THE VALKYRS.
Odin’s special attendants, the Valkyrs, or battle maidens, were either
his daughters, like Brunhild, or the offspring of mortal kings, who
were privileged to serve this god and remain immortal and invulnerable
as long as they implicitly obeyed his orders and remained virgins.
They and their steeds were the personification of the clouds, their
glittering weapons being the lightning flashes. The ancients imagined
that they swept down to earth at Valfather’s command, to choose among
the slain the heroes worthy to taste the joys of Valhalla, and brave
enough to lend their aid to the gods when the great battle was to be
fought.
“There through some battlefield, where men fall fast,
Their horses fetlock-deep in blood, they ride,
And pick the bravest warriors out for death,
Whom they bring back with them at night to Heaven,
To glad the gods and feast in Odin’s hall.”
BALDER DEAD (Matthew Arnold).
[Illustration: VALKYRS RIDING TO BATTLE.--P. N. Arbo.]
These maidens, young and beautiful, with dazzling white arms and
flowing golden hair, wore helmets of silver or gold, blood-red
corselets, carried glittering spears and shields, and boldly charged
hither and thither on their mettlesome white steeds. These horses
galloped over the quivering Bifröst and through the realms of air,
carrying not only their fair riders, but the heroes slain, who were
thus immediately transported to Valhalla, after having received the
Valkyrs’ kiss of death.
[Sidenote: The clouds.]
As the Valkyrs’ steeds were also personifications of the clouds, the
people fancied that all the hoar frost and dew dropped down upon earth
from their glittering manes as they rapidly dashed to and fro through
the air.
“He spake and his harp was with him, and he smote the strings full
sweet,
And sang of the host of the Valkyrs, how they ride the battle to meet,
And the dew from the dear manes drippeth as they ride in the
first of the sun,
And the tree-boughs open to meet it when the wind of the dawning is
done:
And the deep dales drink its sweetness and spring into blossoming
grass,
And the earth groweth fruitful of men, and bringeth their glory to
pass.”
SIGURD THE VOLSUNG (William Morris).
The Valkyrs were not only sent to visit the battlefields upon earth,
but often rode over the sea, snatching the dying Vikings away from the
sinking vessels. Sometimes they stood upon the strand to beckon them
thither, thus warning them that the coming struggle would be their
last--a warning which every Northern hero received with joy.
“Slowly they moved to the billow side;
And the forms, as they grew more clear,
Seem’d each on a tall pale steed to ride,
And a shadowy crest to rear,
And to beckon with faint hand
From the dark and rocky strand,
And to point a gleaming spear.
“Then a stillness on his spirit fell,
Before th’ unearthly train;
For he knew Valhalla’s daughters well,
The choosers of the slain!”
VALKYRIUR SONG (Mrs. Hemans)
[Sidenote: Their number and duties.]
The number of Valkyrs differs greatly according to the various
mythologists, and ranges from three to sixteen, the greater part of
them, however, naming only nine. These Valkyrs, also divinities of the
air, were sometimes called Norns, or wish maidens, and Freya and Skuld
were often supposed to lead them on to the fray.
“She saw Valkyries
Come from afar,
Ready to ride
To the tribes of god;
Skuld held the shield,
Skaugul came next,
Gunnr, Hildr, Gaundul,
And Geir-skaugul.
Thus now are told
The Warrior’s Norns.”
SÆMUND’S EDDA (Henderson’s tr.).
The Valkyrs, as we have seen, were also very busy in Valhalla, where,
having laid aside their bloody weapons, they poured out the heavenly
mead for the Einheriar. These delighted in this beverage and welcomed
the fair maidens as warmly as when they had first seen them on the
battlefield and knew that their errand was to transport them where they
fain would be.
“In the shade now tall forms are advancing,
And their wan hands like snowflakes in the moonlight are gleaming;
They beckon, they whisper, ‘Oh! strong Armed in Valor,
The pale guests await thee--mead foams in Valhalla.’”
FINN’S SAGA (Hewitt).
[Sidenote: Wayland, smith, and the Valkyrs.]
The Valkyrs were also supposed to own swan plumage, in which they
frequently flew down to earth, and which they threw aside when they
came near a secluded stream, so that they might indulge in a bath. Any
mortal surprising them thus, and securing their plumage, could prevent
their ever leaving the earth, and could even force these proud maidens
to mate with him if such were his pleasure.
Three of the Valkyrs, Olrun, Alvit, and Svanhvit, were once sporting
in the waters, when suddenly the three brothers Egil, Slagfinn, and
Völund, or Wayland the smith, came upon them, and securing their swan
guise forced them to remain upon earth and become their wives. The
Valkyrs, thus detained upon earth, remained with these husbands nine
years, but at the end of that time, recovering their plumage, or the
spell being broken, they effected their escape.
