In the poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, for example, the valkyrie Sigrún lingers after ... female spirits doing the commands of the war god, stirring up disorder, taking part in battle, seizing ...

Valkyrie means “chooser of the slain.” This is a literal description of one of the roles of the Valkyries, a group of divine warrior women in the service of Odin. The Valkyries helped the god ...