Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Valkyria \Val*kyr"i*a\, n. [Icel. valkyrja (akin to AS.
   w[ae]lcyrie); valr the slain + kj[=o]sa to choose. See
   {Valhalla}, and {Choose}.] (Scand. Myth.)
   One of the maidens of Odin, represented as awful and
   beautiful, who presided over battle and marked out those who
   were to be slain, and who also ministered at the feasts of
   heroes in Valhalla. [Written also {Valkyr}, and {Walkyr}.]