Standard Lemma guide

shieldmaiden

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A female virgin who had chosen to fight as a warrior in battle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Norse

Topics: human-sciences, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From shield + maiden. Calque from Old Norse skjaldmær (“shieldmaiden”).

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Danish: skjoldmø — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Dutch: schildmaagd — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Finnish: kilpineito — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Finnish: aseneito — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • German: Schildmaid — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Icelandic: skjaldmær — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Italian: fanciulla scudiera — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Lithuanian: skydo mergelė — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Norwegian Bokmål: skjoldmøy — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: skjoldmøy — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Old Norse: skjaldmær — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Polish: tarczowniczka — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Portuguese: donzela escudeira — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Spanish: doncella escudera — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle
  • Swedish: sköldmö — Norse female virgin who had chosen to fight in battle