Göndul

"Wand-wielder." A valkyrie, attested in Völuspá and in the Nafnaþulur section of Skáldskaparmál, where her name appears as one of Odin's maidens.

In the skaldic poem Darraðarljóð she is among twelve valkyries who, at the Battle of Clontarf near Dublin (1014 CE), go weaving with drawn swords, choosing who is to be slain. In the poem Hákonarmál in Håkon Góði saga, Odin sends her and Skögul to the dying king Håkon to tell him that he shall dwell in Valhalla after his death:

In Odin's hall an empty place

Stands for a king of Yngve's race;

"Go, my valkyries," Odin said,

"Go forth, my angels of the dead,

Gondul and Skogul, to the plain

Drenched with the battle's bloody rain,

And to the dying Hakon tell,

Here in Valhal shall he dwell."

Håkon, although a Christian, appears to have favored the old religion and spared the temples of Odin, and therefore a place in Valhalla is assigned to him. The valkyries are described sitting on coal-black steeds, wearing helmets and carrying shields.

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