Who is Brunhild? Legendary German warrior wants revenge in 'Record of Ragnarok'
‘Record of Ragnarok’ is undoubtedly one of the highly-anticipated series of 2021 and has all the ingredients of becoming a blockbuster hit. Based on the Japanese manga series written by Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui and illustrated by Ajichika, the Netflix anime show will see Humans battling Gods to survive. The Gods challenge humans to beat them in the Battle of Ragnarok and save themselves from getting extinct.
To even the odds, each human is granted the assistance of a valkyrie who transforms into a powerful weapon tailored for their user's combat style called “Volund”, at the risk of losing her life if the user is killed.
But why did Gods want to fight humans? The simple answer to that question is that the council of Gods decided to make humans extinct. However, one of the Valkyries named Brunhild convinced the council to give humans another chance to redeem themselves. That’s the only reason why Gods wanted to test humans and their abilities.
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But, who is Brunhild? And why did she choose to be on the side of the humans even when she is closer to the Gods? Let’s take a deeper look at the history of the character.
Who is Brunhild?
According to mythology, Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda, is one of the strongest characters from the German Heroic Legend. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shieldmaiden or valkyrie, who appears as the main character in the Volsunga Saga and some Eddic poems treating the same events. She is often called “the paramount figure of Germanic legend”.
There are a lot of different versions of the story related to Brunhild. But the most popular version describes her as one of the strongest warriors and daughter of the principal god Odin. However, she defies Odin and is punished by imprisonment within a ring of fire until a brave hero falls in love and rescues her.
Meanwhile, in the series, we see her in a different form. She is the leader of the Valkyries and stood up against the gods to save humanity. As per the manga series, Brunhild despises the Gods and wants to take revenge on them. That’s why she convinces the Gods to hold the Battle of Ragnarok and give humans a chance to fight for themselves.
She has blue hair and wears a gorgeous dress with a hairpin in the shape of the wing.
The demigod is manipulative and vengeful and doesn’t shy away from a fight. She is known for using any means necessary to win the battle. One of the prime examples is that he chooses a man like Jack the Ripper to fight the Battle of Ragnarok.
Her personality might not come as really friendly, but she deeply cares about humans and all of her sisters. Though she often displays a cold-hearted attitude, Brunhild is also known for her tender heart and the respect she gives to others who want to save humanity as well.
Her care for heroes such as Heracles and the representatives of humanity has only been expressed in private with a personal shrine dedicated to those who have fallen in Ragnarok, where she allowed herself to weep and show her emotional weaknesses.
It will be interesting to see if Brunhild becomes a Volund for anyone during the battle and if she does, we would love to see the kind of weapon she gives to a human for winning the fight.
As a whole, Brunhild might be a cold-hearted demigod but she deeply cares about humankind and doesn’t want them to go extinct. She can betray anyone to take revenge from the Gods and in the series, she is seen to be betraying the trust of her sisters and forcing her to part with Jack the Ripper in the fourth round of the tournament.
Let’s see if humans can defend themselves while Brunhilde looks from a distance.
‘Record of Ragnarok’ premieres on Netflix on Thursday, June 17.
