This design features Jim’s drawing based on the silver Valkyrie figure from Hårby, Denmark. The 3.4 cm tall figure is thought to date to around the start of the 9th century, and falls into the same category as the many female figurines classified as representations of the Valkyries of Scandinavian mythology. In the Sagas and Eddas, the Valkyries are the female figures who choose half of the fallen warriors from the battlefield, and take them to Odin’s hall, Valhalla, where they feast and train for Ragnarok. The word, Valkyrie, translates literally as “choosers of the slain”, connecting them to this role. The Hårby figure itself, manufactured in gilded silver, is classified as a Valkyrie figure, as it fits in with the corpus of other Viking-age jewellery that has been interpreted as representing these characters from Norse mythology. Some of these objects depict armed figures, while others show them unarmed, sometimes carrying a drinking horn, which fits in with the role of the Valkyries serving drinks to the einherjar in Valhalla, so we don’t see any problem in accepting this interpretation of the figure. It has also been suggested that this figure could represent a ‘shieldmaiden’, as in a real, female warrior of the Viking Age. However, while it is now widely accepted that female warriors did exist, the term shieldmaiden is not found in any Scandinavian sources before the 13th century. To complicate matters further, where it is used it can be applied to mythological Valkyries, such as Brynhildr in the Volsungr saga, which was written in the 13th century. This means that the two words could be seen as synonyms. However, given that Valkyrie has clear roots in Old Norse, and may have actually been used in the Viking Age, whereas Shieldmaiden is more likely a later term, we opted to call this design Valkyrie, rather than Shieldmaiden. As this fits with the generally accepted archaeological classification of the original Hårby figure, we are delighted to present our Valkyrie design. Designed by Jim from Asgard, and hand printed by us on a cotton tote bag in Argyll, Scotland. Designed by Jim from Asgard, and hand printed on a cotton tote by us in Argyll, Scotland.
