Brynhildr (Brunhild / Brunhilda)

In the Old Norse heroic-poetic corpus Brynhildr appears as a valkyrie-figure woven into the Sigurd (Sigurðr) cycle and the associated lays; she is treated in texts collected in the Poetic Edda and in poems of the Sigurd/Brunhild material such as Sigrdrífumál and Sigurðarkviða hin skamma (the supplied sources identify these poems as part of the same narrative cycle). Later vernacular and scholarly traditions in Germanic legend preserve her under the names Brunhild/Brunhilda; modern secondary summaries note these varying onomastic forms but do not in the supplied excerpts give a definitive etymology.

The supplied sources do not provide a single consistent physical description; instead Brynhildr is attested primarily by role and epithet as a valkyrie and narrative heroine. The Faroese summary cited in the notes describes Brynhildr as 'headed' among valkyries and the Poetic Edda frames her as the valkyrie Brynhildr who appears in the intimate, tragic episodes surrounding Sigurðr and Guðrún. Beyond these role-based identifications the excerpts do not offer detailed corporeal attributes or uniform epithets describing her looks.

Within the provided material Brynhildr's abilities are presented in functional, role-based terms: as a valkyrie she is part of the class of supernatural women who serve Odin, select and receive slain warriors, and participate in the warrior-afterlife economy (Valhalla). A Faroese song summary in the notes explicitly states that valkyries 'serve the supreme god Odin, headed by Brynhildr' and that valkyries 'took [the slain] back to Valhalla.' The supplied sources do not enumerate further individual magical powers, spells, or explicit supernatural feats unique to Brynhildr beyond her valkyrie-associated functions.