Valkyrie definition

wäl-kîrē, -kīrē, väl-, wälkə-rē, väl-

Any of Odin's handmaidens who conducted the souls of the slain to Valhalla.

noun

(norse myth.) Any of the handmaidens of Odin who conduct the souls of heroes slain in battle to Valhalla and attend them there.

noun

Alternative spelling of valkyrie.

noun

(Norse mythology) Any of the female attendants of Odin, figures said to guide fallen warriors from the battlefield to Valhalla.

Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (published 1853) famously features valkyries.

noun

Other Word Forms

Singular:

valkyrie

Plural:

valkyries

Old Norse Valkyrja welə- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Old Norse valkyrja (“chooser of the slain", singular), plural valkyrjur (plural), either from Germanic roots equivalent to, or formed in Norse from, the elements valr (“the slain") + kjósa (“to choose"). Cognate to Old English wælcyrge. First attested in English as a proper noun (Valkyries) in the 1770s; attested as a common noun (valkyries) since the 1880s.

From Wiktionary
The proper noun Valkyries was attested before the common noun valkyries. See the entry valkyrie for more.

From Wiktionary