The Saga of Vanadís, Völva and Valkyrja

one young warrior, protected by the valkyrjur. Darraður means ‘spear’ and one of
Óðinn’s names is Dörruður, so the poem may refer to Óðinn, but more likely it simply
means ‘Spear-poem’, referring to the spears of the valkyrjur, with which they weave their
web of örlög. From even this short bit of the poem, we can detect men’s fear at the time
connected to the valkyrja as a goddess of örlög and death, as well as the still living belief
in their power. These maidens of örlög, call themselves valkyrjur in the poem, as well as
vinur (friends). Freyja also addressed Hyndla as vina in Hyndluljóð. Vina/vinur is as we
have seen, most probably related to Vanir and Venus (Ásgeir B. Magnússon, 1989).
Although there is nothing loving or friendly about the atmosphere of Darraðarljóð, in the
myths surrounding the Vanir, there is however, nothing fearful or grotesque, or anything
similar to the scenes in this poem. The fact that the the women in the Darraðarljóð ride
on horseback, relates them to Óðinn and the Æsir, but then again, the age of war has long
since begun and mythic beings as well as humans adapt.
The Bird Goddess of Old Europe had a dual nature. As giver of life and
nourishment she appeared as swan, duck or egg, and as death wielder her form is a bird of
prey or carrion eater, vulture or raven. The swan was in fact also a bird of death, and its
color, white, is in accordance with white as the color of death. To the Bird Goddess death
is a part of a spiraling process, of nurturing and being nurtured, she is as active in the
slaying part as in the reviving and healing part, but those parts cannot be separated. It
could be of interest here, that the only mention of re-incarnation to the human realm that I
have come across in the Islandic myths is in relation to the valkyrjur and their heroes 131 ,
in Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar and Völsungakviða hin forna.
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