Valkyries (2024)

The Valkyries are a group of female warriors responsible for taking warriors to Valhalla upon their death in the mortal realm.

Norse Mythology[]

InNorse mythology, aValkyrieis one of a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddessFreya's afterlife fieldFólkvangr), the Valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain,Valhalla, ruled over by the godOdin. There, the deceased warriors becomeEinherjar. When theEinherjarare not preparing for the events ofRagnarök, the Valkyries bear themmead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied byravensand sometimes connected toswansorhorses. One of the Valkyries is described as having beautiful long braided hair, carrying a shiny sword and a shield.

Known Valkyries include: Alruna, Brynhildr, Eir, Geiravör, Geirdriful, Gná, Göndul, Gunnr, Herfjötur, Herja, Hlaðguðr svanhvít, Hildr, Hervör alvitr, Hlökk, Hrist, Kára, Mist, Olrun, Reginleif, Ròta, Sigrdrífa, Sigrún, Skögul and Geirskögul, Skuld, Svipul, and Þrúðr.

In the God of War series[]

The Valkyries are servants of Odin, set to choose half of the warriors killed in battle to take them to Valhalla, where every warrior (now an Einherjar) fights and feasts until the day of Ragnarök. If a warrior declines the call of the Valkyrie and engages her in battle, they will be burnt by the intensity of the fight and be doomed to forever roam the mortal realm as a Draugr.

God of War (2018)[]

The Valkyries encountered in God of War have become corrupted by a curse. The first Valkyrie Kratos and Atreus successfully defeats asks for them to free her sisters from the curse. This curse was later revealed to having been cast by Odin, out of spite after Freya lost her position as the queen—her stand-in, Sigrún, states that no matter what she did, it was "not enough" for the All-Father. The curse forces the Valkyries to remain in a physical form, which is an unnatural state to Valkyries. Prolonged stay in a physical form drives Valkyries to insanity, with the only way to free them being to destroy their physical form.

Due to the danger the corrupted Valkyries posed, the Valkyrie Queen Sigrún was forced to seal away the Valkyries to prevent their insanity from causing unnecessary destruction. Because of this, the Valkyries were unable to escort the warrior dead to their rightful place in Valhalla. This led to the overflowing of dead in the realm Helheim, which contributed to the rise of Hel-Walkers in Midgard.

After being freed from their mortal forms by Kratos and Atreus, the Valkyries thank the Spartan and his son with their eternal gratitude.

God of War Ragnarök[]

During Ragnarök, it is revealed that there are three more Valkyries: Hrist, Mist and the new Queen, Gná. Unlike the Valkyries of the previous game, their loyalty to Odin is by choice, not due to a curse.

The three are first encountered by Atreus in Asgard, with Hrist and Mist brutally training the Einherjar while Gná approaches Odin to request a blessing for some of the new arrivals from Valhalla.

Hrist and Mist later appear in Niflheim, accompanying Sif to confront Odin and Atreus over Kratos' killing of Heimdall. They prove unable to prevent Atreus from escaping with Odin's mask, however.

As Kratos and Atreus attempt to help Surtr summon his Ragnarök form, Hrist and Mist appear yet again, this time with the intention of retrieving the mask and taking Atreus back to Asgard after killing Kratos. Despite their formidable teamwork, the two gods gain the upper hand and kill both Valkyries, Atreus tearing Hrist in two with his bear form and Kratos snapping Mist's neck.

Meanwhile, using Vanir magic, Freya brings the original nine Valkyries back with better physical forms in which they retain their sense of self unlike Odin's evil magic, signified by their more organic, bird-like wings instead of metallic ones endowed by the latter as well as better combat armor. Now called Shield Maidens, they joined forces with Kratos' army against Asgard as Ragnarök begins. During the war, Gná engaged a battle with Olrun. However, the new Valkyrie Queen managed to brutally rip Olrun's wings off, killing the latter. After the battle's conclusion, the Shield Maidens and other survivors gathered at Hoddmimi's Holt.

The sole surviving Valkyrie, Gná, takes command of the Asgardian remnants after her realm's destruction and attempts to seek vengeance on those who brought its downfall. However, she was confronted by Kratos and Freya in Muspelheim in a pitched battle, which she lost. While Freya attempted to show her former friend mercy, Gná refused it, and told her to finish what she started. Freya obliged and beheaded Gná, killing her and ending the Valkyries as a group for good. Although Mimir then suggests to Freya that now that Gná is gone, she should lead the Shield Maidens again, Freya said that it is the first thing she will do after she returns to Vanaheim.

It is revealed by Sigrún that of the Shield Maidens that remained after Ragnarök, only she, Eir, and Gunnr survived. Thus it is likely to assume that the rest of the Shield Maidens perished.

