[6] Guðr: Or Gunnr. This valkyrie is a personification of battle, since guðr/gunnr f. is the most common poetic term for ‘battle’. The heiti is conspicuously absent from the þula that enumerates heiti for ‘battle’ (Þul Orrostu), however. As the name of a valkyrie, Guðr/Gunnr is used in kennings for ‘woman’ and ‘battle’; in other types of kennings it is often difficult to determine whether the word denotes ‘valkyrie’ or is a heiti for ‘battle’. This valkyrie is mentioned in Vsp 30/7 and in Gylf (SnE 2005, 30), where it is said that Guðr, together with Rota and Skuld, ride to choose the slain and decide the outcome of battles.
References
- Bibliography
- SnE 2005 = Snorri Sturluson. 2005. Edda: Prologue and Gylfaginning. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Gylfaginning’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=113> (accessed 24 April 2025)
- Not published: do not cite ()
- Elena Gurevich 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Orrostu heiti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 786. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=3193> (accessed 24 April 2025)