Valkyrie
In Norse mythology,
a Valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja "chooser of the slain") is one of
a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who
may live. Selecting half of those who die in battle, the Valkyries bring their
chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin
(the other half go to the goddess Freyja's afterlife field Fólkvangr). There,
the deceased warriors become einherjar (Old Norse "single (or once)
fighters"). When the einherjar are not preparing for the events of
Ragnarök, the Valkyries bear them mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of
heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters
of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens and sometimes connected to swans or
horses.
The Old English
cognate terms wælcyrge and wælcyrie appear in several Old English manuscripts,
and scholars have explored whether the terms appear in Old English by way of
Norse influence, or reflect a tradition also native among the Anglo-Saxon
pagans. Scholarly theories have been proposed about the relation between the Valkyries,
the norns, and the dísir, all of which are supernatural figures associated with
fate. Archaeological excavations throughout Scandinavia have uncovered amulets
theorized as depicting Valkyries. In modern culture, Valkyries have been the
subject of works of art, musical works, video games and poetry.
The word Valkyrie
derives from Old Norse valkyrja (plural valkyrjur), which is composed of two
words; the noun valr (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb
kjósa (meaning "to choose"). Together, they mean "chooser of the
slain". The Old Norse valkyrja is cognate to Old English wælcyrge. Other
terms for Valkyries include óskmey (Old Norse "wish maid"), appearing
in the poem Oddrúnargrátr and Óðins meyjar (Old Norse "Odin's
maids"), appearing in the Nafnaþulur. Óskmey may be related to the Odinic
name Óski (Old Norse, roughly meaning "wish fulfiller"), referring to
the fact that Odin receives slain warriors in Valhalla.
Old Norse
attestations
Poetic Edda
In stanza 30 of the
poem Völuspá, a völva (a travelling seeress in Germanic society) tells Odin
that "she saw" Valkyries coming from far away who are ready to ride
to "the realm of the gods". The völva follows this with a list of six
Valkyries: Skuld (Old Norse, possibly "debt" or "future")
who "bore a shield", Skögul ("shaker"), Gunnr
("war"), Hildr ("battle"), Göndul
("wand-wielder") and Geirskögul ("Spear-Skögul").
Afterwards, the völva tells him she has listed the "ladies of the War
Lord, ready to ride, Valkyries, over the earth".
In the poem
Grímnismál, Odin (disguised as Grímnir), tortured, starved and thirsty, tells
the young Agnar that he wishes that the Valkyries Hrist ("shaker")
and Mist ("cloud") would "bear him a drinking horn", then
provides a list of 11 more Valkyries who he says "bear ale to the
einherjar"; Skeggjöld ("axe-age"), Skögul, Hildr, Þrúðr
("power"), Hlökk ("noise", or "battle"),
Herfjötur ("host-fetter"), Göll ("tumult"), Geirahöð
("spear-fight"), Randgríð ("shield-truce"), Ráðgríð
("council-truce") and Reginleif ("power-truce").
A prose
introduction in the poem Völundarkviða relates that the brothers Slagfiðr, Egil
and Völund dwelt in a house sited in a location called Úlfdalir ("wolf
dales"). There, early one morning, the brothers find three women spinning
linen on the shore of the lake Úlfsjár ("wolf lake"), and "near
them were their swan's garments; they were Valkyries". Two, daughters of
King Hlödvér, are named Hlaðguðr svanhvít ("swan-white") and Hervör
alvitr (possibly meaning "all-wise" or "strange creature");
the third, daughter of Kjárr of Valland, is named Ölrún (possibly meaning "beer
rune"). The brothers take the three women back to their hall with
them—Egil takes Ölrún, Slagfiðr takes Hlaðguðr svanhvít and Völund takes Hervör
alvitr. They live together for seven winters, until the women fly off to go to
a battle and do not return. Egil goes off in snow-shoes to look for Ölrún,
Slagfiðr goes searching for Hlaðguðr svanhvít and Völund sits in Úlfdalir.
