability to read Old Norse, both in print and in person. But in my view, though her modesty was disarming and graceful, it was not necessary: She had formally studied the language. Indeed, she read Old Norse in the original at the same level as some people who have tenured positions in Old Norse literature.

In her last work, Bønder og leding i valdemartidens Danmark, Rikke took aim at the process whereby the Viking Age leiðangr, later the Old Danish lething, was transformed from a troop levy into a form of taxation. Law codes (especially The Jutish Law), custumals, tax receipts, chronicles, and Early Modern census data were skilfully brewed to provide a lucid vision of a developing fiscal state. Malmros’s work on this project reached well beyond her home turf of military and maritime history, and offered new perspectives on the perennial Scandinavian historiographic questions of state formation and agrarian history.

Rikke was a true creature of Aarhus University. She was the oldest daughter of Richard Malmros, who in 1943 became head of the newly established department of neurosurgery at Aarhus Kommunehospital, and later became professor of neurosurgery at Aarhus University. Rikke was thus linked to the university park and its immediate surroundings from childhood. We lovingly referred to her (and still do) as vores Rikke, first in the yellow brick buildings of Universitetsparken, where she spent much of her childhood, and now in the red brick of Nobelparken. But she was a woman whose intellectual world reached far beyond the Ringgade. She was a reliable and jovial presence at seminars on any aspect of medieval culture. I saw her pose well-informed, generous, and apposite questions at events on subjects as diverse as Mongol-European relations and medieval Arabic erotic manuals (often introduced with a polite disclaimer that she knew nothing about the topic at hand, when in the process of asking the question she normally showed she knew an impressive amount). She had a joyous, occasionally impish sense of humour. Her ability as a raconteuse, often while she enjoyed either red wine or a cold bottle of Tuborg at the Studenterbar, will be missed by Aarhus’s medieval studies community.

The story of Rikke’s life of the mind was inspirational. She had come to her studies later in life, having spent many years struggling with psychiatric challenges. Her fellow history students from the 70s and 80s recall her as charmingly eccentric, but none were in doubt about her academic abilities. During her studies she was particularly influenced by Erik Ulsig, Professor of Medieval History, whom she greatly admired. Limited by her health problems to just a few hours of work per day, she worked steadily and stubbornly. She took her PhD at the age of 71, and published her second book at the age of 80. Her brother, the film-maker Nils Malmros, supported her research throughout. Rikke was a familiar sight around the University and in town, often dressed in cheery ensembles of bright blue, or orange, or scarlet. She told me once that this was a deliberate and conscious choice, because she felt that the years of her youth when she had been unwell had been so dark, and now that those days were behind her she wanted to shine. Rikke’s research career should remind us that there is a joy in uncovering the past. The historian’s work can provide meaning and happiness in the face of hard times – sometimes even in the face of ones demons. Now, Rikke is herself part of the history of our field and our university. She will be remembered for many years to come.

R.C. & P. I.