Brynhild

After siding with the wrong hero in a battle watched by Odin, Brynhild (also known as Brynhildr, Brunhild, Brunhilde, or Brunhilda) is a Valkyrie who is turned mortal and imprisoned in a castle behind a wall of shields, dozing within a ring of fire, until she is freed by a champion. After saving her, the brave hero Sigurd presents her with a ring and declares his intention to wed her, but only after visiting the court of King Gjuki. A sorceress who is Gjuki's wife offers Sigurd a potion that makes him forget about Brynhild because she wants him to marry her daughter Gudrun.

The witch also arranges for her son Gunnar to save Brynhild so that she might be married, but Gunnar is unable to pass the ring of fire. Brynhild is saved by Sigurd, who transforms into Gunnar, and she marries Gunnar, thinking he was the one who saved her. Brynhild learns from Gudrun during their quarrel that it was Sigurd who initially saved her but abandoned her, and she swears vengeance on them all. She murders Sigurd's young boy before having Sigurd assassinated as he slept. She jumps into the funeral pyre as it is lit and passes away alongside him. A giantess chastises Brynhild for her actions as they travel to the afterlife in Hel with him, but she is unrepentant and declares that she and Sigurd will now enjoy their lives together as they were meant to. She is one of the best female Viking warriors in history