Editing Valkyrie (section)

==Etymology==
The word ''valkyrie'' derives from [[Old Norse]] ''{{linktext|valkyrja|lang=non}}'' (plural {{lang|non|valkyrjur}}), which is composed of two words: the noun ''{{linktext|valr|lang=non}}'' (referring to the slain on the battlefield) and the verb ''{{linktext|kjósa|lang=non}}'' (meaning "to choose"). Together, they mean 'chooser of the slain'. The Old Norse {{lang|non|valkyrja}} is cognate to [[Old English]] ''{{linktext|wælcyrge|lang=ang}}''.<ref name="BYOCK142-143">Byock (2005:142–143).</ref> From the Old English and Old Norse forms, [[philology|philologist]] [[Vladimir Orel]] reconstructs the [[Proto-Germanic]] form {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/walakuzjǭ|walakuzjǭ]]}}.<ref name="OREL-442">Orel (2003:442).</ref> However, the term may have been borrowed into Old English from Old Norse: see discussion in the [[#Old English attestations|Old English attestations]] section below.

Other terms for valkyries in Old Norse sources include {{lang|non|óskmey}} ("wish maid"), appearing in the poem {{lang|non|[[Oddrúnargrátr]]}}, and {{lang|non|Óðins [[wikt:mey|meyjar]]}} ("[[Odin]]'s maids"), appearing in the {{lang|non|[[Nafnaþulur]]}}. {{lang|non|Óskmey}} may be related to the [[List of names of Odin|Odinic name {{lang|non|Óski|nocat=y}}]] (roughly meaning "wish fulfiller"), referring to the fact that Odin receives slain warriors in Valhalla.<ref name="SIMEK254+349">Simek (2007:254 and 349).</ref>

The name ''Randalín'', which [[Aslaug]] is called in ''[[Ragnars saga Loðbrókar|Ragnars saga loðbrókar]]'', when she joins her sons to avenge their brothers Agnarr and [[Eric Weatherhat|Eric]] in Sweden, is probably from ''Randa-[[Hlín]]'', which means "shield-goddess", i.e. a [[kenning]] for "Valkyrie".{{sfn|McTurk|1991|p=178}}