"and female fantasy as well as emblematic of the danger of abandoning gender roles. Brynhildr of the ""Vǫlsunga saga"", along with her rival in love, Guðrún Gjúkadóttir, provides an example of how a shield-maiden compares to more conventional aristocratic womanhood in the sagas. Brynhildr is chiefly concerned with honor, much like a male warrior. When she ends up married to Gudrun's brother Gunnarr instead of Sigurðr, the man she intended to marry, Brynhildr speaks a verse comparing the courage of the two men: Brynhildr is married to Gunnarr and not Sigurðr because of deceit and trickery, including a potion of"
"brother (Agnarr). The angry Odin imprisoned her in Skatalund within red and white overlapping shields, and cursed her to sleep until a man without fear would set her free. In order to make it even harder to liberate her, Odin also created a circle of fire around her resting place. Sigurd then arrived on Grani and brought her Fafnir's gold. The hero shared her bed during eight nights without them touching each other. Still, Gudrun would reproach her for having slept in Sigurd's arms, and then admit to her that they had tricked her out of her relationship with Sigurd"
"the Rings"" and Thorgil in Nancy Farmer's ""The Sea of Trolls"" trilogy. In the 2013 TV series ""Vikings"", the legendary Viking shield-maiden Lagertha, played by Katheryn Winnick, is a principal character. Shield-maiden A shield-maiden (), in Scandinavian folklore and mythology was a female warrior. They are often mentioned in sagas such as ""Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks"" and in ""Gesta Danorum"". Shield-maidens also appear in stories of other Germanic peoples: Goths, Cimbri, and Marcomanni. The mythical valkyries may have been based on the shield-maidens. The historical existence of shield-maidens is heavily debated, but scholars including Neil Price, argue that they existed"
"somehow led to the events of the Æsir–Vanir War. Gullveig In Norse mythology, Gullveig is a being who was speared by the Æsir, burnt three times, and yet thrice reborn. Upon her third rebirth, Gullveig's name becomes Heiðr and she is described as a knowledgeable and skillful völva. Gullveig/Heiðr is solely attested in the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material. Scholars have variously proposed that Gullveig/Heiðr is the same figure as the goddess Freyja, that Gullveig's death may have been connected to corruption by way of gold among the Æsir, and/or that Gullveig's treatment by"
"Sinmara In Norse mythology, Sinmara is a female figure or ""jötunn"", usually considered a consort to the fiery ""jötunn"" Surtr, the lord of Muspelheim. Sinmara is attested solely in the poem ""Fjölsvinnsmál"", where she is mentioned alongside Surtr in one (emended) stanza, and described as keeper of the legendary weapon Lævateinn in a later passage. Assorted theories have been proposed about the etymology of her name, and her connection with other figures in Norse mythology. The etymology of the name ""Sinmara"" is obscure. The latter element of the name, ""mara"", may be a cognate to ""(night-)mare"", as suggested in the"
"Glöð Glöð (""glad"" or ""glowing embers""; sometimes anglicized as Glod or Glut ) is a legendary queen who figures in the Norse ""Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar"". She is a daughter of Grímr of Grímsgarðr in Jötunheimr and his wife Alvör, the sister of King Álf the Old of Álfheimr. She is also the wife of Logi, also referred to as Hálogi, with whom she had two daughters, Eysa or Eisa (""glowing embers"") and Eimyrja (""embers""). In Norse mythology, Logi is a fire giant, god and personification of fire, mentioned in the ""Prose Edda"". By extension, Glöð, as Logi's consort, is sometimes"
"root system of the world-tree. Sinmara In Norse mythology, Sinmara is a female figure or ""jötunn"", usually considered a consort to the fiery ""jötunn"" Surtr, the lord of Muspelheim. Sinmara is attested solely in the poem ""Fjölsvinnsmál"", where she is mentioned alongside Surtr in one (emended) stanza, and described as keeper of the legendary weapon Lævateinn in a later passage. Assorted theories have been proposed about the etymology of her name, and her connection with other figures in Norse mythology. The etymology of the name ""Sinmara"" is obscure. The latter element of the name, ""mara"", may be a cognate to"
"Shield-maiden A shield-maiden (), in Scandinavian folklore and mythology was a female warrior. They are often mentioned in sagas such as ""Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks"" and in ""Gesta Danorum"". Shield-maidens also appear in stories of other Germanic peoples: Goths, Cimbri, and Marcomanni. The mythical valkyries may have been based on the shield-maidens. The historical existence of shield-maidens is heavily debated, but scholars including Neil Price, argue that they existed while others, like scholar Judith Jesch disagree, citing a lack of hard evidence for trained or regular women warriors. There are few historic attestations that Viking Age women took part in"
"Grimhild In Norse mythology, Grimhild or Grímhildr (""masked battle"") was a beautiful but evil sorceress who was married to king Gjúki of Burgundy. She was the mother of three sons, Gunnar, Hǫgni and Guthormr, and a daughter, Gudrun. She gave Sigurðr a magic potion that made him forget that he ever married his wife Brynhildr, so that he would marry Gudrun, her daughter, while Brynhildr would marry her son Gunnar. However, Brynhildr refused to marry him, as she would only marry a man who could cross the ring of flames she put up around herself. So Grímhildr talked Sigurðr into"
