Shield-maiden as a shield-maiden in the text. Saxo Grammaticus reported that shield-maidens fought on the side of the Danes at the Battle of Brávellir in the year 750: Examples of shield-maidens mentioned by name in the Norse sagas include Brynhildr in the "Vǫlsunga saga", Hervor in "Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks", the Brynhildr of the "Bósa saga ok Herrauðs", the Swedish princess Thornbjǫrg in "Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar" and Princess Hed, Visna and Veborg in "Gesta Danorum". Two shield-maidens appear in certain translations of the "Hervarar saga". The first of these Hervors was known to have taken up typically masculine roles early in
Norse cosmology primordial Niflheimr and the punishing Niflhel are "equally dreadful" places; it is not clear whether they are identical or distinct. Norse cosmology The cosmology of Norse mythology has "nine homeworlds" or "nine realms", unified by the world tree Yggdrasil. Mapping the nine worlds escapes precision because the "Poetic Edda" often alludes vaguely. The Norse creation myth tells how everything came into existence in the gap between fire and ice, and how the gods shaped the homeworld of humans. A cosmic ash tree, Yggdrasil, lies at the center of the Norse cosmos. Three roots drink the waters of the homeworlds, one