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valkyrian

 - 2 dictionary results

Val⋅kyr⋅ie

  [val-keer-ee, -kahy-ree, vahl-, val-kuh-ree]
Use valkyrian in a Sentence
–noun Scandinavian Mythology.
any of the beautiful maidens attendant upon Odin who bring the souls of slain warriors chosen by Odin or Tyr to Valhalla and there wait upon them.
Also, Walkyrie.

Origin:
< ON valkyrja chooser of the slain (c. OE wælcyrie witch), equiv. to val(r) the slain in battle, slaughter (c. OE wæl) + kyrja chooser (c. OE cyrie); akin to choose

Related forms:
Val⋅kyr⋅i⋅an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

Valkyrie 
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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