The Valkyrie in the Flames

Why was the valkyrie asleep?

As Sigurd climbed Hindarfjall, he saw a light like fire on the mountaintop. It reached all the way to the sky. Drawing closer, he found a stronghold enclosed by shields, with a banner flying above it. Inside lay a sleeping figure in armor.

When he removed the helmet, he saw that it was a woman. Her armor would not budge, as though it had grown onto her body. Sigurd cut down from the neck with his sword, then cut across toward the armholes. When he took off the armor, the woman awoke.

She said she was the valkyrie Sigrdrifa. She had struck down a king in battle even though Odin had promised him victory. As punishment, Odin had pricked her with a sleep-thorn.

In *The Lay of Sigrdrifa*, the awakened woman offers Sigurd a drink in a drinking horn. In *Skaldskaparmal*, the sleeping woman gives her name as Hild. She is also called Brynhild.

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