Description: Óðinn and his
horse Sleipnir carrying Vébjörg to Valhöll
in Louis Moe's retelling of the story. Literal translation of the Danish text for page 91::
For the last time, Vébjörg takes her seat with Óðinn. Their ride
is now aimed skywards to the shining rays of the home of the
blessed gods. The golden rainbow raises itself up, dazzling
Vébjörg. The shield-maiden’s fight and struggle on the dark
earth is forgotten, left behind in the mortal ranks. Only one
thing, the dear memories of young Haraldr, does she take with
her to her life among the gods; only one regret, that she will
never see him in the war game among the shining Einherjar. Editor's Note.
Source: Valkyrien: Romantisk Digtning i Billeder og
Tekst
Folio or Page: 91
Medium: Not known
Date: 1930
Dimensions (mm): 3037 x 2536
Provenance:
This copy of Valkyrien: Romantisk
Digtning i Billeder og Tekst was donated to the
MacPherson Library at the University of Victoria by Trish Baer.
Call number: PZ54.1 M65 1931
The University of Victoria Library photographed this copy of Valkyrien: Romantisk Digtning i Billeder
og Tekst at the request of Dr. P.A. Baer, Medieval
Studies, as 600 dpi tiffs with a Plustek OpticBook A300 (lrg book
scanner)
Rights:
Illustrations by Louis Moe came into the public domain on January 1,
2017.
Bibliography:
Primary Sources
Moe,
Louis Maria Niels Peder
Halling. Valkyrien:
Romantisk Digtning. København:
Gyldendal, 1930.
Secondary Sources
Cleasby, Richard
and
Vigfússon
Guðbrandur
. An Icelandic-English Dictionary.
Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1957.
Saxo (Grammaticus). Danmarks krønike.
Edited by
Fr. Winkel
Horn,
Copenhagen: A. Christiansens
Kunstforlag, 1898.
―. The History of the Danes.
Translated by
Peter
Fisher,
Cambridge: D. S. Brewer,
1976.
Sleipnir (non.)
Óðinn´s eight-legged horse which Loki bore after mating with the Giant
Builder's stallion Svaðilfari.
Gods and Goddesses
Óðinn (non.)
Odin (en.)
The chief god of the Æsir in The Prose Edda.
However, in Heimskringla he was a mortal who
tricks the King of Sweden into believing that he was a god.
Historical Persons, i.e. from Heimskringla, Saxo, sagas etc.
Vébjörg (non.)
Vebjorg (en.)
A shield maiden in Saxo's Gesta Danorum who
died at the Battle of Brávellir. She is the shield maiden in Louis Moe's
Valkyrien who becomes a
Valkyrie.
Source Materials:
Valkyrien: Romantisk Digtning (da.)
Valkyrie: An illustrated
romance (en.)
Louis Moe's illustrated retelling of the life and death of the
legendary Danish shield maiden Vébjörg.
Source Persons
Moe,
Louis (no.)
b. 1857
d. 1945
Nationality: Norwegian/Danish.
Occupation: illustrator
Residence: Copenhagen
Moe was an illustrator who was born in Norway but became a Danish
citizen in 1919.
Saxo
Grammaticus (la.)
b. 1150
d. 1220
Nationality: Danish
Occupation: cleric
Saxo wrote the Gesta Danorum, which is known
in English as The History of the Danes . His
account of mythological Norse gods and heroes is heavily
euhemerized.
