Gunnr
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In Norse mythology, Gunnr or Guðr is one of the valkyries. The name means "battle" and is cognate with the English word "gun".
The earliest attestation of the name is on the Rök Stone where it occurs as part of a kenning for wolf:
- Þat sagum tvalfta, hvar hæstR se GunnaR etu vettvangi a, kunungaR tvaiR tigiR svað a liggia.
Translation:
- I say this the twelfth, where the horse of Gunnr sees fodder on the battlefield, where twenty kings lie...
In Snorri's Edda Gunnr is singled out along with Róta and Skuld as one of the valkyries who always ride out to choose the slain and decide battles:
Guðr ok Róta ok norn in yngsta, er Skuld heitir, ríða jafnan at kjósa val ok ráða vígum.
Gunnr is also mentioned in the Völuspá:
- Sá hon valkyrjur
- vítt um komnar
- görvar at ríða
- til Goðþjóðar:
- Skuld hélt skildi,
- en Skögul önnur,
- Gunnr, Hildr, Göndul
- ok Geirskögul;
- nú eru talðar
- nönnur Herjans,
- görvar at ríða
- grund valkyrjur.
And in Darraðarljóð:
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No individual characteristics of Gunnr are known to us and she does not appear as a character in any extant myth.
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