As the Valkyrs’ steeds were also personifications of the clouds, the people fancied that all the hoar frost and dew dropped down upon earth from their glittering manes as they rapidly dashed to and fro through the air.
“He spake and his harp was with him, and he smote the strings full sweet,
And sang of the host of the Valkyrs, how they ride the battle to meet,
And the dew from the dear manes drippeth as they ride in the first of the sun,
And the tree-boughs open to meet it when the wind of the dawning is done:
And the deep dales drink its sweetness and spring into blossoming grass,
And the earth groweth fruitful of men, and bringeth their glory to pass.”
Sigurd the Volsung (William Morris).
The Valkyrs were not only sent to visit the battlefields upon earth, but often rode over the sea, snatching the dying Vikings away from the sinking vessels. Sometimes they stood upon the strand to beckon them thither, thus warning them that the coming struggle would be their last—a warning which every Northern hero received with joy.
“Slowly they moved to the billow side;