 Hilda Ellis Davidson says that , regarding valkyries , " evidently an elaborate literary picture has been built up by generations of poets and storytellers , in which several conceptions can be discerned . We recognise something akin to Norns , spirits who decide destinies of men ; to the seeresses , who could protect men in battle with their spells ; to the powerful female guardian spirits attached to certain families , bringing luck to youth under their protection ; even to certain women who armed themselves and fought like men , for whom there is some historical evidence from the regions round the Black Sea " . She adds that there may also be a memory in this of a " priestess of the god of war , women who officiated at the sacrificial rites when captives were put to death after battle . " 
