#15. Brynn

Lore

Chooser of the Slain, Slayer of the Chosen

"Child, you are my daughter and a Valkyrie - a goddess. Your father was a mortal, it is true, but he was a great warrior - perhaps the greatest. So do not complain to me that the Elves whisper behind your back. Ignore them - they know you outshine them all. Or put them to the sword."

– The Valkyrie Hypernia to a young Brynn


"Most Valkyries are too by-the-runes to see greatness where I find it. Do you remember their faces when I brought the minotaur to Valhalla?"

– Brynn, drinking with Heimdall

As the story goes...

Children are rare among the immortals of Asgard, and every immortal with any heart came to love Hypernia's daughter, the heir to her immortal mother's impossible beauty and her human father's legendary charm. Brynn grew up in every corner of Asgard. She made it her school and her playground. Raised to be a Valkyrie, she nonetheless can shoe an eight legged horse, weave the threads of fate with the Norns, and curse a blue streak in Dwarvish.

As a Valkyrie, her sense for the mortal mind has helped her spot greatness in the most unlikely places, not just in princes on battlefields, holding their swords high. Three of her most shocking choices have won the Great Tournament. But Asgard is a vast society, and some don't see Brynn as a true Asgardian, while her success has bred jealousy as well as admiration.

Brynn was drawn to the Tournament by a desire to study these mortals. Does she belong with them? She watched, learned their ways, and eventually came to love their bravura and their mettle. Now she competes for the pure joy of it, her human thirst for the fight surprising everyone, including herself.

Connections

• Brynn brought Asuri to Valhalla (Lucien goaded Brynn when Asuri arrived)
• Best friend to Kaya
• Nix wouldn't say she and Brynn were friends, but Nix respects Brynn's work
• Pulled Petra out of Teminus
• Daughter of Sir Roland
• Nothing in the official lore outright confirms this, but there are enough hints in Brynn's and Sir Roland's lore pages to strongly suggest this relationship. More information can be found on Hypernia's page.
• She and Val both enjoy kung-fu movies and making fun of Orion's mysterious cool-guy act
• Any Valkyrie could see that Yumiko was a centuries-old fox spirit in disguise, but only Brynn saw a potentially great Valhallan, so Brynn brought Yumiko there

Context

Early in her development, Brynn was known as "halfkyrie, or "half-valkyrie." There seems to be no legends or stories of Norse origin that refer specifically to a half-valkyrie. It is common to see fantasy stories include half-breeds of all sorts (half-demon, half-angel, half-orc, half-werewolf, half-valkyrie), so while a Valkyrie with a human father is unheard of in Valhalla, it's not such a crazy idea for BMG to have for a character. What is especially clever about Brynn's concept as a character is the fact that her inclusion among the Valkyries explains why such wacky and varied legends (Teros, Asuri, and Yumiko, for starters) make it to Valhalla. As her lore points out, Brynn's unique parentage puts her in a unique position among her peers, and her work as a Valkyrie helps make the Brawlhalla lore universe as wacky, fascinating, and varied as it is. In an interview with the GitchFeed podcast, BMG developer Zeke Sparks brings this up about Brynn, imagining that other Valhallans might have looked at her and who she brings and ask, "Well they don't belong here..." and her response would be, "Why not? They're awesome!" Thank you, Brynn, for making Brawlhalla great. :)

The name "Brynn," unsurprisingly, has Old Norse roots. The word means "armor" or "protection." There is actually a valkyrie character in Norse mythology and elsewhere named Brynhild (spellings vary; this name comes from words that mean "armor" and "conflict," respectively), who is a Valkyrie, but is also called a shield-maiden (basically, a female Norse warrior; consider that one of Brynn's skins is Shieldmaiden Brynn). Although Brynhild appears in Old Norse texts, today she is most often recognized as an important character in Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle (here, her name is Brunnhilde).

Some might suggest that because Brynn is the daughter of Sir Roland, her full name should be Brynn Somerset Montgomery. However, that is probably not the case. Traditional Scandinavian naming conventions generally have a child's surname become their father's given name plus a suffix (-son/-sson/-sen or -dotter/-datter/-ditter). For example, Thor's full name would be Thor Odinson, the son of Odin. If this were applied to Brynn, her surname would actually be something like Rolanddotter or Rolandsdatter, or something similar. Regardless, Brynn was raised by Hypernia to be a Valkyrie, and probably never met her father until he arrived in Valhalla. It is doubtful that Hypernia would estrange her daughter even more from her own peers by giving Brynn the surname of her human father.

Axes and spears were common weapons among the Viking people, including their shield-maidens. A lot of artwork featuring Valkyries show them either unarmed to carry warriors to Valhalla or armed with spears.