In the poem
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, a prose narrative says that an unnamed and silent
young man, the son of the Norwegian King Hjörvarðr and Sigrlinn of Sváfaland,
witnesses nine Valkyries riding by while sitting atop a burial mound. He finds
one particularly striking; this Valkyrie is detailed later in a prose narrative
as Sváva, King Eylimi's daughter, who "often protected him in
battles". The Valkyrie speaks to the unnamed man, and gives him the name Helgi
(meaning "the holy one"). The previously silent Helgi speaks; he
refers to the Valkyrie as "bright-face lady", and asks her what gift
he will receive with the name she has bestowed upon him, but he will not accept
it if he cannot have her as well. The Valkyrie tells him she knows of a hoard
of swords in Sigarsholm, and that one of them is of particular importance, which
she describes in detail. Further into the poem, Atli flytes with the female
jötunn Hrímgerðr. While flyting with Atli, Hrímgerðr says that she had seen 27 Valkyries
around Helgi, yet one particularly fair Valkyrie led the band:
“Three
times nine girls, but one girl rode ahead,
White-skinned
under her helmet;
The
horses were trembling, from their manes
Dew
fell into the deep valleys,
Hail
in the high woods;
Good
fortune comes to men from there;
All
that I saw was hateful to me.”
After Hrímgerðr is
turned to stone by the daylight, a prose narrative continues that Helgi, who is
now king, goes to Sváva's father—King Eylimi—and asks for his daughter. Helgi
and Sváva are betrothed and love one another dearly. Sváva stays at home with
King Eylimi, and Helgi goes raiding, and to this the narrative adds that Sváva
"was a Valkyrie just as before". The poem continues, and, among various other
events, Helgi dies from a wound received in battle. A narrative at the end of
the poem says that Helgi and his Valkyrie wife Sváva "are said to be
reincarnated".
In the poem
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, the hero Helgi Hundingsbane sits in the
corpse-strewn battlefield of Logafjöll. A light shines from the fell, and from
that light strike bolts of lightning. Flying through the sky, helmeted Valkyries
appear. Their waist-length mail armour is drenched in blood; their spears shine
brightly:
“Then
light shone from Logafell,
And
from that radiance there came bolts of lightning;
Wearing
helmets at Himingvani came the Valkyries.
Their
byrnies were drenched in blood;
And
rays shone from their spears.”
In the stanza that
follows, Helgi asks the Valkyries (who he refers to as "southern
goddesses") if they would like to come home with the warriors when night
falls (all the while arrows were flying). The battle over, the Valkyrie Sigrún
("victory-rune"), informs him from her horse that her father Högni
has betrothed her to Höðbroddr, the son of king Granmar of the Hniflung clan,
who Sigrún deems unworthy. Helgi assembles an immense host to ride to wage
battle at Frekastein against the Hniflung clan to assist Sigrún in her plight
to avoid her betrothment. Later in the
poem, the hero Sinfjötli flyts with Guðmundr. Sinfjötli accuses Guðmundr of
having once been female, and gibes that Guðmundr was "a witch, horrible,
unnatural, among Odin's Valkyries", adding that all of the einherjar
"had to fight, headstrong woman, on your account". Further in the poem, the phrase "the
valkyrie's airy sea" is used for "mist".
Towards the end of
the poem, Valkyries again descend from the sky, this time to protect Helgi amid
the battle at Frekastein. After the battle, all the Valkyries fly away but
Sigrún and wolves (referred to as "the troll-woman's mount") consume
corpses:
Helmeted Valkyries came down from
the sky
—the noise of spears grew
loud—they protected the prince;
Then said Sigrún—the wound-giving
Valkyries flew,
The troll-woman's mount was feasting
on the fodder of ravens:
The battle won, Sigrún tells
Helgi that he will become a great ruler and pledges herself to him.
At the beginning of
the poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, a prose narrative says that King Sigmund
(son of Völsung) and his wife Borghild (of Brálund) have a son named Helgi, who
they named for Helgi Hjörvarðsson (the antagonist of the earlier Helgakviða
Hjörvarðssonar). After Helgi has killed
King Hunding in stanza 4, a prose narrative says that Helgi escapes, consumes
the raw meat of cattle he has slaughtered on a beach, and encounters Sigrún.
