Valkyries

The Valkyries – fierce daughters of battle, riders of storm and shadow. They choose the slain and carry souls to glory, moving between mortal and divine. These fierce but angelic warrior goddesses escort half of those who have died in battle to Odin's hall of heroes: Valhalla. There they receive the heroes with horns of mead. But there is so much more to these heavily symbolic beings. The Valkyries are many and amorphous, some are named and famous – Brunhild (powerful and defiant), Gunnr (courageous in battle), Skuld (a Norn but also a Valkyrie) to name a few – while others exist in the shadows. This new collection features stories that tell the Valkyries’ own back stories, and echo their power: tales of fate, war, sacrifice and the mythic eternal. Stories selected from open submissions explore and expand on the classic tales and imagine completely new narratives. With an extensive new introduction to the ancient origins and stories, this powerful new title offers fresh perspectives on compelling characters.

Introductory essay by Nancy Marie Brown, and foreword by Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir. The modern authors whose stories feature in this book are: Ryaan Akmal, Don Bisdorf, Kay Hanifen, Ikechukwu Henry, E.K. Larson-Burnett, JB Riley, Laura Shenton, Nina Shepardson, Zac Sherman, D.L. Stille, Susanna Fraser Stone, Deborah Tapper, Benjamin Thomas, M.M. Williams, Mae Wilmarth, Johanna Wittenberg and Ernie Xu.

About the series: Discover the mythology of humankind through its heroes, characters, gods and immortal figures. Myths, Gods & Immortals brings together the new and the ancient, familiar stories with a fresh and imaginative twist. Each book brings back to life a legendary, mythological or folkloric figure, with new stories alongside a comprehensive introduction which tells the original tales and emphasizes ancient and modern connections, tracing history and stories across continents, cultures and peoples. New and emerging writers from open submissions reveal hidden themes, casting fresh perspectives on well known stories, complementing the specially commissioned story of the origins and the cultural background from the era. Existing titles are Medusa, Odin, Anansi, Circe, Achilles, Morgana le Fay, Aphrodite and Loki.

Nancy Marie Brown ('Introducing The Valkyries') is the author of The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women, which tells the story of the warrior woman buried in Birka grave Bj581. An independent scholar, she has been writing about Norse mythology, Icelandic sagas and Viking Age history and archaeology since 2001. She keeps Icelandic horses and considers Tolkien’s Eowyn to be a major role model.

Dr Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir (Foreword) is a medievalist and author of Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World. Her work focuses on Vikings, medieval Scandinavia and the reception of these in the modern era. She completed her doctorate in medieval literature from Oxford University in 2010 and held research and teaching positions in Reykjavík, Iceland and the United States before taking up her current position at the National Library of Norway in Oslo. She has also worked as a historical consultant for documentaries and feature films, including Robert Eggers’ The Northman.