"beings. The Furies were female spirits who exacted vengeance against people who committed specific crimes. Keres were female spirits of death and destruction. Persephone was the goddess of the underworld and the spouse of Hades. Thanatos, the god of death, was said to wear dark robes. The Vikings believed that if a warrior died in battle, he would be taken to the Norse afterlife: the hall of Valhöll, in which the warriors would prepare for Ragnarökk, the battle at the end of the world. Rune stones were erected to commemorate particularly brave warriors. Death in one's sleep (a ""straw death"")"
"Borghild In Norse mythology, Borghild was the first wife of Sigmund. She bore him two sons, Hamund and Helgi. She is the personification of the evening mist, or perhaps the moon, who kills the light of day. Sinfjötli (Borghild's step-son) ""saw a lovely woman and strongly desired to have her. The brother of Borghild, the wife of King Sigmund, had also asked for her hand."". Sinfjötli killed the brother in a contest to win the maiden's hand, and Sinfjötli won. He became very famous. When he came home, he told his father Sigmund what had happened. Sigmund then told Borghild,"
"fire between her legs, burning her from below while her upper parts would freeze, and into this fire Grímhild would drop once their own curse was broken. Grímhild attempted to reason with Hild, as she would rather that neither of their curses hold, but to no avail as Hildr desired revenge. Eleven years and sixteen men later, a young Dane named Illugi broke Grímhild's curse by defeating and burning all of her daughters, thus also causing her to die at last. In ""Gríms saga loðinkinna"", Grímhild was an evil wife of the North Norwegian lord, who had put a curse"
"Gullveig In Norse mythology, Gullveig is a being who was speared by the Æsir, burnt three times, and yet thrice reborn. Upon her third rebirth, Gullveig's name becomes Heiðr and she is described as a knowledgeable and skillful völva. Gullveig/Heiðr is solely attested in the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material. Scholars have variously proposed that Gullveig/Heiðr is the same figure as the goddess Freyja, that Gullveig's death may have been connected to corruption by way of gold among the Æsir, and/or that Gullveig's treatment by the Æsir may have led to the Æsir–Vanir War."
"Sváfa In Norse mythology, Sváfa or Sváva is a valkyrie and the daughter of king Eylimi. Consequently, she was probably the maternal aunt of Sigurd, the dragon slayer, although this is not explicitly mentioned in ""Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar"" where Sváfa's story appears. The etymology of the valkyrie's name has been theorized as meaning ""sleep-maker"" or as ""Suebian"", and it may not be a coincidence that a king ""Sváfnir"" and the kingdom ""Sváfaland"" also appears in this poem (it is also mentioned in the ""Þiðrekssaga""), although they are never directly connected with her. The Norwegian king Hjörvarðr and Sigrlinn of Sváfaland had"
"narrative explains that the woman is named Sigrdrífa and that she is a valkyrie. A narrative relates that Sigrdrífa explains to Sigurd that there were two kings fighting one another. Odin had promised one of these—Hjalmgunnar—victory in battle, yet she had ""brought down"" Hjalmgunnar in battle. Odin pricked her with a sleeping-thorn in consequence, told her she would never again ""fight victoriously in battle"", and condemned her to marriage. In response, Sigrdrífa told Odin she had sworn a great oath that she would never wed a man who knew fear. Sigurd asks Sigrdrífa to share with him her wisdom of"
"on her stepdaughter Lofthaena to turn her into an ugly troll. Lofthaena was rescued by a man who loved her, the saga's hero Grím, who than had Grímhild punished by being stoned to death. Grimhild In Norse mythology, Grimhild or Grímhildr (""masked battle"") was a beautiful but evil sorceress who was married to king Gjúki of Burgundy. She was the mother of three sons, Gunnar, Hǫgni and Guthormr, and a daughter, Gudrun. She gave Sigurðr a magic potion that made him forget that he ever married his wife Brynhildr, so that he would marry Gudrun, her daughter, while Brynhildr would"
"in a ring of fire, and her rescue by a hero without fear. The Valkyries have a basis in historical fact, within the primitive Teutonic war-cult. According to Cooke, originally they were ""grisly old women who officiated at the sacrificial rites when prisoners were put to death."" They became entwined in legend: in the Poetic Edda they emerge as supernatural warrior maidens carrying out Odin's orders as to who should die. In the Poetic Edda the Valkyries are given names: Skuld, Skogul, Gunn, Hild, Gondul and Geirskogul. Some of these names differ in other sources. The names that Wagner gave"
"named Hervor. She was a shieldmaiden and was the commander of a Gothic fort facing Myrkviðr, and she would fall in battle against the Huns (see Hlöd, Hlöðskviða). When her foster-father Ormar reported Hervor's death to king Angantyr, he said: When King Angantyr heard this, he grinned and was slow to speak, but at last he said: Hervor Hervor is the name of two female characters in the cycle of the magic sword Tyrfing, presented in ""Hervarar saga"" with parts found in the ""Poetic Edda"". One, the viking Hervör, challenged her father Angantýr's ghost in his gravemound for his cursed"
