The Valkyrie are the divine shieldmaidens of Asgard that join with Odin in deciding the outcome of battles and choosing the bravest fallen warriors to live in Valhalla. But while classical art represents the Valkyrie as voluptuous and benevolent goddesses, the Norse sources describe the women as bathing in the blood of the battlefield.
Who are the Valkyrie?
In Old Norse, the word Valkyrie means “chooser of the slain”, which describes one of the important roles of the Valkyrie in Norse mythology. They were shieldmaidens of Odin, the god of war, they would swoop over the battlefield and choose the bravest of the fallen warriors to take the Valhalla.
Valhalla is the hall of Odin in Asgard, where Viking warriors who die bravely in battle are taken in the afterlife. Collectively they are known as the Einherjar, which are “those who fight alone”. In Valhalla, they train and feast, preparing to fight alongside Odin in the final battle of the apocalypse at Ragnarok.
The Valkyrie are described as warrior women. They descend from the sky on horses and garbed in the feathers of swans that allow them to fly. They also wear sturdy iron chain mail that falls to their knees, and helmets, just like any male warrior.
However, as women, they were not exempt from traditional female roles. They are also described as serving mead and ale to Odin and the Einherjar from drinking horns in Valhalla.
The Valkyrie were also sometimes called Oskmey, which means “wish maiden”. This reiterates their association with Odin, who was sometimes called Oski. What type of wishes they may have granted is unclear. Perhaps they fulfilled the wish of a warrior to be taken to Valhalla when they died.
The Valkyrie were also sometimes called Rangahlin, which means “shield goddess”. They were also closely associated with the Norns, the female Norse goddesses that spun fate.
In Njals Saga, one of the Icelandic sagas, a man witnesses a group of Valkyrie weaving. But they use no ordinary loom. The heads of men are used as weights, their entrails as the warp and weft, a sword is used as the shuttle, and the reels are made from arrows. The writer observes that with this bloody work, they are choosing who will win an upcoming battle.
Other stories make it clear that Odin would send the Valkyrie to the world of men to intervene in fights and ensure the proper outcome of battles. So, perhaps, the Valkyrie could also grant the wish of victory in war.
Divine Demons of Death
If you search for artworks depicting the Valkyrie, you will find that they are popular subjects. They are often depicted as voluptuous and feminine women, mostly nude, but carrying shields. They appear as angelic warriors entering the fray on the side of good.
But if you read the descriptions of the Valkyrie from the Viking age, they appear much more like demons of death. The description of the group working at their bloody loom above is just one example.
When they appear over the battlefield, they are often described as shining brightly. When any of the gods appear to mortals they are often described as shining. They also carried spears, rather than swords or axes. This seems to be in imitation of Odin, who famously wielded the spear Gungnir.
But while they may have shone beautifully overhead like stars, the guttural battle cries made by the goddesses struck terror into the hearts of the warriors below. They were also described as reveling in the bloodshed they encountered. They would often pour more blood onto the battlefield, presumably implying that their presence made the battle more ferocious and increased the carnage.
After the battle, they would first feast on the bodies of their dead like carrion ravens or wolves, both animals associated with Odin, and bathe in blood on the dead.
Valkyrie Names
It is unclear how many Valkyrie there were, but they seem to have been a limited and elite force. They all had names linked to war and weapons, highlighting their intimate connection with war.
In the Voluspa, the prophetess Volva names six Valkyrie:
- Skuld – “debt” or “future”
- Skogul – “shaker”
- Gunnr – “war”
- Hildr – “battle”
- Gondul – “wand-wielder”
- Geirskogul – “spear bearer”
In the Grimnismal Odin names more Valkyrie as he wishes that two would bring him a drinking horn, and lists a further eleven Valkyrie who serve drinks to the fallen warriors in Valhalla.
- Hrist – “shaker”
- Mist – “cloud”
- Skeggjold – “axe-age”
- Skogul – “shaker”
- Hildr – “battle”
- Thrudr – “power”
- Hlokk – “sound of battle”
- Herfjotur – “host-fetter”
- Goll – “tumult”
- Geirahod – “spear fight”
- Randgrid – “shield truce”
- Radgrid – “council truce”
- Reginleif – “power truce”
Several other individual Valkyrie are named in different stories. For example, in the Helgakvida Hjorvardssonar, the son of the king of Norway is described as seeing nine Valkyrie passing by as he sits on a burial mound. One is called Svava, which means “woman from Swabia”, who was also apparently the daughter of King Eylimi.
This is just one of many examples in which Valkyrie, mythological servants of Odin, are conflated with mortal female warriors, usually of aristocratic descent, as only wealthy and powerful women would have had the liberty to play a significant role in battle. This is probably the result of Christianising influences, which saw important figures from myth interpreted as historical ancestors. For example, in such Christianising sources, Thor was associated with King Olaf II of Norway, making him an important figure from history, rather than a god.
It is interesting that we also meet Valkyrie named Thrudr (power) and Freyja (lady). Thrudr and Freyja are both names of other goddesses, which suggests that some of the more important goddesses may also have numbered among the Valkyrie.
Thrudr is the daughter of Thor, but little else is known about her. Freyja is a Vanir goddess who came to live in Asgard after the Aesir-Vanir war. She is a goddess of fertility, love, and beauty. She was one of the most important and popular Norse goddesses.
