Valkyrie Name Generator

Grímnismál names Hrist, Mist, Skeggjöld, Skögul, Hildr, Þrúðr, Hlökk, Herfjötur, Göll, Geirahöð, Randgríðr, Ráðgríðr and Reginleif. Völuspá adds Skuld, Gunnr and Göndul; Darraðarljóð adds Hjörþrimul, Sanngríðr, Svipul and Geirskögul; the Helgi lays and Völsunga saga give Sváva, Sigrún, Kára, Brynhildr and Sigrdrífa; Völundarkviða gives Hervör Alvitr, Ölrún and Hlaðguðr Svanhvít. The name-lists (þulur) add Hrund, Herja, Sveið, Þögn, Skalmöld, Geirdriful and others.

Old Norse valkyrja combines valr, the corpses on a battlefield, with kjósa, to choose: a chooser of the slain. Valkyries decide who dies in battle and carry half the chosen to Odin's hall, Valhöll, where they serve mead to the einherjar. The related word Valfreyja (lady of the slain) is used of Freyja, who takes the other half.

In the sources valkyries are always women, and the names use feminine endings (-hildr, -dís, -rún, -vör). If you want a male character with the same flavor, the equivalent masculine endings are -arr, -ulfr, -geirr and -mundr, so Hrafnhildr becomes Hrafngeirr and Valdís becomes Valmundr; the Viking and Norse generators linked above cover those.

Þ (thorn) is the th in thing, ð (eth) is the th in this, ö is roughly the vowel in British bird, and the accented vowels are long. So Þrúðr is roughly THROO-thr, Göndul is GUHN-dul and Hlökk is HLURK. The final -r is a grammatical ending and is often dropped in English, which is why Brynhildr usually appears as Brynhild.