Valkyrie Tattoo Meaning
Fierce protection, valor, the divine guardian, and choosing the worthy.
The Valkyries are the 'choosers of the slain' — the fierce warrior-maidens of Norse myth who ride over the battlefield and decide which of the fallen warriors are worthy to be carried to Valhalla, Odin's hall of heroes. Powerful, armored, and terrible, they are the feminine power that judges valor and ushers the brave dead into glory. To carry the Valkyrie is to carry fierce feminine power and the judgment of honor — the warrior-maiden who chooses the worthy among the fallen and bears them to glory, the fierce judge of valor at the threshold of death and Valhalla.
The Valkyries — whose name means 'choosers of the slain' — are the divine warrior-women of Norse mythology who ride over the field of battle and select which of the fallen warriors will die and which of the dead are worthy to be taken to Valhalla. They are the agents of Odin, the Allfather, who gathers the greatest fallen warriors into his great hall, Valhalla, where they become the einherjar — the honored dead who feast and fight each day in preparation for Ragnarök, the final battle at the end of the world.
The Valkyries carry the chosen slain from the battlefield to Valhalla, and there they also serve the fallen heroes, bearing them mead in the hall. Armored, riding through the sky and over the carnage of battle, deciding life and death and the destiny of the slain, the Valkyries are figures of awe and terror — beautiful and deadly, the warrior-maidens who hold the fate of warriors in their hands and usher the worthy dead into eternal glory. The Norse Valkyrie is the chooser of the slain — the warrior-maiden who rides over the battlefield selecting which of the fallen are worthy of Valhalla, the agent of Odin who carries the brave dead to his hall of heroes.
Valkyrie across cultures
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