This thesis examines beliefs about valkyrjur (valkyries) and other similar female spirits like dísir in Old Nordic cultures during the late Iron Age. Specifically, it analyzes how the myths of these beings were used by the warrior elite of the societies that created the myths. The thesis studies evidence from diverse textual sources as well as iconographic representations. Rather than reconstructing actual historical beliefs, it proposes models and scenarios that seem most likely to reflect Iron Age conceptions of female warrior spirits and psychopomps who brought recently deceased warriors to Valhalla, thereby propagating the culture of the male-dominated warrior halls.