"Ragnhild Tregagås Ragnhild Tregagås or Tregagás was a Norwegian woman from Bergen. In 1324/1325 she was accused and convicted for exercising witchcraft. She was sentenced to strict fasting and a seven-year-long pilgrimage to holy places outside of Norway. The trial against Ragnhild Tregagås is the only one concerning witchcraft that is known from medieval Norway, taking place 250 years before the witch-hunt in Norway started. Trial records provide a spell used by the accused Ragnhild Tregagås to end the marriage of her former lover, a man named Bárd. The charm contains a mention of the valkyrie Göndul being ""sent out"":"
"Ragnhild Tregagås Ragnhild Tregagås or Tregagás was a Norwegian woman from Bergen. In 1324/1325 she was accused and convicted for exercising witchcraft. She was sentenced to strict fasting and a seven-year-long pilgrimage to holy places outside of Norway. The trial against Ragnhild Tregagås is the only one concerning witchcraft that is known from medieval Norway, taking place 250 years before the witch-hunt in Norway started. Trial records provide a spell used by the accused Ragnhild Tregagås to end the marriage of her former lover, a man named Bárd. The charm contains a mention of the valkyrie Göndul being ""sent out"":"
"Brunhild Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild (Old Norse ""Brynhildr"", Middle High German ""Brünhilt"", Modern German ""Brünhild"" or ""Brünhilde"") is a powerful female figure from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda of Austrasia. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shieldmaiden or valkyrie, who appears as a main character in the ""Völsunga saga"" and some Eddic poems treating the same events. In the continental Germanic tradition, where she is a central character in the ""Nibelungenlied"", she is a powerful Amazon-like queen. In both traditions, she is instrumental in bringing about the death"
"departs, listening all the while to the birds singing of the valkyrie Brynhild, her quarrel with Odin, and the circle of fire which surrounds her sleeping form. After much riding on the back of Grani, Sigurd arrives at heights of Hindarfell. As they climb the mountainside, Grani leaps the ring of lightning and fire which surrounds Brynhild. As he reaches her side, Sigurd slices her corslet with Gram and awakens the sleeping valkyrie. Addressing Sigurd, Brynhild explains how Odin doomed her to mate a mortal man. Impetuously, Brynhild had vowed to wed but one, the serpent slayer prophesied by the"
"Heiðr Heiðr (from the Old Norse adjective meaning ""bright"" or the noun meaning ""honour"") is the seeress and witch (""völva"") mentioned in one stanza of ""Völuspá"", related to the story of the Æsir-Vanir war: The general assumption is that Heiðr is an alternate name for the witch Gullveig, mentioned in the previous stanza, who, in turn, is often thought to be a hypostasis of Freyja. But it is sometimes argued that the ""völva"" who recites the poem refers to herself. Heiðr is also a seeress in several works such as ""Landnámabók"" , ""Hrólfs saga kraka"" and ""Örvar-Odds saga"" , where"
"Hjálmgunnar to win. As punishment, Odin stuck her with a sleep thorn and declared that she must marry. She swore that she would not awaken to marry unless a man came who knew no fear. Odin places the sleeping Brunhild on mount Hindarfjall and surrounds her with a wall of shields. Eventually, Sigurd comes and awakens Brunhild. She makes foreboding prophecies and imparts wisdom to him. The two promise to marry each other. After this, Brunhild returns to Heimir. One day while Sigurd is hunting, his hawk flies up and lands at the window of the tower where Brunhild is"
"the sister of the personified moon, Máni, is the daughter of Mundilfari, is at times referred to as ""Álfröðull"", and is foretold to be killed by a monstrous wolf during the events of Ragnarök, though beforehand she will have given birth to a daughter who continues her mother's course through the heavens. In the ""Prose Edda"", she is additionally described as the wife of Glenr. As a proper noun, Sól appears throughout Old Norse literature. Scholars have produced theories about the development of the goddess from potential Nordic Bronze Age and Proto-Indo-European roots. One of the two Merseburg Incantations (the"
"Freyja In Norse mythology, Freyja (; Old Norse for ""(the) Lady"") is a goddess associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, is accompanied by the boar Hildisvíni, and possesses a cloak of falcon feathers. By her husband Óðr, she is the mother of two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her brother Freyr, her father Njörðr, and her mother (Njörðr's sister, unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir. Stemming from Old Norse ""Freyja"", modern forms of the name"
"once Sigurd has tasted the blood of the dragon Fafnir, Sigurd understands the birds who tell him to go to a palace where the valkyrie Sigrdrífa sleeps surrounded by flames. In ""Sigrdrífumál"", Sigurd rides to the mountain Hindarfjall, where he sees a wall of shields that surround a sleeping woman. The woman is wearing armor that seems to have grown into her skin, and Sigurd uses his sword to cut it open. This awakens the maiden, who explains that she is the valkyrie Sigrdrífa and, in a prose interlude, tells how she had disobeyed Odin who then demanded she marry."
