Ride of the valkyries

Ride of the Valkyries (1906), painting by Hermann Hendrich (1854-1931), from the Vorspiel to Act 3 of “Die Walküre” (1856), by Richard Wagner (1813-1883).

Wagner’s Valkyries bring slain heroes to Valhalla. Christa Ludwig is Fidelio who does whatever is necessary to save her husband. Enrico Caruso is the Spanish hero, El Cid, and Jon Vickers as Rhadames leads the Egyptians to victory in Verdi’s Aida.

The Ride of the Valkyries, painted by William T. Maud in 1890

Hermann Hendrich (1854-1931), The Ride of the Valkyries

Fantasia "The Ride of the Valkyries" Unused Segment Storyboard (Walt Disney, 1940). Kay Nielsen did - Available at 2017 July 1 - 2 Animation Art -...

The dark of the year in the Northern Hemisphere is a strange in-between period, a kind of time out of time. Even in cultures that begin their year around one of the equinoxes, there’s something just a little different about the weeks around the winter solstice. When we last met Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipnir, we […]

The Valkyries are divine agents in Scandinavian/Norse Mythology. Originally the handmaidens of Odin, they come (often mounted on flying steeds) to collect the warriors who have courageously fallen in battle, who are then taken off to dine in glory with Odin, in the sacred grounds of Valhalla. Comely Scandinavian maidens, of varying hair and eye color; they are clad in the best armor. Its make varies, but it is often bronze, iron and similar metals (which is often woven into a mail…

Viking soldiers would go into battle fearless, typically wearing very little armor; some would have a leather or iron helmet, depending on their status. Most would carry a wooden shield, swords, spears, and an ax. Some warriors were known as Berserkers, and they wore bear or wolf skin and believed that Odin, the god of war, would give them superpowers during battle.