Valkyrie:

In Norse mythology the valkyries (Old Norse Valkyrja "Choosers of the Slain") were dísir, minor female deities, who served Odin. The valkyries' purpose was to determine the victors of battles and wars, and to choose the most heroic of those who had died in battle. Freyja, called Mistress of the slain (Valfreyja) and of the Valkyries in general^[1], chose half of these fallen heroes for her hall Fólkvangr.^[2]^[3] The rest went to Valhalla where they became einherjar. This was necessary because Odin needed warriors to fight at his side at the preordained battle at the end of the world, Ragnarök. In Valhalla the valkyries also “serve drink and look after the tableware and drinking vessels” (Prose Edda Gylfaginning 36).

It appears, however, that there was no clear distinction between the valkyries and the norns. Skuld is for instance both a valkyrie and a norn, and in the Darraðarljóð (lines 1–52), the valkyries weave the web of war (see below). According to the Prose Edda (Gylfaginning 36), “Odin sends the valkyries to every battle. They allot death to men and govern victory. Gunnr and Róta two valkyries and the youngest norn, called Skuld, always ride to choose who shall be slain and to govern the killings”.

Recent research has discussed the relation between the myths associated with valkyries and norns, on the one hand, and the actual travelling Völvas (seiðr-workers), on the other hand, in particular, women who visited newborn children in the pre-Christian Norse societies.^[5]

Etymology

The word "valkyrie" comes from the Old Norse valkyrja (pl. valkyrjar), from the words valr "the battle-slain" and kyrja "chooser" (from kørinn, korinn, the participe of the verb kjósa, "to choose");^[6] it therefore literally means "chooser of the slain".^[7] It is cognate to the Old English "wælcyrige". The modern German form "Walküre" appears in the first translations of the Poetic Edda (von der Hagen, 1812, Brothers Grimm, 1815, and Karl Joseph Simrock, 1851).^[8] These works provided part of the material used by Richard Wagner in his cycle The Ring of the Nibelung,^[9] which immortalized the term in the opera Die Walküre, whose lyrics were sketched in 1852-1853.^[10]

Depictions

The Valkyrie's Vigil, by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Robert Hughes. Hughes down-plays the warrior aspect of the valkyrie, depicting instead a beautiful young woman in an ethereal dress. Her armor is present, but set aside and her weapon is held by the blade, unready for combat.

In modern art, the valkyries are sometimes depicted as beautiful shieldmaidens on winged horses, armed with helmets and spears. However, valkyrie horse was a kenning for wolf (see Rök Stone), so contrary to the stereotype, they did not ride winged horses. This would suggest that their mounts were rather the packs of wolves that frequented the corpses of dead warriors. They were gruesome and war-like^{[citation needed]}.

Whereas the wolf was the valkyrie's mount, the valkyrie herself appears to be akin to the raven, flying over the battlefield and "choosing" corpses^[11]. Thus, the packs of wolves and ravens that scavenged the aftermath of battles may have been seen as serving a higher purpose.

According to Thomas Bulfinch's highly influential work Bulfinch's Mythology (1855), the armour of the valkyries "sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up over the northern skies, making what men call the 'Aurora Borealis', or 'Northern Lights'.^[12]" However, there is nothing in our sources which supports this claim^[13], except for the arrival of the Valkyries in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I:

Origins

The origin of the valkyries as a whole is not reported in extant texts, but many of the well known valkyries are reported as having mortal parents. It is now believed that the original valkyries were the priestesses of Odin who officiated at sacrificial rites in which prisoners were executed (“given to Odin”)^{[citation needed]}. These priestesses sometimes carried out the sacrifices themselves, which involved the use of a ritual spear^{[citation needed]}. By the time the Poetic Edda came to be compiled in the late 12th or early 13th century, these rituals had given rise to legends of supernatural battle-maidens who took an active part in human conflict, deciding who should live and who should die (Davidson 1964).

In the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda the valkyries are supernatural deities of unknown parentage; they are described as battle-maidens who ride in the ranks of the gods or serve the drinks in Valhalla; they are invariably given unworldly names like Skǫgul (“Fight, Rage”), Hlǫkk (“Clash, Din of Battle”) and Gjǫll/Göll (“Battle Cry”).").^[17]

In the Heroic lays, however, the valkyries are described as bands of warrior-women only the leader of whom is ever named. She is invariably a human woman, the beautiful daughter of a great king, though she shares some of the supernatural abilities of her anonymous companions. In the first of the three Helgi Lays, Helgi Hjörvarðsson is accosted by a band of nine valkyries the leader of whom, Svava, is the daughter of a king called Eylimi. In the second and third lays, the valkyries are led by Sigrun, who is the daughter of King Hogni; she marries the hero Helgi Hundingsbani and bears him sons. The most famous of the valkyries, Brynhildr, is also a human princess. In the Sigrdrífumál (The Ballad of the Victory-Bringer) she is never named, being called simply Sigrdrífa (“Victory-Bringer”), and there are only hints that she is not a deity; what's more, we are told nothing of her parentage. In the corresponding passage in the Volsunga saga, however, she is identified as Brynhildr, the daughter of King Budli. (Sigrdrífa is also identified with Brynhildr in another heroic lay, Helreið Brynhildar, or Bryndhildr's Ride to Hel.)

Notable valkyries

Major valkyries

Other sources indicate that some other valkyries were notable characters in Norse mythology, such as Gunnr who appears on the Rök Runestone, and Skögul who still appeared on a runic inscription in 13th century Bergen.

Other valkyries

Apart from the well known valkyries above, many more valkyrie names occur in our sources. In the nafnaþulur addition to Snorri's Edda the following strophes are found.

More are mentioned in Darraðarljóð (lines 1-52), a poem where their connection with the Norns is evident:

As can be seen from the above, several of the names exist in different versions. Many of them have a readily apparent warlike meaning - Hjörþrimul, for example, means "battle of swords" while Geirahöð means "battle of spears".

To what an extent this multitude of names ever represented individual mythological beings with separate characteristics is debatable. It is likely that many of them were never more than names and in any case only a few occur in extant myths.

Connections with Freyja

In Skáldskaparmál, Freyja is called "Possessor of the Slain" (Eidandi Valfalls), and in Njal's Saga, another title of Freyja is mentioned: Valfreyja "Mistress of the Chosen", and Mistress of the Valkyries in general^[18] (cf. Valfadir, Valkyrja).

Snorri Sturluson wrote that "whenever she rides into battles, she gets half of the slain, and Odin half" (The Prose Edda, Gylfaginning (24)) . Freyja is also called Vanadís, which suggests that she is related to the dísir. Like the Valkyries, Freyja also sometimes pours the wine at banquets of the Æsir (The Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál (17)).

Modern perception

Richard Wagner incorporated Norse tales that included the valkyrie Brünnhilde (Brynhildr) and her punishment and subsequent love for the warrior Siegfried (Sigurðr) into his opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. This masterpiece includes his opera Die Walküre, which contains the well known Ride of the Valkyries, as well as three others, Das Rheingold, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. These depictions and others have subsequently led to modern representations of valkyries less as figures of death and warfare and more commonly as romanticized, pristine white and gold clad figures riding winged horses.

Valkyrie

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