Editing Valkyrie (section)

==Theories==

===Old English {{lang|ang|wælcyrge}} and Old English charms===
[[File:Sutton Hoo Burial Mound.jpg|thumb|An Anglo-Saxon [[tumulus|burial mound]] at [[Sutton Hoo]] in [[Suffolk]], [[England]]]]
Richard North says that the description of a raven flying over the [[Egypt]]ian army (glossed as {{lang|ang|wonn wælceaseg}}) may have been directly influenced by the Old Norse concept of Valhalla, the usage of {{lang|ang|wælcyrge}} in {{lang|la|De laudibus virginitatis}} may represent a loan or loan-translation of Old Norse {{lang|non|valkyrja}}, but the Cotton Cleopatra A. iii and the ''Corpus Glossary'' instances "appear to show an [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] conception of {{lang|ang|wælcyrge}} that was independent of contemporary [[Scandinavia]]n influence".<ref name=NORTH106/>

Two [[Old English literature|Old English]] charms mention figures that are theorised as representing an Anglo-Saxon notion of valkyries or valkyrie-like female beings; {{lang|ang|[[Wið færstice]]}}, a charm to cure a sudden pain or stitch, and ''[[For a Swarm of Bees]]'', a charm to keep [[honey bee]]s from [[swarming (honey bee)|swarming]]. In {{lang|ang|Wið færstice}}, a sudden pain is attributed to a small, "shrieking" spear thrown with supernatural strength ({{lang|ang|mægen}}) by "fierce" loudly flying "mighty women" ({{lang|ang|mihtigan wif}}) who have ridden over a burial mound:

{{poemquote|They were loud, yes, loud,
when they rode over the (burial) mound;
they were fierce when they rode across the land.
Shield yourself now, you can survive this strife.
Out, little spear, if there is one here within.
It stood under/behind lime-wood (i.e. a shield), under a light-coloured/light-weight shield,
where those mighty women marshalled their powers, and they send shrieking spears.<ref name="HALL1-2">Hall (2007:1–2).</ref>}}

Theories have been proposed that these figures are connected to valkyries.<ref name="GREENFIELD257">Greenfield (1996:257).</ref> Richard North says that "though it is not clear what the poet takes these women to be, their female sex, riding in flight and throwing spears suggest that they were imagined in England as women being analogous to the later Norse {{lang|non|valkyrjur}}."<ref name="NORTH105">North (1997:105).</ref> [[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] theorizes that {{lang|ang|Wið færstice}} was originally a battle spell that had, over time, been reduced to evoke "a prosaic stitch in the side".<ref name="DAVIDSON63">Davidson (1990:63).</ref> Towards the end of ''For a Swarm of Bees'', the swarming bees are referred to as "victory-women" (Old English {{lang|ang|sigewif}}):

{{poemquote|Settle down, victory-women,
never be wild and fly to the woods.
Be as mindful of my welfare,
as is each man of eating and of home.<ref name="GREENFIELD256">Greenfield (1996:256).</ref>}}

The term "victory women" has been theorised as pointing to an association with valkyries. This theory is not universally accepted, and the reference has also been theorised as a simple metaphor for the "victorious sword" (the stinging) of the bees.<ref name=GREENFIELD256/>

===Merseburg Incantation, fetters, {{lang|non|dísir}}, {{lang|non|idisi}} and norns===
[[File:Idise by Emil Doepler.jpg|thumb|''Idise'' (1905) by Emil Doepler]]

One of the two [[Old High German]] [[Merseburg Incantations]] call upon female beings—''[[Idisi]]''—to bind and hamper an army. The incantation reads:

<blockquote><poem>Once the Idisi sat, sat here and there,
some bound fetters, some hampered the army,
some untied fetters:
Escape from the fetters, flee from the enemies.<ref name="SIMEK171">Simek (2007:171).</ref></poem></blockquote>

