Mythology | Valkyrie 

Valkyries (from the Old Norse Valkyrja, in Norse mythology, daughters of the principal god Odin, are often called Odin’s maidens. At his bidding, they flew on their horses over the fields of every battle to choose the souls of the heroic dead. Belief in the existence of magic horsewomen from heaven was widespread in Germanic and Scandinavia cultures, though they were called by different names.

The Valkyries carried out the will of Odin in determining the victors in battle and of course the war.  As each Valkyrie performed differing tasks according to Odin’s instruction, it was their prime duty to ride into the battlefield and choose the fallen heroes of the field. To be chosen by a Valkyrie and carried off on her white steed to Valhalla was considered an honor to the dying Viking warrior, for Valkyries only chose the bravest of the slain, gathering souls found deserving of an afterlife. They traveled far-and-wide searching for the dead in battlefields, oceans and seas for mortal men worthy of the grand hall. However, if the Viking warriors are deemed unworthy by the Valkyries, the goddess Hel in a cheerless underground world received them after their death. [x]

May 9th at 11:07AM, 7 years ago / 11,740 notes / via / source