One of the most well-recognized works of music is Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre, the “Ride of the Valkyries.” The Norse mythological Valkyries inspired the powerful composition, but they have inspired more than just classical music.
Valkyries have been the muses for poems and classic works of art since the Viking Era. But our impression of the Valkyries today is much influenced by these later glosses on them, and in this they have strayed from the original figures.
Who were the Valkyries, and why are they seen as warriors while also acting as servants of men?
Valkyries
The word Valkyrie comes from the Old Norse word valkyrja, which means “chooser of the slain.” A Valkyrie is a female figure from Norse Mythology who acts as a psychopomp guiding the souls of slain warriors to Odin’s hall, Valhalla, where they will prepare for Ragnarök.
The deceased warriors become einherjar who, when not preparing for the end of the world, would be served mead by the Valkyries. Valkyries can also appear in mythology as lovers of mighty heroes and humans who catch their eye.
These fantastical females are either accompanied by swans and ravens or can appear to humans as swans or ravens. The Valkyrie were said to ride into war either on horseback or riding upon a wolf or boar armed with spears. Depending on the epic poem or myth story, the Valkyrie were either warrior women, or the objects of desire to male gods and humans.
A majority of sources related to the Valkyries recognize around 23 of them, each bearing a unique name. Some of these names relate to battle, such as Hlökk, which means “noise,” or “battle,” Gunnr, which means “war,” or Skögul, which means “shaker.” The specific names of Valkyries may or may not be mentioned, and instead of individual women, they also appear in myths as a collective group of warriors.
Regarding the idea of the Valkyries as warriors, they were considered “foreboders of war” or almost like a death omen. The women would ride into battle wearing a helmet and brandishing a sword and a spear.
Some Valkyries had the power to destroy and kill warriors they did not like, decide whose soul would be elevated to rest in Valhalla, and serve as einherjar. Others acted as protectors of both the ships and the lives of the individuals they favored.
Valkyries are often described as being purely supernatural, similar to an archangel with a role in warfare, but not necessarily human women. At the same time, some stories describe the Valkyries as human women but warrior women who may or may not have supernatural powers and are favored by Odin. The Valkyries are commonly associated with things like gold, bloodshed, brightness, and fairness.
Transformations
The portrayal of Valkyries swings two different ways. Either they are fierce warriors who determine which slain warriors deserve to be elevated to serve Odin in Valhalla (some believe that the Valkyrie themselves serve Odin), or they are maidens who will defy Odin to protect the brave warrior they love on the battlefield and then serve the einherjar beer or mead while they wait for Ragnarök.
How does a figure associated with war become transformed into a lovestruck woman acting subserviently to men? Historians and Scholars are not sure when the idea or character of the Valkyrie was first created, and there is much debate over what these fierce females are.
One belief is that at their conception, Valkyries were omens of death or “death demons.” They may have gathered on battlefields after the conflict had ended to feed on the bodies of slain warriors and escort the souls of the dead to Valhalla if they were brave.
Yet Valhalla was not the only hall in the afterlife that the Norsemen could arrive at after their death. There was Fólkvangr, the hall belonging to the goddess Freyja, who had the first pick of fallen warriors in the famous poetic works known as the Eddas. Then there is Valhalla, where the Valkyries decide which slain man should fight on the side of Odin during Ragnarök.
The final place a soul could go was Hel or Helheim or the underworld, named for the Norse goddess of Death and her home in the underworld (Niflheim, the world of darkness). Why the Valkyries are the ones who determine who goes to Valhalla is unknown. How did the equivalent of the Grim Reaper become associated with Valhalla?
One idea is that when Valhalla as the “hall of heroes” was developed and included in legends and myths, the Valkyrie were transformed from death omens to “gleaming figures epitomizing both feminine beauty, masculine strength, and martial skills.” This may suggest that the image and role of the Valkyrie shifted during the Viking Age (around c.790-c.1100) due to the influence of shieldmaidens.
Shieldmaidens were women who took up weapons and fought alongside the men, sometimes disguised as men. However, there is much debate about whether shieldmaidens were real. It might have been on rare occasions, and we have no record of it actually happening.
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Along with being transformed from warriors to beer maidens, Valkyries were known to transform into beautiful white swans and visit the mortal realm to bathe in disguise. According to some stories, the Valkyrie were only visible to mortals when they were in their swan form.
Add to that, they are often described as “wish girls.” The Valkyrie have been called wish girls because they are loyal to Odin and will do whatever he asks. But Valkyrie were said to be able to grant wishes to mortal men they liked or ones who captured them.
Valkyrie and Selkies
In many ways, the Valkyries are similar to the Celtic Selkies. They appear on land disguised as animals but can remove their animal skin and reveal their female forms.
Capturing a Selkie involved stealing their seal skin and trapping them to serve as wives and mothers. Finding the skin would allow the Selkie to return to the sea and abandon her human spouse and children. This is precisely the same situation when it comes to capturing Valkyries; a mortal must steal the swan disguise left on the banks of a river while the Valkyries bathed, preventing them from returning to their animal form.
A man must hide the swan skin to make the Valkyrie fall in love with him, and rather than returning to follow the orders of Odin, they become wives and mothers. If a Valkyrie were to find her stolen disguise, she would vanish.
Unlike the Selkie however, there are tales of Valkyries becoming mortals if seen by a human without their swan costume. The contrasting stories make the idea of the Valkyrie as a warrior or beautiful maiden who bears mead to the fallen heroes more complex.
If the Valkyrie as harbingers of war and death, being fierce warriors who bravely fought with men in battle and were wise enough to determine which warriors were worthy of taking a seat in Valhalla resonates with you, then that is what you can view them as. If the Valkyrie are lovers of heroes who will defy orders to save the men they love, happily serve mead to all of the warriors in Valhalla until Ragnarök, and can be captured and made into wives and mothers resonates with you, that is how you can view them too.
The Valkyrie are complex characters that are not further expanded upon in Norse Mythology enough to determine whether they were fighters or damsels in distress and servants to heroes.
Top Image: Dressed for war, but the original depictions of Valkyries were far more varied and sometimes cast them in more domestic roles. Source: Dimart_Graphics / Adobe Stock.
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