Valkyrie, meaning and other uses

Honda’s nega flat six cruiser, as piloted by our own ‘scouser’ carries the name Valkyrie.

Honda’s F6C in action

An impressive sounding name, but what does it actually mean…

Well according to the online Britanic Concise dictionary:

In Germanic religion, any of a group of maidens sent by Odin to select slain warriors worthy of a place in Valhalla. They rode to the battlefield on horses or, in some accounts, flew through the air and sea. Some had the power to cause the death of warriors they disliked; others guarded the lives and ships of those they favoured. According to various myths, they were either purely supernatural or human with supernatural powers; they were associated with fairness, brightness, and gold as well as with bloodshed.

Doesn’t look like scouser is riding this one…

Meanwhile on good old Wikipedia:

In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja “chooser of the slain”) is one of a host of female figures who decide who will die in battle. The valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin, where the deceased warriors become einherjar. There, when the einherjar are not preparing for the events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens, and sometimes connected to swans.

Valkyries are attested in the Poetic Edda, a book of poems compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; the Prose Edda and Heimskringla (by Snorri Sturluson), and Njáls saga, a Saga of Icelanders, all written in the 13th century. They appear throughout the poetry of skalds, in a 14th century charm, and in various runic inscriptions.

The Old English cognate terms wælcyrge and wælcyrie appear in several Old English manuscripts, and scholars have explored whether the terms appear in Old English by way of Norse influence, or reflect a tradition also native among the Anglo-Saxon pagans. Scholarly theories have been proposed about the relation between the valkyries, the norns, the dísir, Germanic seeresses, and shieldmaidens. Archaeological excavations throughout Scandinavia have uncovered amulets theorized as depicting valkyries. In modern culture, valkyries have been the subject of works of art, musical works, video games and poetry.

So it is appropriate then that one of the most spectacular aircraft of all time also carried the name ‘Valkarie’

What an amazing aircraft.

And the music of course:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqtehtSB0LI

Yes…I am a bit bored this evening!