By Finley MacDonald

The Valkyrie is a mythological group of women who serve Odin[1] that determine which warriors they should guide to Valhalla, “the hall of slain warriors” (Britanica Editors). To be chosen by the Valkyrie, a warrior needs to be honorably slain in the heat of battle. The Valkyrie rides into battle on horseback wearing armor and holding swords and shields. The tale of the Valkyrie originates in Norse mythology. Judy Quinn, author of The Pre-Chirstian Religions of the North: History and Structures, states, “The assignment of the Valkyrie in the mythology is straightforward: as chooser of the slain, she selects from those engaged in battle who should join the elect band of warriors in Valholl[2] to augment the fighting corps of æsir[3] in the anticipated cosmic battle of Ragnarök[4].” 

The entirety of The Ghost Sonata is a journey through the afterlife: journey across the River Styx, movements across the Kama Loka, and the Valkyrie guiding honorable souls to Valhalla. Arkenholz is the representation of the Valkyrie, guiding the Young Lady to the Isle of the Dead after dying nobly in the Hellish environment where she has spent her entire life withering away. Her determination to stay within the room of trials, even at her most frail state, displays not only her infallible willpower, but also the sincere honorability in which she fought with her entire life. These righteous qualities make her the perfect candidate to be guided by the Valkyrie (Arkenholz) to Valhalla (The Isle of the Dead). Although, according to Richard Bensel, American politics professor at Cornell University, once warriors had arrived at the Great Hall in Valhalla, “the warriors gloriously fought among themselves in and about the great hall, their wounds healing every night so that they might fight again the next day.” This reflects an opposite version of the Young Lady’s trials and tribulations of everyday life cleaning after the maid, only to wake up the next day and suffer again.

 The Valkyrie is also mentioned directly in the play when Hummel convinces Arkenholz to go listen to Wagner’s Die Walküre[5] later in the day. Die Walküre is an opera that is, “set against the rich landscape of Norse mythology, (where) a man pursued and a woman in love create a devastating dispute between father and daughter” (Discover the Valkyrie). The story follows two forbidden lovers, Siegmund and Sieglinde, a God, Wotan, and his Valkyrie daughter, Brünnhilde. Siegmund is destined to lose in battle against Sieglinde's arranged husband Hunding, but Brünnhilde disobeys her father and tries to protect Sieglinde. Furious, Wotan kills both Siegmund and Hunding after Brünnhilde helps Sieglinde escape just moments before. Sieglinde escapes, but Brünnhilde is left behind to accept her father’s punishment. Wotan strips Brünnhilde of her title as Valkyrie and transforms her into a mortal, who shall lie sleeping until claimed by the first man to save her. Brünnhilde’s only request is to be surrounded by a wall of fire, so only the bravest of men may claim her. Wotan agrees and Brünnhilde is left sleeping in the center of fire waiting for a man to save her (Synopsis: Die Walküre). 

This mirrors The Ghost Sonata in many ways. First, one of the main themes of both pieces is deception. Arkenholz believes that the Colonel’s house is full of splendor, beauty, and wealth. However, once he is inside, he becomes aware that the house itself and its inhabitants are slowly rotting and decaying due to shame, guilt, and sickness. Brünnhilde lies to her father, saying she will allow Hunding to defeat Siegmund, but instead disobeys Wotan and attempts to save Siegmund's life. Second, both pieces deal with forbidden relationships. Hummel partakes in a scandalous affair with the Mummy, and so does the Baron with the Lady in Black. Siegmund and Sieglinde learn that they are twins, which tackles the idea of incestuous relationships and their forbidden nature. Third, these pieces are told through separate acts/movements. Strindberg intentionally wrote The Ghost Sonata as if it were a composition of multiple musical movements. They start in the real world, move into the Kama Loka, then finish at the Isle of the Dead. Die Walküre spans over three acts as well: the mortal world, a mix of the mortal world and the God world, finishing in the God world looking down at the mortal world.

The myth of the Valkyrie has been told for centuries and has influenced countless pieces of art, The Ghost Sonata included. Women warriors fly into battle with the sole purpose of guiding honorable souls into Valhalla where they will fight, drink, and be merry until Ragnarök ensues. Strindberg’s inclusion of the opera, Die Walküre, is a direct nod to this glorious myth, but it also provides the audience with a familiar narrative to latch onto in a play that embraces the bizarre, outlandish, and supernatural.

Bibliography 

Bensel, Richard F. “Valor and Valkyries: Why the State Needs Valhalla.” Polity, vol. 40, no. 3, 2008, pp. 386–93. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40213487. Accessed 6 Mar. 2026.

Quinn, Judy. “Valkyries. The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: History and Structures”, Brepols Online, 2020, pp. 1513–26. www.brepolsonline.net, https://doi.org/10.1484/M.PCRN-EB.5.116987.

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Odin | Myth & History.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Odin-Norse-deity.

“What Is the Story of The Valkyrie? Synopsis & More | ENO.” English National Opera, https://www.eno.org/operas/the-valkyrie/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.