Valkyrie and shieldmaiden, punished by Odin for disobedience and central figure in the Völsung tradition.
Brynhildr is one of the most prominent figures in Old Norse literature. In Sigrdrífumál, Sigurðr rides through a ring of fire and wakens a sleeping valkyrie clad in armour: Sigrdrífa, who is frequently identified with Brynhildr. This valkyrie had been put to sleep by Óðinn as punishment for granting victory to Agnarr against his will, favouring him over Hjálmgunnarr. In Helreið Brynhildar, the Hel-ride of Brynhildr, she herself recounts her past and her act of disobedience.
In Völsunga saga and in the eddic poems Grípisspá and Brot af Sigurðarkviðu, Brynhildr's role is developed further. Her quarrel with Guðrún over whose husband is the greater is the direct trigger for Sigurðr's murder. Brynhildr mounts Sigurðr's funeral pyre of her own will and follows him in death, a scene that gives the figure elements of both vengeance and grief. Scholarship has debated whether Brynhildr and Sigrdrífa were originally the same figure or two distinct traditions woven together.
Sources in the Eddas
- Sigrdrífumál
- Recounts Sigurðr's awakening of the sleep-cursed valkyrie and her instruction in runes.
- Helreið Brynhildar
- Brynhildr herself accounts for her disobedience towards Óðinn and her life.
Interpretive traditions
A What we know
Brynhildr is well attested in several eddic poems and in Völsunga saga as a valkyrie punished by Óðinn for disobedience.
B What we think we know
The identification of Sigrdrífa with Brynhildr is probable but not explicit in the source texts; the majority of scholars accept the merger.
C What we do not know
Whether the Brynhildr figure draws on a historical person from the Migration Period, possibly related to the Frankish queen Brunhild, is a debated question without consensus.