Word.ws English Dictionary

shield-maiden

shield-maiden is the alternative form of shieldmaiden.

Meaning of shieldmaiden

Noun

shieldmaiden (plural shieldmaidens)

  1. (Norse) A female virgin who had chosen to fight as a warrior in battle.
    • The shield-maiden (skölde-mö) was dedicated to Odin, and forbidden to wed; her love brought calamity.1845 [1832–1836], Erik Gustaf Geijer, translated by J. H. Turner, The History of the Swedes, London: Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane, translation of Svenska folkets historia (in Swedish), page 33

Forms of shield-maiden

pluralshield-maidens

Questions about shield-maiden

What is shield-maiden the alternative form of?
Shield-maiden is the alternative form of shieldmaiden.

Words near shield-maiden in the dictionary

  1. shield-backed bug
  2. shield-backed bugs
  3. shield-bearer
  4. shield-bearers
  5. shield-maid
  6. shield-maiden
  7. shield-maidens
  8. shield-maids
  9. shield-may
  10. shield-mays
  11. shield-skipper

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shield-maiden (page history and authors); shieldmaiden (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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