The Valkyrie asleep within a ring of fire
A Valkyrie who defied Odin’s will and was punished with a sleep ringed by fire, whom only the most fearless hero could wake by crossing the flame. Sigurd did it, and the two pledged their love; but through a scheme of potion and mistaken identity Sigurd broke faith and married another. Brynhildr’s love turned to resolute hatred — she contrived Sigurd’s death, then leapt into his funeral pyre. She is the fiercest woman in Norse legend.
Brynhildr defied Odin’s will and gave victory on the field to the side that should have fallen. Odin punished her by stripping away her Valkyrie nature and setting her to sleep within a ring of fire, decreeing she would wed the mortal who woke her. Sigurd rode through the flame and woke her — and so a love fated to end in tragedy was kindled.
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