This is a list of women who engaged in war, found throughout mythology and folklore, studied in fields such as literature, sociology, psychology, anthropology, film studies, cultural studies, and women's studies. A mythological figure does not always mean a fictional one, but rather, someone of whom stories have been told that have entered the cultural heritage of a people. Some women warriors are documented in the written or scientific record and as such form part of history (e.g. the Ancient Briton queen Boudica, who led the Iceni into battle against the Romans). However, to be considered a warrior, the woman in question must have belonged to some sort of military, be it recognized, like an organized army, or unrecognized, like revolutionaries.

Pirates and seafarers

Africa

Angola

Benin history

Berber history

Burkina Faso

Egypt

Kongo

Somalia

Ethiopia

Ghana (then Gold Coast)

Hausa history

Yoruba mythology and history

Nubia/Kush (Sudanese) history

Americas

Native Americans

Aztec mythology

Tupi mythology

American Civil War

American Old West

American Revolution

Mexican Revolution

Argentina – Bolivia

Brazil

East Asia

Historical Mongolia

Historical China

Historical Japan

Korea

Southeast Asia

Historical Indonesia

Historical Malaysia

Historical Philippines

Historical Thailand

Historical Vietnam

Europe

Britons, Roman Britain, and history of Anglo-Saxon England

Four historical women: Two legendary women:

Celtic mythology and Irish mythology

This Amazon is famous in their traditions: her house or dairy of stone is yet extant; some of the inhabitants dwell in it all summer, though it be some hundred years old; the whole is built of stone, without any wood, lime, earth, or mortar to cement it, and is built in form of a circle pyramid-wise towards the top, having a vent in it, the fire being always in the centre of the floor; the stones are long and thin, which supplies the defect of wood; the body of this house contains not above nine persons sitting; there are three beds or low vaults that go off the side of the wall, a pillar betwixt each bed, which contains five men apiece; at the entry to one of these low vaults is a stone standing upon one end fix’d; upon this they say she ordinarily laid her helmet; there are two stones on the other side, upon which she is reported to have laid her sword: she is said to have been much addicted to hunting, and that in her time all the space betwixt this isle and that of Harries, was one continued tract of dry land. Similar stories of a female warrior who hunted the now submerged land between the Outer Hebrides and St Kilda are reported from Harris.

Historical Czech Lands

England

Duchy of Brittany

Illyria

The Netherlands

Albania

Historical France

Greek mythology

Historical Republic of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Portuguese legend

Italian history, folklore and Roman mythology

Historical Russia

Serbia

Scandinavian folklore and Germanic paganism

"From sunrise to the sundown no paragon had she. All boundless as her beauty was her strength was peerless too, And evil plight hung o'er the knight who dared her love to woo. For he must try three bouts with her; the whirling spear to fling; To pitch the massive stone; and then to follow with a spring; And should he beat in every feat his wooing well has sped, But he who fails must lose his love, and likewise lose his head."

Spain

West Asia

Antiquity Arabia

Islamic Arabia

Mesopotamian mythology

Old Testament

Persian mythology and history of Iran/historical Persia

Phoenician mythology

Israel and Jewish diaspora

South Asia

Hinduism Mythology

Central Asia

Afghanistan

Malalai of Maiwand