Lyrics:
Odin’s Maidens - Valkyries

[Verse 1]
In the silence of the northern skies
Whispers echo, where the raven flies
Daughters of fate with silver eyes
Guiding souls where the fallen lie

[Pre-Chorus]
Through the storm, their voices call
Shadowed wings decide it all

[Chorus]
Ride, Valkyries, ride through the fire
Carry the brave to Odin’s hall
Thunder and steel, the end is near
Rise, Valkyries, the fallen hear

[Verse 2]
By fjords and peaks where battles rage
They descend in the hour of need
No mercy shown, no fear to hide
By Odin’s call, they choose the brave

[Pre-Chorus]
Skies ablaze, the world will fall
Still their song is heard by all

[Chorus]
Ride, Valkyries, storm of the night
Guiding the dead to Valhalla’s light
Shadows of glory, fate is clear
Rise, Valkyries, the fallen hear

[Solo]

[Bridge]
Wings of ash, eyes of flame
Calling the warriors by their name
Glory’s price is paid in blood
Yet from the dark, they rise above

[Chorus]
Ride, Valkyries, ride through the fire
Carry the brave to Odin’s hall
Thunder and steel, the end is near
Rise, Valkyries… the fallen hear

Inspiration.

What inspired "Odin’s Maidens" was not only the Valkyries of Norse mythology, but the role I wanted the Valkyrie to have within the world of Veil of Valour.

In Norse mythology, the Valkyries are the ones who choose the fallen and carry them away from the battlefield. They decide who will live and who will die, and bring the chosen warriors to Valhalla or Fólkvangr.

But in Veil of Valour, I imagined the Valkyrie as something more.

She is the one who answers Germania’s call.

Germania remembers the forgotten and calls them back into the light. The Valkyrie is the one who goes to find them. She crosses the battlefields, the ruins and the forgotten places of history, searching for those Germania has chosen and bringing them back.

But there is another reason the Valkyrie belongs in Veil of Valour.

When we think about war, we often think about the warriors who fight it. We remember the battles, the victories, the defeats and the names of those who became heroes.

But there are also the people who come after the fighting.

The medics who run towards the wounded. The stretcher bearers and rescue workers who enter the places everyone else is trying to escape from. The nurses who receive the wounded when they are brought back. The people who see the battlefield not as a story of glory, but as blood, suffering, fear and young lives broken apart.

They see the people who could not be saved.

They carry the wounded away.

And sometimes, they carry away the dead.

But the aftermath of war is not only found on the battlefield.

There are also the people who wait for someone to come home, only to be told that they never will. The people who must tell a mother, a father, a wife, a husband, a brother or a sister that their loved one is dead. The people who find someone still alive among the destruction and have to tell them to hold on, even when they already know there is little hope.

These are also people who carry the consequences of war.

That is the other side of the Valkyrie I wanted to explore.

She is not only the mythical figure who comes for the fallen. She is also a symbol of those who have always gone into the aftermath of war to face what is left behind.

There is something deeply fitting about that connection. The ancient Valkyrie crosses the battlefield to collect the fallen warriors, while the people who enter the aftermath of war have done something remarkably similar throughout history, they have gone where death has been, found those who could still be saved, carried the wounded away, and helped bring the dead home.

That is why the Valkyrie became the second voice of Veil of Valour.

Germania calls.

The Valkyrie answers.

She goes where the forgotten are waiting and brings them back.

And from there, the sixteen stories of Veil of Valour can begin to unfold.