Brunnhilde - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

• The expression "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings" is a reference to Brynhildr's famous immolation scene in Götterdämmerung.
• The cartoon character Bugs Bunny disguised himself as "Bwunhilde" to fool Elmer Fudd (depicted as the demigod Siegfried) in What's Opera, Doc?.
  • "Oh Bwunhilde, you'w so wuvwy!"
• The eponymous character from the syndicated comic strip Broom-Hilda.
• The Marvel Comics superheroine Valkyrie (also known as Brunnhilde) appears to have been loosely based on Brynhildr.
• In the 2005 TV epic Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King, American actress Kristanna Loken played Brunhild in an adaptation of the Nibelungenlied saga.
• In Season 6 of the popular TV series Xena: Warrior Princess, the character Brunhilda was played by Brittney Powell in three feature episodes: The Rheingold, The Ring and The Return of the Valkyrie.
• Appears in the video game Final Fantasy XIII as Sazh Katzroy's Eidolon.
• In the animated Japanese movie Ponyo (2008), Ponyo's father calls her Brunhilda.
• In the anime Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Brunhild is the name of Reinhard von Müsel's flagship.
• In the video game Age of Empires: Mythologies, Brunnhilde is a playable Hero Unit.
• In the anime Overman King Gainer, Brunhilde is the legendary Overman of Meeya Laujin. She had the ability to create "Black hole".
• In the video game Odin Sphere, some parts of the game show the same characteristics as this story. There is the valkyrie called Gwendolyn who after going against her father, Odin, is sentenced to the worst punishment for valkyries, to be married and cast away from the battlefield. She is given over to a dark knight called Oswald (who was raised by a fairy and the grandson to a king). Oswald after killing the dragon and retrieving the ring of Titrell he finds Gwendolyn in a castle asleep. Finding her there he kisses her and she awakes falling in love with him. This is where he gives her the ring and they starting living in the castle together. Through other perils they stay together with either a happy or sad ending depending the game is played.
• In the online video game World of Warcraft, there is an all-female town in the center of the Storm Peaks in Northrend called Brunnhildar Village. There are quite a lot of other references up in this area:
  • Enormous women, the Hyldnir, have enslaved the comparatively smaller men, the Vrykul.
  • There is a questline that has the player take the form of a female, Hyldnir, regardless of the sex of the player's character.
  • There's a captured man named Garhal.
  • There is a town nearby called Sifreldar Village. It should be noted that in Sifreldar Village, the NPCs are hostile, while in Brunnhildar Village, they are friendly.
• In the video game Monster Hunter, there is a sword named Brünhild, an apparent reference to Brunhilde.
• In the video game Ragnarok Online, there is a god-tier armor called Brynhild.
• In the Italian comic book Martin Mystère, Brunhilde was condemned by Odin to spend eternity in Hindarfjall because she disobeyed his order to marry Loki, the god of fire. Later, she was freed by the hero Sigurd, who gave her the Ring of the Nibelungs. After Sigurd's death, Brunhilde returned to Hindarfjall where she died many years later. In 2005, Loki created a clone of Brunhilde, but the clone had the body of a grown woman, but the mind of a child. Loki made an alliance with Morgana le Fay and helped her to obtain the sword of Beowulf. In return, Morgana restored the cloned Brunhilde's mind, but like the original Brunhilde, the clone also hated Loki and escaped from his laboratory. Later, the cloned Brunhilde entered Walhalla with Aslaug, the daughter of the original Brunhilde. In Walhalla, the cloned Brunhilde was reunited with Sigurd.