vikings-Illustration-Valkyria

Avalkyrie, daughter of Odin that I wanted tantalizing and luscious ... sexy even! It’s a bit like Asgard’s pin-ups so good! ; D
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Valkyries or valkurjur in Old Norse, are the daughters of Odin (óðinn), feminine warrior entities that come to pick up the souls of fallen dead to lead them to either Valhalla (Valhöll) or a Fólkvangr, the hall of Freyja, the goddess being the first of the valkyries with whom Odin divides the dead.
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óðinn the father and Freyja, the mother ...!
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It is interesting to note that for the Vikings, death is inseparable from life, it is an eternal cycle of rebirth ... I understand the valkyries as a symbol of death but also of fertility. It is the women who give life and for the old Germanic peoples, to die, it was to make love to the valkyries, to participate in the cycle. His nudity reflects the primordial aspect of these attributes: fertility, sexuality, wild beauty.
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Since valkyries are psychopomp beings, I chose to write on the blade of the sword the runes of the word "liþu" of the verb "liþan" that can be translated into Old Norse by go , travel, pass ...
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Finally, I see the Valkyries, in their most terrible aspect, as savage, bloodthirsty warriors, close in some respects to the Greco-Roman furies.
After the violence of the fighting, it becomes scavengers, wolves and ravens feeding on corpses ... if we follow the same logic, they also participate in the cycle.
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At the base of the creative process, I first imagined the sword by developing the design of a raven such as can be found on pins in ancient Germanic art in the broad sense (viking, siblings, Saxon , Merovingian ...) and finally, I integrated it into this drawing.
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Finally, I would like to dedicate this drawing to the valkyries around me, to those women I love. You are Valkyries, you are goddesses!

ann ek þér (I love you)

07/01/17 par Skiold