Side Quest[]

Out of all the boss fights in the game, the Valkyries are considered the most dangerous, surpassing even Baldur with his infamous invulnerability in terms of difficulty.

The Valkyries are a side-quest of the game and there are nine different locations to find them.The first eight locations are revealed upon completing the main story but can still be accessed prior to this by discovering them. The Chisel is needed to unlock the Hidden Chambers of Odin and six of the Valkyries, which is obtained at one point during the story. It is recommended to complete the main journey before fighting them as they are powerful warriors.

The ninth Valkyrie location can only be accessed once you've defeated the other eight and taken their helmets to the Council of Valkyries, on the north side of Lake of Nine. This will summon the Valkyrie Queen, Sigrún.

Each Valkyrie inGod of Warhas its own fighting style and you'll need to adapt accordingly. They all have high health and defense, and are resistant to burn, frost, and shock damage, being weakened, and Kratos' rage. When challenging a Valkyrie, be ready for a long, drawn-out fight.

The Valkyries[]

Introduced in God of War (2018)[]

Gunnr[]

Gunnr, Mistress of War is the first and easiest valkyrie a player can possibly encounter. She attacks using her wings and scythe, but otherwise has no gimmick or specialty, making her an entry-level fight and introduction to the basis of the rest of the valkyries. She is located in a Hidden Chamber of Odin near Thamur's Corpse in Midgard.

Geirdriful[]

Geirdriful, Master of Arms is located in a Hidden Chamber of Odin at The Foothills in Midgard. She prefers to keep her distance and attack with projectiles, but can also perform a blinding AOE attack by slamming her wings together.

Eir[]

Eir, the Healer, is located in a Hidden Chamber in Midgard's Heart of the Mountain. By far one of the most defensive valkyries, she will use her wings/shield to block attacks and use her mace for a powerful area of effect attack and for slow, dangerous blows that can blind Kratos if she lands a hit.

Kara[]

Kara, the Wild Storm is located in a Hidden Chamber of Odin in the Witch's Cave in Midgard. Her moveset is extremely basic compared to the other valkyries sans Gunnr, but she is also the only valkyrie who summons enemies (Draugr) to aid her in combat, making her fight a test of handling many enemies at once, rather than being a one-on-one duel.

Ròta[]

Ròta, Chooser of the Slain is located in a Hidden Chamber of Odin in Helheim. She relies heavily on two types of grab attacks; she will either fly at the player from across the room with an unblockable grab which deals massive damage if it connects, or leap high into the air in an unblockable stomp attack that results in a QTE if it connects. Unlike the other users of the jump-stomp (aside from Sigrún), she jumps multiple times in quick succession.

Olrun[]

Olrun, the Valkyrie Historian is located in Alfheim, within a Hidden Chamber of Odin on the Light Elf Shore. She is one of the quicker Valkyries and has many unblockable moves that can do devastating damage. She attacks solely with her wings, utilizing her feathers to launch projectile, and often dashes into melee range to spin-attack or attack normally. She can also utilize the jump-stomp used by several other valkyries.

Gondul[]

Gondul serves as Trial VI (the summit of the volcano) in Muspelheim. She can attack by dropping fiery meteors, and she also utilizes the mace that she shares with Eir. Her fire attacks explode and leave a temporary area of effect. She also uses a variation of the jump-stomp in which she first drops a meteor, then comes down herself a moment later, requiring a change in dodge timing compared to the other variants.

Hildr[]

Hildr, Mistress of Battle, is located within Ivaldi's Workshop in Niflheim. She can attack by launching an array of ice shards, which will inflict Frost damage. The battle against her takes place within the cursed mist, meaning that unlike the other valkyries, the challenge in her battle is mainly that the player may run out of time and begin taking constant damage.

Sigrún, The Valkyrie Queen[]

Sigrún can be battled at the Council of Valkyries once all eight of the other Valkyries have been defeated and their helms have been placed on their thrones. Once all helms are placed, a Realm Tear will appear at the center of the location. Interacting with this Realm Tear will immediately initiate the battle.

Sigrún has every move the other eight did, except for Kara's ability to summon draugr. In addition to this, all of her abilities do significantly more damage than their counterparts, and she has a massively increased health pool compared to her sisters. The battle is by far the most difficult in the entire game, as she's unpredictable due to her large move pool and can kill you in one hit on higher difficulties. Defeating her will grant you the trophy "Chooser of the Slain".

Freya, Former Valkyrie Queen[]

Freya was once Queen of the Valkyries, but once her marriage failed, she was banished to Midgard and her wings were severed by her ex-husband, Odin. After the death of her estranged son Baldur, Freya sought to find where Odin keeps her wings in order to regain her warrior spirit, so that she may exact revenge on Kratos.

