Valkyrie racial template

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

I learned recently that, although Vakyries are often identified as psychopomps, and norns as fates, both terms were originally used generally for goddesses.

I don't think your source is correct; Valkyrie means "chooser of the slain" in its roots, and pretty definitely refers to the beings who take the souls of the battlefield dead. It is not clear if they would be classed as minor deities or as some other type of being akin to angels or if that distinction is even meaningful in this context. Sometimes they are described as daughters of Odin, but again that might be metaphorical, as other times they are the daughters of kings (which leads us to Astromancer's remark about Valkyrie being a job that a mortal (or once-mortal) woman might have or take on), and in the Volundsaga are swanmays, identifiable by their feather cloaks that allow them to turn into swans.

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Considering that the earlier codes of Christian law in the Nordic lands made being a Valkyrie illegal (in the same sentence that made being a witch, wizard, bearsharker, pirate, medium, or pagan priest, illegal) I wonder if we need a template for Valkyrie as a job?

After all, you don't make being a dragon, fairy, unicorn, or vampire, illegal. This is because those aren't things real people can be (except for Halloween). Valkyrie must have once been a job.

I'd like to see the context of that law, do you have any more information about when it was issued and by whom?