Meet Lenneth-video game Valkyrie and guardian

There are always guardians in any story that is great. Otherwise, if what is fought for or loved after isn't worth protecting with the help and expertise of the most exceptional of individuals...something crucial may be lost.

Valkyries were originally the servants of the ancient Norse gods and ensured all those warriors who had died bravely on the battlefield were escorted to the afterlife in glorious bravado, usually upon stallions commanded by Odin, the all father of gods, a figure not unlike Zeus. In actuality, Valkyries, I believe, were a hallucinated dream of men in their dying moments remembering their mothers and lovers who they knew they would not see in this earthly realm again. How many women were died for in pain or mothers cried after on so many battlefields by dying young men in human history? It is a sobering thought and one that gives me pause when I invoke Lenneth, one of the three major Valkyries in Norse lore, as my namesake for something that on the surface may appear a prosaic past time.

Video games like many in my generation grabbed me as a hobby which over time has become my great love. I will not venture into the preconceptions of how boys were always more encouraged into this hobby during that formative period of my life during the mid-80's since it is more likely better covered in another blog all together, but I must mention I was a little girl when Nintendo became my puzzle box. But more specifically, my inner obstacle course of absolution and psychological identification, or more simply put, my favorite homo sapien hamster wheel. The holodeck of unfathomable dreams, insurmountable avarice and a portal allowing unlimited potential for education and contextual encoding.

(I am using big words. It's a bad habit of mine. Let me get to the point!)

Little Lenneth felt security and strength when she could make Mario jump over the obstacles. No big older female cousin could match her there. No mother could understand her there. No father could ever tell her she wasn't good enough there because she was the only one who understood it. Therefore, video games are protected in my heart like that chew toy or blanket of childhood you just can't give up for some reason. It is a solace. It brings me a peace that I don't pretend to fully understand. And so now, as I join this group as not only a gamer, a woman, a writer, a lover of thinkers and words, I take my new name as seriously as I do my mission in Sugar Gamers:

1. To promote a positive self-image for young women who have an avid interest in video games.

2. To help all those in service to worthy causes

3. To promote enthusiasm for all things fandom related

4. Support healthy competition in a gaming environment that isn't about flaming or self-immolation.


Lenneth is a worthy protector for the Little Lenneth in me and all those out there who would aspire to something greater within. Let her courage, wisdom, and stewardship guard us all during this exciting endeavor in the months to come.