GUNNR
Gunnr (alternatively Guðr) is one of the named Valkyries in Norse mythology, specifically referenced in the Völuspá (st. 30/7; NK, p. 7), Helgakviða Hundingsbana II (st. 7/4; NK, p. 152), and the Prose Edda. Her name is an Old Norse term that translates to "battle". The Valkyries Gunnr, Rota, and the young norn Skuld were said to decide the outcome of battles, and, at its conclusion, would ride out to take the slain.
Gunnr was also a feminine given name among Norsemen. The modern forms Gun and Gunn remain in use as a feminine given name in Scandinavia.
The word is from Proto-Germanic *gunþiz, a common element of Northern and Western Germanic names. It is often used as the second element in feminine names (as in Hildegund), and as the first element in masculine names (as in Gunther).
The earliest attestation of the name is on the Rök Stone where it occurs as part of a kenning for wolf:
Þat sagum tvalfta, hvar hæstʀ se Gunnaʀ etu vettvangi a, kunungaʀ tvaiʀ tigiʀ svað a liggia.
"I say this the twelfth, where the horse of Gunnr sees fodder on the battlefield, where twenty kings lie."
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