The ''Idisi'' mentioned in the incantation are generally considered to be valkyries. Rudolf Simek says that "these Idisi are obviously a kind of valkyrie, as these also have the power to hamper enemies in Norse mythology" and points to a connection with the valkyrie name {{lang|non|[[Herfjötur]]}} (Old Norse "army-fetter").<ref name=SIMEK171/> Hilda R. Davidson compares the incantation to the Old English {{lang|ang|Wið færstice}} charm and theorises a similar role for them both.<ref name=DAVIDSON63/>

Simek says that the [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] term ''Idisi'' ({{langx|osx|idis}}, {{langx|goh|itis}}, {{langx|ang|ides}}) refers to a "dignified, well respected woman (married or unmarried), possibly a term for any woman, and therefore glosses exactly Latin {{lang|la|[[matres and Matrones|matrona]]}}" and that a link to the [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] term {{lang|non|dísir}} is reasonable to assume, yet not undisputed. In addition, the place name [[Idistaviso|Idisiaviso]] (meaning "plain of the Idisi") where forces commanded by [[Arminius]] fought those commanded by [[Germanicus]] at the [[Battle of the Weser River]] in 16 AD. Simek points to a connection between the name ''Idisiaviso'', the role of the Idisi in one of the two Merseburg Incantations and valkyries.<ref name="SIMEK171"/>

Regarding the {{lang|non|dísir}}, Simek states that Old Norse {{lang|non|dís}} appears commonly as simply a term for "woman", just as Old High German {{lang|goh|itis}}, Old Saxon {{lang|osx|idis}} and Old English {{lang|ang|ides}}, and may have also been used to denote a type of goddess. According to Simek, "several of the Eddic sources might lead us to conclude that the {{lang|non|dísir}} were valkyrie-like guardians of the dead, and indeed in {{lang|non|[[Guðrúnarkviða]]}} I 19 the valkyries are even called {{lang|non|Herjans dísir}} "Odin's {{lang|non|dísir}}". The {{lang|non|dísir}} are explicitly called dead women in {{lang|non|[[Atlamál]]}} 28 and a secondary belief that the {{lang|non|dísir}} were the souls of dead women (see {{lang|non|[[fylgja|fylgjur]]}}) also underlies the {{lang|non|[[landdísir]]}} of [[Scandinavian folklore|Icelandic folklore]].<ref name="SIMEK61-62">Simek (2007:61–62).</ref> Simek says that "as the function of the [[Matres and Matrones|matrons]] was also extremely varied—fertility goddess, personal guardians, but also warrior-goddesses—the belief in the {{lang|non|dísir}}, like the belief in the valkyries, norns and matrons, may be considered to be different manifestations of a belief in a number of female (half-?) goddesses."<ref name=SIMEK61-62/>

[[Jacob Grimm]] states that, though the norns and valkyries are similar in nature, there is a fundamental difference between the two. Grimm states that a {{lang|non|dís}} can be both norn and a valkyrie, "but their functions are separate and usually the persons. The norns have to pronounce the fatum [fate], they sit on their chairs, or they roam through the country among mortals, fastening their threads. Nowhere is it said that they ride. The valkyrs ''ride'' to war, decide the issues of fighting, and conduct the fallen to heaven; their riding is like that of heroes and gods".<ref name="GRIMM421">Grimm (1882:421).</ref>

===Origins and development===
[[File:Die Nornen (1889) by Johannes Gehrts.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Norns'' (1889) by [[Johannes Gehrts]]]]

Various theories have been proposed about the origins and development of the valkyries from Germanic paganism to later Norse mythology. Rudolf Simek suggests valkyries were probably originally viewed as "demons of the dead to whom warriors slain on the battlefield belonged", and that a shift in interpretation of the valkyries may have occurred "when the concept of Valhalla changed from a battlefield to a warrior's paradise". Simek says that this original concept was "superseded by the [[Shieldmaiden|shield girls]]—Irish female warriors who lived on like the ''einherjar'' in Valhall." Simek says that the valkyries were closely associated with Odin, and that this connection existed in an earlier role as "demons of death". Simek states that due to the shift of concept, the valkyries became popular figures in [[Poetic Edda#Heroic lays|heroic poetry]], and during this transition were stripped of their "demonic characteristics and became more human, and therefore become capable of falling in love with mortals [...]." Simek says that the majority of the names of the valkyries point to a warlike function, that most of [[List of valkyrie names in Norse mythology|valkyrie names]] do not appear to be very old, and that the names "mostly come from poetic creativity rather than from real folk-belief."<ref name="SIMEK349"/>

