Which Female Warrior Are You?

Lozen was an Apache warrior in 'Hell's Forty Acres,' land her people had been pushed onto in 1870s Arizona. The Apache warriors would raid the land in New Mexico that had been stolen from their tribes. Lozen would gather up the women and children, and send them to safety during the fighting--until her brother died. Then she rode with the men on a rampage of revenge. She later fought with Geronimo and was with him when he surrendered, after which she became a prisoner of war.

Joan, at the tender age of 13, was instructed by the archangel Michael and two saints to drive the English out of France and bring the French prince to Reims to be crowned. The French believed her and supported her as a warrior. She beat the English at Orleans, leading only a very small army and continuing the fight even after being pierced with an arrow. When the English finally captured her, she was burned at the stake when she was 19 years old. She was canonized as a saint 420 years later.

Artemisia was the queen of a country in what is now Turkey, called Halicarnassus. She sailed for her ally, King Xerxes, in his naval battles against the Greeks, commanding her own fleet. She once tricked the Greeks during the Battle of Salamis by pretending to attack one of her own ships so that the Greeks would think her ship was Greek and was taking care of business. It worked. The Greeks sailed on. Artemisia later died, not in battle, but of a lovesick heart.

Takeko was one of a very scant few female samurais. She was a learned scholar of literature and mathematics, and was dedicated to martial arts. She fought in the Boshin War in the 1860s, at the side of her sister, Yuko. Takeko led the women's army, fighting with naginata, which were like swords at the ends of very long poles. When Takeko was mortally wounded and in the last stages of death, she asked her sister to remove her head before the enemy had the chance to use it as a trophy. Her sister complied and buried it. Japanese schoolgirls visit the site to this day to honor Takeko and the Women's Army.

In AD 61, when the Roman invaders of Britain attacked Celtic Queen Boudicca of Iceni, Boudicca didn't stand for it. Her husband had just died, and even though his will gave the kingdom to his daughters, Roman invaders tortured and raped Boudicca and her daughters, and took control of her kingdom. Boudicca and her army fought back across southern England, killing over 80,000 Roman invaders, causing Nero to consider leaving Britain altogether. Rome eventually defeated her armies, and her fate is unknown.

When the Sea Queen of Connaught was 15 years old and wanted to sail with her father, her mother said no, citing that her hair would get caught in the ropes. Grace chopped it off and went with her father. Later, when he died, she became chief of his clan and took over his sea trade. Some say she was a pirate. She was brave for sure. When her sons and brother were captured by the English, Grace went to London and presented their case personally to Queen Elizabeth I. She didn't bow to the queen, threw a borrowed handkerchief into the fire, and did not hand over her weapon, yet she still earned the respect of the queen. O'Malley had many, many other exploits, including the kidnapping of noblemen, seizing castles, and leading rebellions.