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.
Weaknesses
- otherNo weaknesses attested in supplied sources
Wards
- otherNo protective measures or wards against Brynhildr are recorded in the supplied sources
Tengu
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Valkyrie
The valkyrie (Old Norse valkyrja, “chooser of the slain”) is a set of semi-divine female figures in Old Norse poetry and saga who choose warriors slain in battle, guide the chosen to Odin’s hall (Valhalla), and serve the einherjar there. Literary and archaeological sources depict them as armed riders, occasional lovers of men in swan‑maiden episodes, and in older imagery as fate‑weaving death spirits.
Adils
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Agilaz (Egil)
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Beaduhild (Böðvildr)
Beaduhild (Old Norse Böðvildr; Old English Beaduhild/Beadohild; also Bodil, Badhild) is a legendary human princess in Germanic heroic tradition whose life is entangled with the smith Wayland (Weland/Vǫlundr). In earlier sources she appears as a tragic victim in the Weland cycle; in later Scandinavian recensions she is recast as Wayland's wife and the mother of a heroic descendant (Viðga).
Brunhild
A female character in Germanic heroic legend, associated with royal or noble status. (Note: * Power tier: Unknown/Not applicable -> Minor Spirit (as there are no specific abilities mentioned) * Origin story: Add that Brunhild is associated with several sources, including historical figures s)
Dietrich von Bern
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Fáfnir
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Hagen
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Heodenings
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Háma (Hama / Heime / Heimir)
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Brutus Greenshield
A legendary king of the Britons attested in Geoffrey of Monmouth's pseudo‑historical account and later reinterpreted in Elizabethan literature as a martial founder figure. In Geoffrey he is an otherwise unremarked dynastic successor; in sixteenth‑century sources he is magnified into a warrior who led an expedition to Hainaut.
Brutus of Troy
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Community Record
- [1]Brunhild. Wikipedia — 'Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild, is a female character from Germanic heroic legend.'wiki
- [2]The Poetic Edda - A Dual-Language Edition. Poetic Edda edition — summaries note the poems include 'the more intimate, personal tragedies of the hero Sigurðr, his wife Guðrún and the valkyrie Brynhildr.'literary
- [3]Gandkvæði Tróndar — Faroese Traditional Song about Tróndur Í Götu (summary). Archive summary — 'Valkyries are goddesses serving the supreme god Odin, headed by Brynhildr... They were welcomed by Bragi and taken back to Valhalla by the Valkyries.'folk
- [4]Sigurðarkviða hin skamma. Wikipedia entry for the poem Sigurðarkviða hin skamma — part of the Sigurd/Brunhild poetic cycle in which Brynhildr is attested.wiki
- [5]Great Lacuna. Wikipedia — notes missing material from Codex Regius that would have contained parts of Sigrdrífumál and most of Sigurðarkviða, indicating fragmentary transmission of the cycle that includes Brynhildr.wiki
- [6]Spears / modern cultural uses (archive entry for a fan-made 'Spearhead of Brynhildr'). Archive — example of modern reuse of the Brynhildr name in material culture (fan-made spearhead pendant); used here only as evidence of modern reception, not as primary tradition.other