Valkyries: Women of War

Cue the music: ‘Ride of the Valkyries,’ from Richard Wagner’s opera Die Walküre, is one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music ever written, thanks in part to Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in ‘What’s Opera, Doc?’ (1957). Wagner’s four-opera Ring cycle also gave us something less welcome. Carl Emil Doepler’s costumes for the 1876 premiere helped fix the myth of horned Viking helmets in the popular imagination (the Vikings didn’t wear them). Wagner’s Valkyries are armored sopranos in winged helmets. The Valkyries of Norse sources are something far stranger and more frightening.

What Is a Valkyrie?

According to Dr. Jackson Crawford, a Valkyrie is a human female who has dedicated herself to Odin. Crawford also notes that Valkyries may also be Jötunn. She takes on this role of choosing the dead, which grants her the powers of a Valkyrie. Whether the job is a lifetime appointment or not is not made clear in what survives of Norse mythology.

Physical Characteristics of the Valkyries

While modern depictions often portray Odin’s shield-maidens as scantily clad and attractive, there is little evidence to suggest that Valkyries were physically beautiful. ‘Hrafnsmal,’ a poem written for Harald Fairhair around 900 A.D., describes a Valkyrie as blonde and bright-haired, indicators of the upper class. She was wise, snake-eyed, blond-lashed, and pale-throated, and unaffected by men emotionally. The term ‘snake eyes’ relates to the Voelsungs and denotes a daunting presence in battle.

The Valkyrie Skins

Some Valkyries wore feathered skins, giving them a swan-like appearance, which may have been the source of their flight powers. In at least one tale, men have stolen these skins.

The Terrifying Valkyries

There is much more evidence that shows them to be mesmerizing and terrifying. The “Saga of the Voelsungs” says that looking at them was like gazing into flames. “The Web of Spears” unites 12 of the Valkyries with Skuld, the youngest Norn (a Fate in Norse mythology). They go to a cottage where they use a loom made from human body parts. The cloth is human entrails dyed with blood, and the tools are weapons. They sing about how their weaving is determining the outcome of a far-off battle. When they finish with the weaving, they tear it to shreds and take the scraps with them. Crawford points out that Skuld may or may not be a Norn. She could be a Valkyrie with the same name. The Valkyrie and the Norns may actually be the same group of supernatural beings.

Men’s Lust

Crawford suggests that the Valkyries symbolize both the tangible lust men have for women and the abstract allure they feel toward battle.

Valkyries: Women of War

According to Neil Price, there are 52 named Valkyries in surviving Norse literature. Many of those names have something to do with war. Price says the Valkyries did not gracefully “swoop” onto the battlefield to bear their heroes to the afterlife; instead, these women warriors “were unleashed on it,” personifying the harsh realities of battle. Many Valkyrie names reflected the noise of battle, the hesitation, and the chaos. They were also named for weapons and different ways and times those weapons would be used.

Valkyrie Names and Their Meanings

The word valkyrja means ‘chooser of the slain.’ The Valkyries chose which of the dead would go to Odin’s Valhalla (or, in some sources, to Freya). Here are some of the names that survive, with Price’s and Crawford’s translations:

• Goendul: Price’s interpretation is “War-Fetter,” the freezing hesitation that could be fatal. Crawford links the name to magical staves, wolves and monsters. Goendul also comes up as a name for Freya, who appears as a tall, beautiful woman to King Hethinn.
• Hloekk: Price lists this name as “Chain,” “Mist,” “Cloud.” It could be related to the fog of war or the hesitation as with Goendul. However, Crawford says this “the cry of an eagle.”
• Hjalmthrimul: “Helmet-Clatter.”
• Hjoerthrimul: “Sword-Noise.”
• Hljóð: ‘Howling’ (or ‘Noise’).
• Randgnithr: “Shield-Scraper.”
• Skalmöld: ‘Sword-Time.’
• Svava: “Killer” or “Put-to-Sleeper.”
• Tanngnithr: “Teeth-Grinder.”
• Geirahoed: “Spear-Battle.”
• Geirdriful: “Spear-Flinger.”
• Geirskoegul: Price calls her “Spear-Shaker.” Crawford calls her “Spear-Projector.”
• Hrist: “Shake.”
• Mist: “Mist.”
• Skeggjold: “Axe-Age,” which is also the name of one of the terrible ages coming before Ragnarök.
• Skoegul: “Projector.”
• Hildr: “Battle.”
• Gunnr: “Battle.”
• Thruthr: “Supernatural-Strength.”
• Herfjoetur: “War-Fetter” or “War-Wife.”
• Goell: “Noise.”
• Randgrid: “Shield-Eager.”
• Radgrid: “Advice-Eager.”
• Reginleif: “Divine-Survivor” or “Divine-Remnant.”
• Skuld: ‘Debt’ or ‘Necessity.’ This is also the name of a Norn.
• Sigrún: ‘Victory-Rune’ or ‘Victory-Mystery.’
• Brynhildr: “Armor-Warrior.” Her other name may be Sigrdrifa.
• Sigrdrífa: ‘Victory-Driver.’ She may be the same figure as Brynhildr.
• Battle-Weaver.
• Disorder.
• Scent-of-Battle.
• Victory-Froth.
• Vibration.
• Unstable.
• Treader.
• Swan-White.
• Shield-Destroyer.
• Helper.
• Armor.
• Devastate.
• Silence.

Chief Valkyrie?

Was there a chief Valkyrie? Crawford proposes that it may have been Freya. In the poem Grímnismál she decides where the dead will sit in her hall-field, Fólkvangr, and chooses half of the slain each day. Choosing the dead is exactly what Valkyries do. (For more on where the dead go, see our post on the Viking afterlife.)