Shieldmaiden

The Raven's Daughter

The shieldmaiden appears in Norse sagas and legend as a woman who took up sword and shield to fight among men, exemplified by figures like Lagertha and the Brynhildr of heroic poetry. Whether historical reality or literary ideal, she defended hearth and honor and joined the raid and the shield-wall. Norse lore wove such warrior-women together with the valkyries, the spear-maidens who chose the slain on the battlefield.