Later, during Fimbulwinter, Freya, disguised under the name "Vanadis" and wearing her old Valkyrie Helm, attacks Kratos and Atreus. During combat, she mostly uses her sword, with is imbued with Seiðr magic, with attacks similar to her fellow Valkyries' scythe attacks, as well as her bow and arrows, which are also imbued with magic. Freya, unlike the other valkyries, can fold and unfold her wings at will to fly great distances and maintain a combat in the air. Additionally, she can also conjure poison projectiles.

After the events of Ragnarök and the defeat of Gná, Freya reclaimed her title, albeit as the leader of the Shield Maidens.

Introduced in God of War Ragnarök[]

Hrist and Mist[]

Hrist and Mist are two of the three remaining Valkyries loyal to Odin, and are sent to kill Kratos and capture Atreus at the Spark of the World in order to reclaim Odin's mask. There, the two face down the Spartan and his son, but are overwhelmed and killed in the process.

During combat, Hrist and Mist fight as a duo and share a single health pool. Hrist uses powerful attacks with an atgeir that can create shockwaves on the ground, while Mist is more proficient with the use of her shuriken-like glaives, with which she can both throw at Kratos from a distance or use them as close-ranged blades in a self spinning attack. Once they've taken enough damage — and twice during the fight itself — the two valkyries will summon Odin's Bifröst energy to empower and heal themselves. They will also often work in coordination on certain attacks.

Gná, The New Valkyrie Queen[]

Gná became the new Valkyrie Queen after Sigrún's defection. Originally a friend and Handmaiden to Freya, her loyalty to Asgard caused her friendship with the Vanir Goddess to be severed.

After Ragnarök, Gná can be found in Muspelheim. She vengefully engages both Kratos and Freya in combat.

As a boss, Gná shows a wide variety of attacks that can severely damage the player if they aren't cautious, like long-ranged wing feathers imbued with Bifröst energy, sweeping attacks using an atgeir (which replaces the scythe used by original nine Valkyries), Bifröst projectiles which she can summon from the sky, close-ranged attacks using a pair of shuriken-like glaives similar to Mist's and even a massive shockwave of electricity.

After Gná is subdued, Freya tries to convince her to let go of her vengeance, but the Valkyrie insists that she herself be finished off. With no other choice, Freya agrees and beheads the final Valkyrie Queen.

Thrúd Thorsdottir, Valkyrie in Training[]

While not an official member, Thrúd dreamt of being a Valkyrie. After claiming Mjölnir after herfather's demise at the hands of her grandfather, she goes to train with Sigrún and the other valkyries to become one of the Shield Maidens.

Powers and Abilities[]

Each Valkyrie has a unique power, some control fire and others ice, but what they all have in common is their ability to manipulate the energy of the Bifröst allowing them to easily travel between realms and the ability to transport the souls of the dead to the afterlife. They can also summon melee weapons with the most common being a scythe.

Trivia[]

• The word "Valkyrie" comes from the Old Norse "valkyrja", meaning "Chooser of the slain".
• Sigrúnwas later reborn as Kara in the Edda poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana, yet in the God of War series, they are two different Valkyries.
• It seems that Valkyries, in terms of combat, are much less powerful in spiritual form than they are in physical form. This can be seen as in The Lost Pages of Norse Mythology, a mere mortal man is able to put up a decent fight against a Valkyrie in spiritual form while Kratos, the Greek God of War, experiences difficulty against the same Valkyrie in physical form.
• It seems the Valkyries can split their souls, as eight of them were able to impart some of it into their physical helmet, allowing one to reunite the council and summon the Valkyrie Queen without disrupting the Valkyries work to guide souls into Valhalla.
• All Valkyries have mastered the use of Bifröst, allowing them to summon weapons from different realms.^[1] This also might be what allowed them to hurl fireballs, fire icicles, travel the realms, and retrieve the souls of those who have died in battle.

• 

  All of the Valkyries introduced in God of War (2018) have armor designs that are based on different real animals, with the only exception being Sigrún, whose armor is based on a dragon.^[2]
  • In Ragnarök, this trend is broken, as Hrist and Mist's helmets appear to be based on monstrous demons, while Gná's mask is modeled after her own face.
• Sigrún's plan to imprison the Valkyries in Odin's hidden chambers was in one instance botched when an unlucky dwarf stumbled into the chamber in the Wildwoods looking for treasure, only to be killed by the Valkyrie trapped there, nearly leading to her escape. According to the scroll he left behind, Sigrún came and took the Valkyrie to another realm, meaning that the valkyrie imprisoned there was either Hildr or Gondul.

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