No matter how many years pass, and no matter how many new exciting legends appear, the world will always be interested in such an extraordinary story about those who still excite the minds of many. Tales of the charming servants of one God. But who are the Valkyries really? Beautiful, divine creatures, or yet cruel and merciless dark women warriors? Most likely, no one will ever know the exact answer, but be that as it may, ancient myths are always ready to tell us their ghostly truth.
Valkyrie warrior virgin - who is she and what is her destiny?
According to German-Scandinavian mythology, the story of extraordinary and courageous girls originates at a time when the gods led an open life and fully dominated the earth. It was then that they were born - the Valkyries. They called them so for good reason, because from the Old Norse language, this word, combined from the other two, means "choosing the dead", which directly relates to the destination to which every Valkyrie warrior dedicated her life. Devotional service to God Odin was what was important to them. And the main task facing them was to decide who will become the winner and who will be the loser in all the battles taking place at that time.
Ways and methods by which brave girls achieved their goals
Initially, according to legend, all warlike virgins were described as cruel and bloodthirsty angels of death who loved to see the suffering and pain of dying soldiers, but since then the story has changed and they have acquired new, brighter and brighter features. Flying through the air on their fast and powerful horses, they hovered over the heads of those who fought hard, and when the battle was drawing to a close, the warriors picked up the heroes who had fallen in this battle and transferred them to where Lord Odin ordered.
A special place for further existence, after earthly life
The world where the Valkyrie brought the dead on her horse brought is the heavenly abode of all the Scandinavian gods, Asgard. It was here, in an old castle called Valhalla (which translates as “the hall of the slain”), the chosen victims found refuge. Every day, under the vaults of golden ceilings and luminous swords instead of lamps, in order to protect the divine city from the unwanted invasion of the giants, all the soldiers were engaged in improving their own skills and practicing hard from dawn to dusk. And then they delighted and satiated their tired and exhausted bodies at feasts arranged by the gods. And at that time, beautiful warriors served them at the tables and each of them was presented with delicious dishes and drinks.
The Valkyrie is an innocently beautiful and enchanting maiden.
Although the warriors, as was indicated a little earlier, at first represented merciless and cruel women, nevertheless after a certain time in the later writings of Scandinavian mythology, the idea of them acquired somewhat different features. Since then, when asked about who the Valkyries are and what their true face is, one could hear that these girls were golden-haired, pristine beauties with pale skin.
And on the battlefields, they appeared in the form of maidens-swans or cut the air on amazing and fantastically beautiful clouds, horses, whose manes were able to cover the earth with frost and dew.
Therefore, given all of the above, it is impossible to say that the Valkyrie is a certain type of ruthless warrior or, on the contrary, only a sensual virgin. Because this archetype has many versatile and fantastic features.
The origin of the servants of Odin and ancient literature
According to the legends of the Anglo-Saxon people, some of the Valkyries were created from elves, but still most of these maidens were of noble origin, and they were the daughters of the princes, who managed to become one of the warrior girls, endowed with the gift of turning into graceful swans.
Currently, we know about their existence thanks to such a beautiful example of ancient literature as the Elder Edda. It is here that we learn a lot, including the names of the Valkyries.
Name Meaning
None of them had a name that was given simply for beauty, on the contrary, each of them meant something special, capable of giving an accurate description of its owner. And although a considerable part of the oldest names has not yet been translated, nevertheless several of them have become accessible and understandable to all comers, making it even a little easier to understand who the Valkyries are and what they are.
For example, Hilda means “battle”, and Khleck has although a similar, but still slightly different translation - “noise of battle”. Christ means “amazing,” and Mist means “foggy.” Hervietur is “the bonds of the army”, Labor is “strength”.
As you can see from the translation, each name has its own power and character, due to which the images of the warriors become clearer, and it becomes even more clear that the Valkyrie is not just a loyal subject of her god, but also a woman who has her own individual and independent from other character traits and abilities. And it was precisely such their unique images that became an inspiring factor in the creation of the famous German epic “Song of the Nibelungs”.
Legend of love
Reading this epic, we learn about how, daring to violate Odin’s order, one of the Valkyries, a girl named Sigrdriva, performed a real feat in the name of her own love. She, at the risk of everything, defended the one whom she wished with all her heart, and instead of giving the victory on the battlefield to the one whom Odin commanded, the warrior rewarded her with her beloved, king Agnar. For this, in the end, she paid with a long and sound sleep, and when she woke up she became an ordinary, earthly woman.
The story of another Valkyrie, whose name is Brünnhilde, began with the fact that she married a mortal, and as a result, like Sigrdriva, she lost her former strength, becoming a simple girl. And soon her descendants intertwined their lives with the goddesses - nornes spinning at the well of the thread of fate .
Rejection of a former life
After some time, the cult of the divine Odin grew to incredible heights. He became more powerful than others, thanks to which he began to acquire in his image more and more human features, and other gods at that time became more and more demonized. Every Valkyrie the importance of which during this period decreased very much, acquired a pair of wings, and from now on they all became half-women, half-birds.
Now the warriors no longer decided who to live and who to die on the battlefield, these powers were completely concentrated in Odin's hands. Even at the solemn feasts they had no place left. After all, if it used to be that the Valkyrie is the most valuable decoration and the main toilers of these holidays and evenings, then from now on they have been liberated, sexy, and charming gurus.
And since even the virgins were categorically denied even delivering the chosen warriors to Valhalla, they had no choice but to hug and carefully cherish the Einherians until the eight-legged horse that belongs to Odin came to them and will deliver them to their final destination.
And so their mission ended, but the story of deeds and exploits still lives on. Cruel and insensitive or romantic and tender - it does not matter. Most importantly, how much they could bring and open for many of us. Indeed, even after a huge number of years, interest in them and their lives is still not quenched, but trembles, as before, illuminating everything with its bright and majestic light.