Skáldskaparmál - 01.01.1997, Blaðsíða 138

136
The Valkyries in the Heroic Literature
the god of heaven. Valkyries can also travel through the air on horseback or put
on the disguise of a crow, but these traits must be seen as a result of their relation
to Óðinn.
The above-mentioned theory also explains why the swan maidens of the
Vólundarkviða — an international Wandergeschichte, that came to Scandinavia
from the south — developed into valkyries and left their lovers to go and occupy
themselves with war (Edda, pp. 116-7). They looked like valkyries, they behaved
like valkyries and so they became valkyries in Scandinavia.
Referring to the lessons in runic lore that Sigrdrífa gives to Sigurðr in the
Sigrdrífumál (Edda, p. 190-92) Miiller comes to the conclusion that valkyries
also mastered the craft of healing.3- This conclusion, based as it is on a single
poem, seems far from conclusive, but if he is right, this trait must be seen in
connection with the dís component in their personality. Dísir were prayed to for
food, health and well-being.
5. In Grímnismál 14,4—6 (Edda, p. 60, paraphrased in the Snorra-Edda on p. 29)
a connection is made between Freyja and the slain warriors:
. . . hálfan val hon kýss hverjan dag,
enn hálfan Óðinn á.
From this text the conclusion might be drawn that Freyja can be a valkyrie,
too. And indeed, in the Sörla páttr (FAN I, pp. 365—382) we meet her in the
person of the valkyrie Göndul. However, the disguise she adopts in thatpáttrwas
probably a younger invention meant to link two originally independent texts
together (see below). On the other hand we know that a chthonic goddess can
occasionally be a death goddess. Yet there is little reason to think of Freyja as a
valkyrie. She is her own mistress who receives the dead in her own realms and she
is no servant of Óðinn. Nor does she linger on the battlefield. Therefore we will
leave her out of the discussion, despite the opinion of Damico, who takes this
quotation at face-value, without having defined beforehand what precisely a
valkyrie is.36
6. Now the valkyries are on their way to becoming the noble friends and guides
of the warriors; nonetheless they are still awe-inspiring. The Haraldskvaði by
Þorbjörn hornklofi (Skjald. B I, pp. 22—25) is a dialogue between a raven and a
valkyrie, reporting on the great deeds of Haraldr hárfagridurlng the decisive battle
in the Hardangerfjord. A sublime piece of poetry is the Hákonarmál, the
memorial poem about Hákon the Good by his friend and staunch supporter
Eyvindr skáldaspillir (Skjald. B I, pp. 57—60). Here Óðinn sends two of his
35 Miiller (1976). He suggests a connection between these stanzas and what is said of Hildr (and
also of Skuld) in the Hrólfi Saga kraka, namely that she can revive the dead.
36 Damico (1984) passim.