Regarding the , Simek states that Old Norse appears commonly as simply a term for "woman", just as Old High German , Old Saxon and Old English , and may have also been used to denote a type of goddess. According to Simek, "several of the Eddic sources might lead us to conclude that the were valkyrie-like guardians of the dead, and indeed in I 19 the valkyries are even called "Odin's ". The are explicitly called dead women in 28 and a secondary belief that the were the souls of dead women (see ) also underlies the of Icelandic folklore. Simek says that "as the function of the matrons was also extremely varied—fertility goddess, personal guardians, but also warrior-goddesses—the belief in the , like the belief in the valkyries, norns and matrons, may be considered to be different manifestations of a belief in a number of female (half-?) goddesses."