MacLeod and Mees theorise that "the role of the corpse-choosing valkyries became increasingly confused in later Norse mythology with that of the [[Norns]], the supernatural females responsible for determining human destiny [...]."<ref name="MACLEOD39">MacLeod (2006:39).</ref>

[[Hilda Ellis Davidson]] says that, regarding valkyries, "evidently an elaborate literary picture has been built up by generations of poets and storytellers, in which several conceptions can be discerned. We recognise something akin to Norns, spirits who decide destinies of men; to the [[Völva|seeresses]], who could protect men in battle with their spells; to the powerful female guardian spirits attached to certain families, bringing luck to youth under their protection; even to certain women who armed themselves and fought like men, for whom there is some historical evidence from the regions round the [[Black Sea]]". She adds that there may also be a memory in this of a "priestess of the god of war, women who officiated at the sacrificial rites when captives were put to death after battle."<ref name="DAVIDSON61">Davidson (1990:61).</ref>

Davidson places emphasis on the fact that ''valkyrie'' literally means "chooser of the slain". She compares Wulfstan's mention of a "chooser of the slain" in his ''Sermo Lupi ad Anglos'' sermon, which appears among "a blacklist of sinners, witches and evildoers", to "all the other classes whom he [Wulfstan] mentions", and concludes as those "are human ones, it seems unlikely that he has introduced mythological figures as well." Davidson points out that [[Arab]] traveller [[Ibn Fadlan]]'s detailed account of a 10th-century [[Rus' (people)|Rus]] ship funeral on the [[Volga River]] features an "old [[Huns|Hunnish]] woman, massive and grim to look upon" (who Fadlan refers to as the "Angel of Death") who organises the killing of the slave girl, and has two other women with her that Fadlan refers to as her daughters. Davidson says that "it would hardly be surprising if strange legends grew up about such women, who must have been kept apart from their kind due to their gruesome duties. Since it was often decided by lot which prisoners should be killed, the idea that the god "chose" his victims, through the instrument of the priestesses, must have been a familiar one, apart from the obvious assumption that some were chosen to fall in war." Davidson says that it appears that from "early times" the [[Germanic peoples]] "believed in fierce female spirits doing the command of the war god, stirring up disorder, taking part in battle, seizing and perhaps devouring the slain."<ref name="DAVIDSON61-62">Davidson (1990:61–62).</ref>

===Freyja and Fólkvangr===
[[File:Freya by C. E. Doepler.jpg|thumb|left|''Freya'' (1882) by [[Carl Emil Doepler]]]]
The goddess [[Freyja]] and her afterlife field [[Fólkvangr]], where she receives half of the slain, has been theorized as connected to the valkyries. Britt-Mari Näsström points out the description in ''Gylfaginning'' where it is said of Freyja "whenever she rides into battle she takes half of the slain", and interprets ''Fólkvangr'' as "the field of the Warriors". Näsström notes that, just like Odin, Freyja receives slain heroes who have died on the battlefield, and that her house is [[Sessrumnir]] (which she translates as "filled with many seats"), a dwelling that Näsström posits likely fills the same function as Valhalla. Näsström comments that "still, we must ask why there are two heroic paradises in the Old Norse view of afterlife. It might possibly be a consequence of different forms of initiation of warriors, where one part seemed to have belonged to Óðinn and the other to Freyja. These examples indicate that Freyja was a war-goddess, and she even appears as a valkyrie, literally 'the one who chooses the slain'."<ref name="NÄSSTRÖM61">Näsström (1999:61).</ref>

Siegfried Andres Dobat comments that "in her mythological role as the chooser of half the fallen warriors for her death-realm Fólkvangr, the goddess Freyja, however, emerges as the mythological role-model for the Valkyrjar {{Sic}} and the dísir".<ref name="DOBAT186">Dobat (2006:186).</ref>