Hello all! Today, I’m going to head back into the world of Norse mythology, to talk about one of their most well-known groups: the valkyries.
Now, I’m pretty sure that most of you probably know what a valkyrie is: a shield-maiden of Odin, who goes around and picks up half of those who die in battle and shuffle them off to Valhalla. They tend to be depicted as beautiful, golden-haired warrior women on flying horses. The word valkyrie, in fact, basically means “chooser of the dead.” That’s true, but there may actually be a little bit more to it than that. And the first place to start is where the other half of the dead go: Sessrúmnir.
Sessrúmnir, which is located in a large meadow called Fólkvangr, is presided over by the goddess Freyja. So, Freyja’s domain was largely love and beauty, but she was also very much a war goddess. Whose chariot was pulled by giant cats. That doesn’t really have anything to do with this; I just thought it was a fun fact. Anyway, valkyries may also share a connection with Freyja, and Freyja may even be one, seeing as how she’s connected with war and picks half of the valiant dead to party it up with her.
Valkyries are generally depicted as benevolent spirits, but may not have always been that way. In fact, earlier depictions of them show that they may not have just scooped up souls, but may have decided who was to die in any given battle. This kind of puts them in line with the Norns, who were basically the Norse equivalent of the Greek Fates: women who decided how the life of any given person was going to go, and how that life would end.
Valkyries, generally speaking, are psychopomps: a category of deity or figure whose job it is to ferry souls to the afterlife. This idea is something that shows up in a lot of different mythologies and folklore: the Greeks had Thanatos and Hermes, while most of us are likely familiar with the figure of the Grim Reaper. These women, however, are a lot more specific than most psychopomps.
Now, it should probably go without saying that art and popular culture both love valkyries. There are so many paintings of them that I’ve seen, most of them where they have their titties out for some reason. There’s also the opera Die Walküre, which makes up part of Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Niebelung cycle. Have you ever heard the song “Ride of the Valkyries” play in, say, a war movie? That’s the opera that song is from.
A more modern form of the valkyrie comes in the form of, well, Valkyrie, a Marvel Comics superhero associated with that franchise’s version of Asgard. They also tend to show up in video games, such as in the 2018 God of War, which also features a number of other Norse mythological figures. Urban fantasy novels also seem to be pretty fond of them.
So that’s the basic rundown on valkyries. Personally, I think they’re pretty interesting, and I do like the song “Ride of the Valkyries” mentioned above.
Too bad Wagner was a dickhead, though.
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