shieldmaiden
English
Etymology
shield + maiden
Noun
shieldmaiden (plural shieldmaidens)
- (Norse mythology) A virgin who had chosen to fight as a warrior in battle.
- 1845, J. H. Turner, The History of the Swedes, translation of original by Erik Gustaf Geijer, page 33:
- The shield-maiden (skölde-mö) was dedicated to Odin, and forbidden to wed; her love brought calamity.
- 1849, John Mitchell Kemble, The Saxons in England:
- The Anglosaxon belief in the Shieldmaidens comes to us indeed in a darkened form, yet we can hardly doubt that it survived.
- 1890, Paul Belloni Du Chaillu, The Viking Age: The Early History, Manners, and Customs of the Ancestors of the English-speaking Nations, volume 2:
- Störkud rushed through the ranks with a drawn sword and killed one after another; he cut down Hjört; whereupon Visma, shieldmaiden, who carried the standard of Harald, met him.
- 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, →ISBN, page 262:
- There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North!
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Translations
virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
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