In Norse mythology, Valkyries (“choosers of the slain”) are warrior handmaidens of the principal god Odin who choose which heroes slain in battle merit a place in Valhalla, the banquet hall of the slain, located in the heavenly role of Asgard (one of the Nine Realms).

Valkyries are depicted and described in detail, often as young women outfitted with helmets and shields and wielding swords and spears. Physical representations are present on artifacts, such as runestones (e.g., the Rök and Karlevi runestones), stylized silver amulets, images on stones, and small figures of female warriors brandishing weapons and riding atop mounts.

The Valkyries fly their mounts over battlefields to choose who will die and who is worthy of entrance into Valhalla. Those who merit entry are called the Einherjar. In Valhalla, the Valkyries serve beer and mead to Odin and the Einherjar, who feast and drink. The Valkyries also have preferences for who should live and die, which is why they can also cause death in battle through the use of malicious magic.

In one story, a soldier in the army of Harald Hardrada (1015–1066), King of Norway, dreamed of a Valkyrie shortly before his side was defeated by King Harold at Stamford Bridge in September 1066. The soldier was on the king’s ship and saw a great witch wife standing on the island, with a fork in one hand to rake up the dead and a trough in the other to catch the blood. 

A graphic depiction of these female warriors is in the Darraðarljóð, a poem in Njáls saga. Before the Battle of Clontarf, twelve Valkyries, chanting in delight, used intestines as thread to weave the fates of warriors. Severed heads are used for weights, and swords and arrows for beaters.

Brynhild is a major Valkyrie who is both a virgin warrior and a beautiful princess. In the Nibelungenlied epic, she agrees to marry only the man who can accomplish certain trials. She marries the Burgundian king Gunther, for whom the hero Siegfried (Norse Sigurd) accomplishes the tasks disguised in his cloak of invisibility.

References

Cotterell, Arthur. 2003. A Dictionary of World Mythology. Oxford University Press.

Leeming, David A., and Leeming, Margaret A. 2009. A Dictionary of Creation Myths. Oxford University Press.