VALKYRIE - RETURN OF A MYTH

VALKYRIE - RETURN OF A MYTH

photography 2007

In Norse mythology the valkyries (Old Norse Valkyrja “Choosers of the Slain”) are dísir, minor female deities, who served Odin. The valkyries’ purpose was to choose the most heroic of those who had died in battle and to carry them off to Valhalla where they became einherjar. This was necessary because Odin needed warriors to fight at his side at the preordained battle at the end of the world.

Operation Walküre (Valkyrie) was an operational plan developed for the Reserve Army of the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer). The plan was approved by German dictator Adolf Hitler, who intended it to be used in the event that disruption caused by the Allied bombing of German cities caused a breakdown in law and order, or a rising by the millions of forced laborers from occupied countries working in German factories.

Valkyrie is a 2009 historical thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Tom Cruise. The film is based on the July 20 Plot of German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Cruise will portray the leader of the plot, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg. Cruise's casting caused controversy among German politicians and members of Stauffenberg's family due to the actor's practice of Scientology, though German newspapers and filmmakers gave support to the film to spread global awareness of von Stauffenberg's attempted plot.