Sigrún, daughter of King Högni, is "a Valkyrie and rode through air and
sea", and she is the Valkyrie Sváva reincarnated. In stanza 7, Sigrún uses the phrase "fed
the gosling of Gunn's sisters". Gunnr and her sisters are Valkyries, and
these goslings are ravens, who feed on the corpses left on the battlefield by
warriors.
After stanza 18, a
prose narrative relates that Helgi and his immense fleet of ships are heading
to Frekastein, but encounter a great storm. Lightning strikes one of the ships.
The fleet sees nine Valkyries flying through the air, among whom they recognize
Sigrún. The storm abates, and the fleets arrive safely at land. Helgi dies in battle, yet returns to visit
Sigrún from Valhalla once in a burial mound, and at the end of the poem, a
prose epilogue explains that Sigrún later dies of grief. The epilogue details
that "there was a belief in the pagan religion, which we now reckon is an
old wives' tale, that people could be reincarnated" and that "Helgi
and Sigrún were thought to have been reborn" as another Helgi and Valkyrie
couple; Helgi as Helgi Haddingjaskaði and Sigrún as the daughter of Halfdan;
the Valkyrie Kára. The epilogue details that further information about the two
can be found in the (now lost) work Káruljóð.
In the prose
introduction to the poem Sigrdrífumál, the hero Sigurd rides up to Hindarfell
and heads south towards "the land of the Franks". On the mountain
Sigurd sees a great light, "as if fire were burning, which blazed up to
the sky". Sigurd approaches it, and there he sees a skjaldborg with a
banner flying overhead. Sigurd enters the skjaldborg, and sees a warrior lying
there—asleep and fully armed. Sigurd removes the helmet of the warrior, and
sees the face of a woman. The woman's corslet is so tight that it seems to have
grown into the woman's body. Sigurd uses his sword Gram to cut the corslet,
starting from the neck of the corslet downwards, he continues cutting down her
sleeves, and takes the corslet off of her.
The woman wakes,
sits up, looks at Sigurd, and the two converse in two stanzas of verse. In the
second stanza, the woman explains that Odin placed a sleeping spell on her she
could not break, and due to that spell she has been asleep a long time. Sigurd
asks for her name, and the woman gives Sigurd a horn of mead to help him retain
her words in his memory. The woman recites a heathen prayer in two stanzas. A
prose narrative explains that the woman is named Sigrdrífa and that she is a Valkyrie.
A narrative relates
that Sigrdrífa explains to Sigurd that there were two kings fighting one
another. Odin had promised one of these—Hjalmgunnar—victory in battle, yet she
had "brought down" Hjalmgunnar in battle. Odin pricked her with a
sleeping-thorn in consequence, told her she would never again "fight
victoriously in battle", and condemned her to marriage. In response, Sigrdrífa
told Odin she had sworn a great oath that she would never wed a man who knew
fear. Sigurd asks Sigrdrífa to share with him her wisdom of all worlds. The
poem continues in verse, where Sigrdrífa provides Sigurd with knowledge in
inscribing runes, mystic wisdom, and prophecy.
In the Prose Edda,
written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, Valkyries are first mentioned
in chapter 36 of the book Gylfaginning, where the enthroned figure of High
informs Gangleri (King Gylfi in disguise) of the activities of the Valkyries
and mentions a few goddesses. High says "there are still others whose duty
it is to serve in Valhalla. They bring drink and see to the table and the ale
cups." Following this, High gives a stanza from the poem Grímnismál that
contains a list of Valkyries. High says "these
women are called Valkyries, and they are sent by Odin to every battle, where
they choose which men are to die and they determine who has victory".
High adds that Gunnr ("war"), Róta, and Skuld—the last of the three
he refers to as "the youngest
norn"—"always ride to choose the slain and decide the outcome of
battle". In chapter 49, High
describes that when Odin and his wife Frigg arrived at the funeral of their
slain son Baldr, with them came the Valkyries and also Odin's ravens.
