Freyna RunarsDottir
"You can do more than you know"
“This one—Freyna—lived a life of two paths—one of mending the body, one of shielding it from harm. Excelling in both, for years fearing choosing one meant forsaking the other, until she found her balance near her end.
In every battle, she wielded sword and shield not to harm, but to protect. And when the fighting ceased, she laid down her arms, mending the wounds of the injured.
Fighting to protect, tending to the wounded, she embodies balance. That balance, earned and understood, does not just make her worthy—it makes her the Valkyrie we need.”
— Freyja, Goddess of Love and War
Watch Freyna as she ascends beyond the page!
"Sometimes, we must hurt to protect."
Excerpt from Chapter 3 of THE VALKYRIES
She swung apathetically, while her mother watched with a patient eye under the summer’s heat. Her daughter’s strikes lacked conviction, but Gunhild held hope her daughter’s confidence would soon spark.
Instead, Freyna’s arm only slowed further, her blows fading to silence.
“Stop,” Gunhild commanded, shaking her head. She crouched, her eyes level with Freyna’s. “We both know you can do better than this, Freyna. What’s wrong?”
Freyna lowered her eyes. “I don’t want to fight, Mother,” she murmured, nearly silent. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Gunhild studied her daughter’s troubled face. Runar had shared their daughter’s inner conflict—the desire to mend, the rejection of battle. But hearing it firsthand, feeling the weight in Freyna’s voice, made it real. She nodded in understanding.
She stepped to a nearby weapon rack, grabbing a small shield, then returned to Freyna. Kneeling beside her, Gunhild wrapped Freyna’s fingers around the handle. Freyna offered no resistance. Her brow furrowed, wondering what her mother had in mind.
Satisfied, Gunhild stepped back. “Lift it.”
Freyna obeyed, raising her forearm to her chest.
“Good. Keep it there,” Gunhild said, then swung her practice sword slowly against the wooden shield. Freyna winced with each contact, but kept holding the shield tight against her.
“Okay, what are you doing now?” Gunhild asked.
“Uh, holding a shield?”
“You’re blocking my attacks,” Gunhild explained, chuckling lightly. “You’re protecting yourself.”
Freyna’s lips curled slightly as she nodded her head.
Gunhild paused, turning to the training dummy. “Now, what if this dummy were me, your father, or someone else you cared for?” Her sword struck hard against its chest, sending a resounding crack through the area, then continued with lighter taps.
Freyna yelped at the noise, then inched between her mother and the dummy, raising her shield to block Gunhild’s swings.
Gunhild smirked. “Well? What would you do?”
“I’d protect them,” Freyna said with quiet pride.
Gunhild slipped her sword into her belt, lowering herself to her daughter. “A shield can be a weapon to hurt others, or it can protect you and those you care about. And when you protect someone, that’s one less person your father needs to tend to!”
Freyna’s smile widened at her mother’s quip before her lips uncurled. “But, what if I have to hurt one person to protect another?”
Gunhild softly clutched Freyna’s shoulder. “Sometimes, we must hurt to protect,” she sighed, “but only when necessary. To harm without reason is cruel, and to shield too much invites weakness. True balance is knowing when to do which.”
Gunhild’s voice lowered to a near-whisper. “That’s why we named you after Freyja, a goddess of many things—of love and fertility, blessing the forests of Vanaheim, but also of magic, war, and death, choosing half the slain for her hall of Folkvangr. One day, you can help others by wielding that same balance.”
The faint smile crossing her mother’s lips bolstered Freyna’s spirit. Meeting her eyes, her lips twitched upward as she slowly nodded.
“Ready?”
Freyna snapped back to the present just as Gunhild tossed her practice sword and shield, then lifted her own armaments, dipping into a fighting stance.
Freyna’s grip tightened on her shield as a touch of confidence marked her features. “Ready!”
Join your shield alongside Freyna’s!
Inspiration for Freyna
Freyna was never meant to be such a critical part of The Valkyries. At first, the focus rested almost entirely on Kaelva and Astrid—with Freyna merely a supporting character.
But as their saga evolved, so did Freyna—and now The Valkyries could not stand without their shield-bearing sister.
From the very beginning, Freyna despised fighting, hoping for nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps as a healer.
But she would soon learn the value of a sword and shield from her former shieldmaiden mother.
Of all the things inspiring me to write The Valkyries, it’s hard to pin down just who or what planted the seed of Freyna in my mind.
Over time, her doubts started to reflect my own as an aspiring writer.
Freyna’s name is a simple reference to Freyja, as explained by her own mother, Gunhild:
“That’s why we named you after Freyja, a goddess of many things—of love and fertility, blessing the forests of Vanaheim, but also of magic, war, and death, choosing half the slain for her hall of Folkvangr. One day, you can help others by wielding that same balance.”
— Gunhild, mother of Freyna, former shieldmaiden of Halsund
Freyna’s blonde hair shines with the same innocence she’s carried since her early days learning the healing arts alongside her father—yet her hazel eyes shine with the versatility she sharpens every day alongside her Valkyrie sisters.
Her newfound sisters help her find her way forward, wielding sword and shield in defense of the realms.
But a shield can only protect against so much of what threatens from the front.
How can Freyna protect her sisters when the threat comes from within?
Meet the sisters who help Freyna ascend beside them
Fight with your heart.
Trained in Vigstad under her parents, Bjorn and Liv, Kaelva’s sacrifices secure a future for her people.
Fearless in the face of every danger, her fiery soul purges the darkness, wherever it may lurk.
The first step takes courage.
Born to Sigurd and Eira in Havnsverd, Astrid learns at an early age the price of justice and unity.
As the strategist of the Valkyries, Astrid leads her sisters in the defense of the realms.
Curious which Valkyrie most reflects you?
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