Editing Valkyrie (section)

===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/>