The Saga of Vanadís, Völva and Valkyrja

change. It is interesting that another woman in this story also bears a valkyrja-name,
Hildur. She is the good woman, the voice of reason and support in the saga.
A valkyrja is always a female being, but unlike the völva, she has no male
counterpart, none of her functions are taken over by a male. Her mate is the warrior, but
she seldom chooses a mate for life. One of her main attributes is that she can fly as a bird,
or she can ride on the back of a horse in thin air and in deep water, as well as move
swiftly on the ground. She is seldom a mere human, although some valkyrjur wander in
the mist between the worlds of goð and humans, but like other half-mythic beings, she
has human feelings and her story is often a love story, although she is infinitely attached
to her örlög as valkyrja. Her bird-form is a symbol of freedom, and when she gives in to
her love for a man, or when men capture her, she may lose her swan-feathers. In this case
she is akin to the mythic sealskin woman, the selkie, who transforms from seal to woman,
but after a while she is bound to return to her natural state.
Vinur –‘friends’ - weavers of death
As swans and as weavers of örlög the valkyrjur are closely related to the
Skapanornir. We find the remnants of their role as weavers of death in the story of
Darraðarljóð, which can be found in Njáls Saga. The story takes place at Katanes
(Caithness), the place of the cats, on Good Friday in the year 1014. It gives a mythic
account of the famous battle between the Vikings and the Irish king at Clontarf. A man
taking a walk in Caithness saw 12 men riding and then disappearing into a women’s
bower or temple. He went to the bower, looked in through the window and saw that the
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