“There they stayed
Seven winters through;
But all the eighth
Were with longing seized;
And in the ninth
Fate parted them.
The maidens yearned
For the murky wood,
The young Alvit,
Fate to fulfill.”
LAY OF VÖLUND (Thorpe’s tr.).
Two of the brothers, Egil and Slagfinn, were so lonely without their
wives that, putting on their snow shoes, they went in search of them,
disappearing in the cold and foggy regions of the North; but the third
brother, Völund, remained at home--knowing all search would be of no
avail--contemplating a ring which Alvit had given him as a love token,
and constantly hoping she would return. As he was a very clever smith,
and could manufacture the most dainty ornaments of silver and gold,
as well as magic weapons which no blow could break, he now employed
his leisure in making seven hundred rings exactly like the one which
his wife had given him. These he bound all together; but one night, on
coming home from the hunt, he found that some one had carried away one
ring, leaving all the others behind; so he fancied his wife had been
there and would soon return for good.
That selfsame night, however, he was surprised in his sleep, and bound
and made prisoner by Nidud, King of Sweden, who took possession of
his choicest sword, which he reserved for his own use, and of the
love ring made of pure Rhine gold, which latter he gave to his only
daughter, Bodvild. As for the unhappy Völund himself, he was led
captive to a neighboring island, where, after having hamstrung him to
prevent his escape, the king made him forge weapons and ornaments for
his use day after day. He also compelled him to build an intricate
labyrinth, and to this day a maze in Iceland is known as “Völund’s
house.” Völund’s rage and despair increased with every new insult
offered him by Nidud, and he thought night and day how he might effect
his revenge. During the pauses of his labor he furthermore fashioned
a pair of wings similar to those his wife had used as a Valkyr, which
he intended to don as soon as his vengeance had been accomplished, to
escape from the labyrinth on the island. One day the king came to visit
him, and brought him the stolen sword that he might repair it; but
Völund cleverly substituted another weapon so exactly like the magic
sword as to deceive the king when he came to claim it once more. A few
days after, Völund the smith enticed the king’s sons into his smithy,
slew them, and cunningly fashioned drinking vessels for Nidud out of
their skulls, and jewels out of their eyes and teeth, which he bestowed
upon their mother and sister.
“But their skulls
Beneath the hair
He in silver set,
And to Nidud gave;
And of their eyes
Precious stones he formed,
Which to Nidud’s
Wily wife he sent.
But of the teeth
Of the two
Breast ornaments he made,
And to Bodvild sent.”
LAY OF VÖLUND (Thorpe’s tr.).
These gifts were joyfully accepted, as the royal family did not suspect
whence they came; for they fancied the youths had drifted out to sea,
where they had been drowned. Some time after this, Bodvild, wishing
to have her ring repaired, also visited the smith’s hut, where, while
waiting for it, she unsuspectingly partook of a magic drug, which sent
her to sleep and left her in Völund’s power. His last act of vengeance
accomplished, Völund donned the pair of wings which he had cunningly
fashioned to effect his escape, and grasping his sword and ring slowly
rose up in the air. He flew to the palace, and, perched there out of
reach, he confessed all his crimes to Nidud. The king, beside himself
with rage, summoned Egil, Völund’s brother, who had also fallen into
his power, and bade him use his marvelous skill as an archer to bring
down the impudent bird. Obeying a signal from Völund, Egil aimed for a
protuberance under his wing where a bladder full of the young princes’
blood was concealed, and Völund flew triumphantly away, declaring that
Odin would give his sword to Sigmund--a prediction which was duly
fulfilled.
Völund then went to Alf-heim, where, if the legend is to be believed,
he found his beloved wife once more, and lived happy with her until the
twilight of the gods.
But, even in Alf-heim, this clever smith continued to ply his trade,
and manufactured several suits of impenetrable armor, which are
described in later heroic poems. Besides Balmung and Joyeuse, Sigmund’s
and Charlemagne’s noted swords, he is reported to have fashioned Miming
for his son Heime, and many other remarkable blades.
“It is the mate of Miming
Of all swerdes it is king,
And Weland it wrought,
Bitterfer it is hight.”
ANGLO-SAXON POETRY (Coneybeare’s tr.).
There are countless other tales of swan maidens or Valkyrs, who are
said to have consorted with mortals; but the most popular of all is
that of Brunhild, the wife of Sigurd, a descendant of Sigmund and the
most renowned of Northern heroes.