The Valkyrias were the maids of Odin, and were sent by him to determine the issue of battle, and choose those who were to fall and dwell with him in Valhalla. The belief in Valkyrias appears to have been of very great antiquity, and is one of the most striking, poetical, and grand features of the Asa faith. In no record of the religions that have come down to us do we find anything that would make us suppose that such belief ever existed in other parts of the world, and it was well adapted to the creed of a people among whom war and the conquest of other lands were leading features.
Heid in Voluspa gives the names of the Valkyrias and in her version we learn that
She saw Valkyrias
Come from far off,
Ready to ride
To Goth-thjód.[[282]]
Skuld held a shield,
Skögul was next,
Gunn, Hild, Göndul,
And Geirskögul;