References to Valkyries
appear throughout the book Skáldskaparmál, which provides information about
skaldic poetry. In chapter 2, a quote is given from the work Húsdrápa by the
10th century skald Úlfr Uggason. In the poem, Úlfr describes mythological
scenes depicted in a newly built hall, including Valkyries and ravens
accompanying Odin at Baldr's funeral feast:
“There
I perceive Valkyries and ravens,
Accompanying
the wise victory-tree [Odin]
To
the drink of the holy offering [Baldr's funeral feast]
Within
have appeared these motifs.”
Further in chapter
2, a quote from the anonymous 10th century poem Eiríksmál is provided (see the
Fagrskinna section below for more detail about the poem and another
translation):
“What
sort of dream is that, Odin?
I
dreamed I rose up before dawn
To
clear up Val-hall for slain people.
I
aroused the Einheriar,
Bade
them get up to strew the benches,
Clean
the beer-cups,
The
Valkyries to serve wine
For
the arrival of a prince.”
In chapter 31,
poetic terms for referring to a woman are given, including "[a] woman is also referred to in terms of all Asyniur or Valkyries
or norns or dísir". In chapter 41, while the hero Sigurd is riding his
horse Grani, he encounters a building on a mountain. Within this building,
Sigurd finds a sleeping woman wearing a helmet and a coat of mail. Sigurd cuts
the mail from her, and she awakes. She tells him her name is Hildr, and "she is known as Brynhildr, and was a Valkyrie".
In chapter 48,
poetic terms for "battle" include "weather of weapons or
shields, or of Odin or Valkyrie or war-kings or their clash or noise",
followed by examples of compositions by various skalds that have used the name
of Valkyries in said manner (Þorbjörn Hornklofi uses "Skögul's din"
for "battlefield", Bersi Skáldtorfuson uses "Gunnr's fire"
for "sword" and "Hlökk's snow" for "battle",
Einarr Skúlason uses "Hildr's sail" for "shield" and
"Göndul's crushing wind" for "battle" and Einarr skálaglamm
uses "Göndul's din"). Chapter 49 gives similar information when
referring to weapons and armor (though the term "death-maidens"—Old
Norse valmeyjar—instead of "Valkyries" is used here), with further
examples.[35] In chapter 57, within a list of names of ásynjur (and after
alternate names for the goddess Freyja are provided), a further section
contains a list of "Odin's maids"; Valkyries: Hildr, Göndul, Hlökk,
Mist, Skögul, and then an additional four names; Hrund, Eir, Hrist and Skuld.
The section adds that "they are called norns who shape necessity".
Some manuscripts of
the feature Nafnaþulur section of Skáldskaparmál contain an extended list of 29
Valkyrie names (listed as the "Valkyries of Viðrir"—a name of Odin).
The first stanza lists: Hrist, Mist, Herja, Hlökk, Geiravör, Göll, Hjörþrimul,
Guðr, Herfjötra, Skuld, Geirönul, Skögul and Randgníð. The second stanza lists:
Ráðgríðr, Göndul, Svipul, Geirskögul, Hildr, Skeggöld, Hrund, Geirdriful,
Randgríðr, Þrúðr, Reginleif, Sveið, Þögn, Hjalmþrimul, Þrima and Skalmöld.
The fragmentary
skaldic poem Hrafnsmál (generally accepted as authored by 9th century Norwegian
skald Þorbjörn Hornklofi) features a conversation between a Valkyrie and a
raven, largely consisting of the life and deeds of Harald I of Norway. The poem
begins with a request for silence among noblemen so that the skald may tell the
deeds of Harald Fairhair. The narrator states that they once overheard a
"high-minded", "golden-haired" and "white-armed"
maiden speaking with a "glossy-beaked raven". The Valkyrie considers
herself wise, understands the speech of birds, is further described as having a
white-throat and sparkling eyes, and she takes no pleasure in men:
“Wise thought her the Valkyrie;
were welcome never
Men to the bright-eyed one, her
who the birds' speech knew well. Greeted the light-lashed maiden, the
lily-throated woman, the hymir's-skull-cleaver as on cliff he was perching.”
