Origin: < Old Norse valkyrja chooser of the slain (cognate with Old English wælcyrie witch), equivalent to val(r) the slain in battle, slaughter (cognate with Old English wæl) + kyrja chooser (cognate with Old English cyrie); akin to choose
1768, one of 12 war-maidens who escorted the brave dead to Valhalla, from O.N. valkyrja, lit. "chooser of the slain," from valr "those slain in battle" (see Valhalla) + kyrja "chooser," from ablaut root of kjosa "to choose," from P.Gmc. *keusan, from PIE *geus- "to taste,
choose" (see gusto). O.E. form was Wælcyrie, but they seem not to have figured as largely in Anglo-Saxon tales as in Scandinavian. Ger. Walküre (Wagner) is from O.N.