Valkyrie, the adopted daughter

As promised. And yes, if you must know, I did cheat and copy/edit an old myspace post.

enjoy:

Valkyrie~ generally speaking, she is a hand-maiden of God.
But really, it's taken from Norse mytholgy, for the young women who served Odin. The valkyries' purpose was to choose the most heroic of those who had died in battle and to carry them off to Valhalla. She is a sheild-maiden, a servant, and a warrior in her own right. Yet her purpose is fulfilled when she is in service to god. I am, clearly, stealing from a pagan religion and applying it to my relationship with the One True God.

Some tidbits from the web:

In modern art, the valkyries are sometimes depicted as beautiful shieldmaidens on winged horses, armed with helmets and spears.

the armour of the valkyries "sheds a strange flickering light, which flashes up over the northern skies, making what men call the 'Aurora Borealis', or 'Northern Lights'.

In the Heroic lays, however, the valkyries are described as bands of warrior-women only the leader of whom is ever named. She is invariably a human woman, the beautiful daughter of a great king, though she shares some of the supernatural abilities of her anonymous companions.

Richard Wagner incorporated Norse tales that included the valkyrie Brünnhilde (Brynhildr) and her punishment and subsequent love for the warrior Siegfried (Sigurðr) into his operas Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung. These depictions and others have subsequently led to modern representations of valkyries less as figures of death and warfare and more commonly as romanticised, pristine white and gold clad figures riding winged horses.

The name in Old Norse, valkyrja, means literally, "chooser of the slain."

The descriptions of Odinn's hall describe the Valkyries as foster-daughters, just as the einherjar (the chosen warriors of Odinn) are foster sons Freyja is said to be the first of the Valkyries, called Valfreyja, "Mistress of the Slain," she pours ale at the feasts of the Aesir . The Valkyries also have duties in the great hall. There, having exchanged their armor for pure white robes, they will serve the warriors they have chosen.

The Valkyries are also Odinn's messengers and when they ride forth on their errands, their armor causes the strange flickering light that is called the "Aurora Borealis" (Northern Lights).

clear as mud?