The sources suggest that just as Odin oversaw Valhalla, Freyja had her own arena, called Folkvanger, and that she also chose brave fallen warriors to dwell there. The sources even imply that she got first choice of the fallen. This seems to confirm a connection between Freyja and the Valkyrie but also reflects her greater importance.
Mortal Shieldmaidens as Valkyrie
At least some of the Valkyrie were clearly considered goddesses. They are described among the gods in attendance at Balder’s funeral. But many mortal women are also described as Valkyrie.
Perhaps the best-known example of mortal Valkyrie comes from the Icelandic poem Volundarkvida. Three brothers meet three women who are spinning swan feather cloaks. This clearly identifies them as Valkyrie, but they also have mortal identities. Two are the daughters of King Hlodver, they are named Hladgudr Scanhvit (swan white) and Hervor Alvitr (strange creature). The third is the daughter of Kjarr of Valland and is called Olrun (beer rune).
The three brothers take the women as wives, and they stay together for seven winters. But at that time, the women fly away to resume their work and never return. Each man loses themselves as they set out to find their lost loves.
In another story, the son of a Norwegian king sees nine Valkyrie riding past while he sits on a burial mound. His location may be significant as the Vikings believed that burial mounds could act as gateways between different realms.
The most beautiful of the Valkyrie stops to talk to the man. She reveals that her name is Svava and she is the daughter of King Eylimi, who she often protects in battle. So again, she is given a mortal identity.
She gives the man a gift so that he can become a powerful king himself. When he is, he asks for Svava’s hand in marriage, which he receives. When he later dies in battle, the two are described as being reincarnated, which may imply that they start a new life in Valhalla.
On yet another occasion, a warrior Helgi meets a group of Valkyrie on the battlefield and invites them back to spend the night with himself and his warriors. One of them, called Sigrun, explains that she cannot because she is betrothed to another man. She’s not happy about this because she considers the man unworthy.
Helgi then raises an army and goes to battle with the father of Sigrun’s betrothed to prevent the marriage. Once he is successful, with the help of the Valkyrie, Helgi and Sigrun marry.
It is unclear what these stories mean about the nature of the Valkyrie. The Danish author Saxo Grammaticus describes the shieldmaiden Vebjorg becoming a Valkyrie after she is killed in battle, suggesting that it is an afterlife occupation not dissimilar from that of the Einherjar. But Svava still seems to be alive when she is described as a Valkyrie since she still occupies her position in Viking society.
Brynhild, The Most Famous Valkyrie
The most famous individual Valkyrie known from Norse mythology is Brynhild, whose story is primarily recorded in the Volsunga. Her story reveals a lot of specific beliefs that may have been associated with the Valkyrie.
One of the servants of Odin, she angered the god when she struck down the wrong king in a battle. This suggests that the Vikings believed that as well as collecting the dead, the Valkyrie, at the behest of Odin, the god of war, could intervene and dictate the course of battles.
As a punishment for her actions, Odin condemned her to marry a mortal man. This highlights the superhuman state of the Valkyrie in their original mythology, that having to marry a mortal man would be considered a punishment. Perhaps it is the requirement to marry at all that is the punishment for the fiercely independent Brynhild.
Brynhild accepts her punishment but says that she will only marry the bravest of men who knows no fear. She, therefore, imprisoners herself on a mountain within a ring of fire sleeping, and waits for a man brave enough to come and claim her.
The famous and brave warrior Sigurd, having killed the dragon Fafnir, passes through the ring of fire and awakens the sleeping Brynhild. But this is no Disney fairy tale. The pair do not live happily ever at this point. Sigurd decides that he still has too much to do and leaves Brynhild there with the promise to return. She says that she will wait for him, and will only marry the man brave enough to pass through the fire, which she believes will be Sigurd.
But while Sigurd is away, he is magically given amnesia and forgets all about Brynhil. He finds himself engaged to another woman, Gudrun, who may also have been a Valkyrie. Nevertheless, Sigurd unwittingly returns to the ring of fire for a second time. Unable to claim Brynhild for himself, he magically takes the face of his friend Gunnar, who is too scared to pass through the fire, to win the Valkyrie. Brynhild, still in love with Sigurd, is unwilling to marry Gunnar, but must keep her word. So, she travels to the castle of Gunnar where she marries him, Sigurd and Gunnard having magically swapped faces again.
When Brynhild learns of the deception, she seeks her vengeance and tricks her husband Gunnar into orchestrating the death of Sigurd. But her love for Sigurd means that this breaks her heart, and she decides to kill herself by joining Sigurd on his funeral pyre. She also manages to have the three-year-old son of Sigurd with his wife Gudrun, Sigmund, killed and placed on the pyre.
The story of Brynhild’s vengeance highlights both the jealous nature that is seen in man stories of the Valkyrie, and their capacity to love. She is not the only Valkyrie who is described as dying of a broken heart.
According to some legends, the first time Brynhild and Sigurd met, before he lost his memory, they already made love and Brynhild became pregnant with Aslaug. Unable to keep the girl and marry Gunnar, she gave her away. Aslaug then went on to marry Ragnar Lothbrok and was the mother of Bjorn Ironside and Ivar the Boneless.
