shieldmaiden

shield +‎ maiden

shieldmaiden (plural shieldmaidens)

1. (Norse mythology) A virgin who had chosen to fight as a warrior in battle.
   • 1845, J. H. Turner, The History of the Swedes, translation of original by Erik Gustaf Geijer, page 33:

     The shield-maiden (skölde-mö) was dedicated to Odin, and forbidden to wed; her love brought calamity.

   • 1849, John Mitchell Kemble, The Saxons in England:

     The Anglosaxon belief in the Shieldmaidens comes to us indeed in a darkened form, yet we can hardly doubt that it survived.

   • 1890, Paul Belloni Du Chaillu, The Viking Age: The Early History, Manners, and Customs of the Ancestors of the English-speaking Nations, volume 2:

     Störkud rushed through the ranks with a drawn sword and killed one after another; he cut down Hjört; whereupon Visma, shieldmaiden, who carried the standard of Harald, met him.

   • 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, →ISBN, page 262:

     There goes a lord who tamed a wild shieldmaiden of the North!