Etymology

valkyrie

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Today it means: Any of the female attendants of Odin, figures said to guide fallen warriors from the battlefield to Valhalla. Full definition →

Old Norse valkyrja sg ← Proto-Germanic *walakuzjǭ
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valkyrie · noun1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*walakuzjǭ
  2. Old Norse · borrowed fromvalkyrja sg“chooser of the slain”
  3. English todayvalkyrie

Borrowed from Old Norse valkyrja sg (“chooser of the slain”), plural valkyrjur pl, from Proto-Germanic *walakuzjǭ. Cognate to Old English wælcyrġe. First attested in English as a proper noun (Valkyries) in the 1770s; attested as a common noun (valkyries) since the 1880s.

Valkyrie · noun2

The proper noun Valkyries was attested before the common noun valkyries. See the entry valkyrie for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.