Val*kyr"i*a (?), n. [Icel. valkyrja (akin to AS. waelcyrie); valr the slain + kj&omac;sa to choose. See Valhalla, and Choose.] Scand. Myth.
One of the maidens of Odin, represented as awful and beautiful, who presided over battle and marked out those who were to be slain, and who also ministered at the feasts of heroes in Valhalla.
[Written also
Valkyr, and
Walkyr.]
<-- usu. Valkyrie -->
© Webster 1913.