The Valkyrie,
previously described as fair and beautiful, and then speaks to the
gore-drenched and corpse-reeking raven:
"How
is it, ye ravens—whence are ye come now
with
beaks all gory, at break of morning?
Carrion-reek
ye carry and your claws are bloody.
Were
ye near, at night-time, where ye knew of corpses?"
The black raven
shakes himself, and he responds that he and the rest of the ravens have
followed Harald since hatching from their eggs. The raven expresses surprise
that the Valkyrie seems unfamiliar with the deeds of Harald, and tells her
about his deeds for several stanzas. At stanza 15, a question and answer format
begins where the Valkyrie asks the raven a question regarding Harald, and the
raven responds in turn. This continues until the poem ends abruptly.
In chapter 157 of
Njáls saga, a man named Dörruð witnesses 12 people riding together to a stone
hut on Good Friday in Caithness. The 12 go into the hut and Dörruð can no
longer see them. Dörruð goes to the hut, and looks through a chink in the wall.
He sees that there are women within, and that they have set up a particular
loom; the heads of men are the weights, the entrails of men are the warp and
weft, a sword is the shuttle, and the reels are composed of arrows. The women
sing a song called Darraðarljóð, which Dörruð memorizes.
The song consists
of 11 stanzas, and within it the Valkyries weave and choose who is to be slain
at the Battle of Clontarf (fought outside Dublin in 1014 CE). Of the 12 Valkyries
weaving, six have their names given in the song: Hildr, Hjörþrimul, Sanngriðr,
Svipul, Guðr and Göndul. Stanza 9 of the song reads:
“Now
awful it is to be without,
as
blood-red rack races overhead;
is
the welkin gory with warriors' blood
as
we Valkyries war-songs chanted.”
At the end of the
poem, the Valkyries sing "start we swiftly with steeds unsaddled—hence to
battle with brandished swords!" The
prose narrative picks up again, and says that the Valkyries tear their loom
down and into pieces. Each Valkyrie holds on to what she has in her hands.
Dörruð leaves the chink in the wall and heads home, and the women mount their
horses and ride away; six to the south and six to the north.
At the end of the
Heimskringla saga Hákonar saga góða, the poem Hákonarmál by the 10th century
skald Eyvindr skáldaspillir is presented. The saga relates that king Haakon I
of Norway died in battle, and although he is Christian, he requests that since
he has died "among heathens, then give me such burial place as seems most
fitting to you". The saga relates that shortly after Haakon died on the
same slab of rock that he was born upon, he was greatly mourned by friend and
foe alike, and that his friends moved his body northward to Sæheim in North
Hordaland. Haakon was buried there in a large burial mound in full armour and
his finest clothing, yet with no other valuables. Further, "words were
spoken over his grave according to the custom of heathen men, and they put him
on the way to Valhalla". The poem Hákonarmál is then provided.
In Hákonarmál, Odin
sends forth the two Valkyries Göndul and Skögul to "choose among the
kings' kinsmen" and who in battle should dwell with Odin in Valhalla. A
battle rages with great slaughter, and part of the description employs the
kenning "Skögul's-stormblast" for "battle". Haakon and his
men die in battle, and they see the Valkyrie Göndul leaning on a spear shaft.
Göndul comments that "groweth now the gods' following, since Hákon has
been with host so goodly bidden home with holy godheads". Haakon hears
"what the Valkyries said", and the Valkyries are described as sitting
"high-hearted on horseback", wearing helmets, carrying shields and
that the horses wisely bore them. A
brief exchange follows between Haakon and the Valkyrie Skögul:
Hákon
said:
"Why
didst Geirskogul grudge us victory?
Though
worthy we were for the gods to grant it?"
Skögul
said:
"'Tis
owing to us that the issue was won
And
your foemen fled."
Skögul says that
they shall now ride forth to the "green homes of the godheads" to
tell Odin the king will come to Valhalla. The poem continues, and Haakon
becomes a part of the einherjar in Valhalla, waiting to do battle with the
monstrous wolf Fenrir.