"kills Regin and takes Fafnir's treasure for himself. On his journey homeward Sigurd comes across an unearthly blaze on the slopes of Hindfell. He rides straight into it and comes unharmed to the heart of the fire, where he finds a beautiful sleeping woman clad in armour. He wakes her, and she tells him that she is Brynhild, a handmaiden of Odin whom he has left here as a punishment for disobedience. They pledge themselves to each other, Sigurd places a ring from Fafnir's hoard on her finger, and he leaves. The scene changes to the court of Giuki, the"
"Álfröðull Álfröðull (Old Norse ""elf-beam"", ""elf-disc"" or ""elf-glory, elf-heaven"") is a term and common kenning in Norse mythology. It is ambiguous, referring both to the sun-chariot of the sun goddess Sól (for example, Alfröðull is said to shine in ""Skírnismál"", verse 4) and to the rider (Sól herself). Álfröðull is pulled by two horses, Árvakr and Alsviðr. The chariot is pursued by the wolf Sköll. According to Norse mythology, prior to Ragnarök, Álfröðull will give birth to a daughter and after she is eaten by the wolf, the daughter will take her place. According to the poem ""Vafþrúðnismál"", verses 46–47:"
"of the dead, spattering the heavens with blood. In contrast the Eddic poem ""Vafþrúðnismál"" states that Fenrir himself will destroy the sun. Snorri also names a wolf named Mánagarmr (""Moon-Hound"", or ""Moon's Dog"") as the most powerful of the giantess's progeny, and goes on to say that he will swallow the moon and gorge on the dead. This is presumably an alternate name for Hati that Snorri took from folklore. It can be anglicized as ""Managarm"", ""Manegarm"", ""Mánagarm"" or ""Managarmr"". Hati Hróðvitnisson In Norse mythology, Hati Hróðvitnisson (first name meaning ""He Who Hates"", or ""Enemy"") is a warg; a wolf"
"and Ragnar's first wife. Lagertha Lagertha was, according to legend, a Viking shieldmaiden and ruler from what is now Norway, and the onetime wife of the famous Viking Ragnar Lodbrok. Her tale, as recorded by the chronicler Saxo in the 12th century, may be a reflection of tales about Thorgerd (Þorgerðr Hölgabrúðr), a Norse deity. Her name as recorded by Saxo, , is likely a Latinisation of the Old Norse (Hlathgerth). It is frequently rendered in English-language sources as ""Lagertha"", and has also been recorded as Ladgertha, Ladgerda or similar. Lagertha's tale is recorded in passages in the ninth book"
"funeral, Hyrrokkin is mentioned in a list of giants and giantesses killed by him, as told by Þorbjörn dísarskáld in ""Skáldskaparmál"". The poem ""Húsdrápa"", composed by Úlfr Uggason in Iceland in the late 10th century and partially preserved in the ""Prose Edda"", refers to Hyrrokkin at Baldr's funeral: She is also mentioned in a list of troll women by an anonymous skald: Hyrrokkin In Norse mythology, Hyrrokkin (""Fire-Smoked"", possibly referring to a dark, shrivelled appearance) is a giantess. She appears to be depicted on one of the surviving stones from the Hunnestad Monument near Marsvinsholm, Sweden called DR 284. It"
"not Sigmund because of the Volsung blood. According to legend, the Volsung family descended from Odin, and were therefore part god. Sigmund had more god-like blood in him than Sinfjötli, so Sigmund could withstand the poison, and Sinfjötli could not. Borghild In Norse mythology, Borghild was the first wife of Sigmund. She bore him two sons, Hamund and Helgi. She is the personification of the evening mist, or perhaps the moon, who kills the light of day. Sinfjötli (Borghild's step-son) ""saw a lovely woman and strongly desired to have her. The brother of Borghild, the wife of King Sigmund, had"