In chapter 8 of
Fagrskinna, a prose narrative states that, after the death of her husband Eric
Bloodaxe, Gunnhild Mother of Kings had a poem composed about him. The
composition is by an anonymous author from the 10th century and is referred to
as Eiríksmál. It describes Eric Bloodaxe and five other kings arriving in
Valhalla after their death. The poem begins with comments by Odin:
“What
kind of a dream is it,” said Óðinn,
“In
which just before daybreak,
I
thought I cleared Valhǫll,
for
coming of slain men?
I
waked the Einherjar,
Bade
Valkyries rise up,
To
strew the bench,
And
scour the beakers,
Wine
to carry,
As
for a king's coming,
Here
to me I expect
Heroes'
coming from the world,
Certain
great ones,
So
glad is my heart.”
The god Bragi asks
where a thundering sound is coming from, and says that the benches of Valhalla
are creaking—as if the god Baldr had returned to Valhalla—and that it sounds
like the movement of a thousand. Odin responds that Bragi knows well that the
sounds are for Eric Bloodaxe, who will soon arrive in Valhalla. Odin tells the
heroes Sigmund and Sinfjötli to rise to greet Eric and invite him into the
hall, if it is indeed he.
The Rök Runestone
Specific Valkyries
are mentioned on two runestones; the early 9th century Rök Runestone in
Östergötland, Sweden, and the 10th-century Karlevi Runestone on the island of
Öland, Sweden, which mentions the Valkyrie Þrúðr. On the Rök Runestone, a kenning is employed
that involves a Valkyrie riding a wolf as her steed:
“That
we tell the twelfth, where the horse of the Valkyrie [literally "the horse
of Gunn"] sees food on the battlefield, where twenty kings are lying.”
Among the Bryggen
inscriptions found in Bergen, Norway, is the "Valkyrie stick" from
the late 14th century. The stick features a runic inscription intended as a
charm. The inscription says that "I cut cure-runes", and also
"help-runes", once against elves, twice against trolls, thrice
against thurs and then a mention of a Valkyrie occurs:
“Against
the harmful skag-valkyrie,
So
that she never shall, though she never would -
Evil
woman! - injure your life.”
This is followed by
"I send you, I look at you, wolfish
perversion, and unbearable desire, may distress descend on you and jöluns
wrath. Never shall you sit, never shall you sleep ... (that you) love me as
yourself."
According to Mindy
MacLeod and Bernard Mees, the inscription "seems to begin as a benevolent
formulation before abruptly switching to the infliction of distress and misery,
presumably upon the recipient of the charm rather than the baleful Valkyrie",
and they posit the final line appears "to constitute a rather spiteful
kind of charm aimed at securing the love of a woman".
MacLeod and Mees
state that the opening lines of the charm correspond to the Poetic Edda poem
Sigrdrífumál, where the Valkyrie Sigrdrífa provides runic advice, and that the
meaning of the term skag is unclear, but a cognate exists in Helgakviða
Hundingsbana I where Sinfjötli accuses Guðmundr of having once been a
"skass-valkyrie". MacLeod and Mees believe the word means something
like "supernatural sending", and that this points to a connection to
the Ragnhild Tregagás charm, where a Valkyrie is also "sent forth".
Valkyrie names
The Old Norse poems
Völuspá, Grímnismál, Darraðarljóð and the Nafnaþulur section of the Prose Edda
book Skáldskaparmál, provide lists of Valkyrie names. In addition, some Valkyrie
names appear solely outside of these lists, such as Sigrún (who is attested in
the poems Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II). Many Valkyrie
names emphasize associations with battle and, in many cases, on the spear—a
weapon heavily associated with the god Odin.
Some scholars propose that the
names of the Valkyries themselves contain no individuality, but are rather
descriptive of the traits and nature of war-goddesses, and are possibly the
descriptive creations of skalds.
Some Valkyrie names
may be descriptive of the roles and abilities of the Valkyries. The Valkyrie
name Herja has been theorized as pointing to a connection to the name of the
goddess Hariasa, who is attested from a stone from 187 CE. The
name Herfjötur has been theorized as pointing to the ability of the Valkyries
to place fetters. The name Svipul may be descriptive of the
influence the Valkyries have over wyrd or ørlog—a Germanic concept of fate.
