Young Writers Society

Merriam Webster wrote:Middle English, from Old English engel & Anglo-French angele; both from Late Latin angelus, from Greek angelos, literally, messenger.

(Norse mythology) one of the maidens of Odin who chose heroes to be slain in battle and conducted them to Valhalla.

Merriam-Webster wrote:1. a spiritual being superior to humans in power and intelligence; especially : one in the lowest rank in the celestial hierarchy
2. an attendant spirit or guardian
3. a usually white-robed winged figure of human form in fine art
4. messenger or harbinger

sabradan wrote:Whereas Angels are Judeo-Christian concept and are servants of/messengers for the Almighty.

Meep wrote:

sabradan wrote:Whereas Angels are Judeo-Christian concept and are servants of/messengers for the Almighty.

I'd like to refer you to my above post.
Winged men in white robes playing harps are largely a Judeo-Christian-Muslim artistic tradition,* but angels in the broader sense are messengers between the almighty and the mortal, and not strictly Abrahamic. (There are, for instance, Hindu thingummies that are angels, they're just not called angels because of the language difference.)

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*Biblical angels spend a lot of time kicking ass, and not a lot of time playing harps.

Creating Angels

Chapter 4, Mishna 13(a)

By Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld

"Rabbi Eliezer ben (son of) Yaakov said, one who fulfills one mitzvah (commandment) acquires himself a single defending angel. One who commits one transgression acquires one accusing angel. Repentance and good deeds serve as a shield before retribution."

This mishna provides us with a number of important insights regarding G-d's justice system -- both the system itself and how we may influence it. The first point is that our good and bad deeds create angels which will either defend or accuse us at the time of judgment. (According to Jewish tradition, there are three times at which a person stands judgment: every year at the High Holidays (reviewing the previous year and in judgment for the coming), at a person's death, and on the final Judgment Day at the end of world history to determine if he will be worthy of the Resurrection and his ultimate level of relationship with G-d.)

The concept of defending and accusing angels is significant for a number of reasons. I believe when I grew up I was taught a much more simplistic notion -- that after we die our good and evil deeds will be placed on some giant heavenly scales -- our deeds would somehow be converted into black and white gravel -- and the heavier side would determine our fate. To be fair, there are midrashic statements which employ this type of metaphor. Yet it is clear from our mishna that as little as we know about our fates after death -- and the Torah seems to intentionally preserve it as an enigma -- our judgment will be much more profound and exacting. Good and bad deeds cannot just cancel each other out on some giant scale. Every good act creates an angel -- a force of good -- both in this world and in the next. Likewise, every sin creates a reality of evil which can never be fully ignored. Good and evil exist on a plane and in a form unimaginable to us in our finite state. A prosecuting angel, once brought into existence, carries with it a voice of accusation -- one which cannot be stilled until some form of rectification is achieved -- whether through repentance, purgatory or a combination of the two.

There is a second significance to the concept of defending and prosecuting angels. Angels -- again, according to the little we really know of them -- are functioning spiritual beings, ones with features and characteristics in some ways the spiritual equivalent of the human being. Now say a person performs a good deed but of imperfect nature -- he recited prayers without emotion or he pledged charity for public recognition. The angel created will too be imperfect. It will not be able to testify before the Heavenly Tribunal in an ideal manner. Just as our prayers were hurried or mumbled, so too will our defending angels speak. Just as our worthy deeds contained petty or selfish motives, so too -- in ways we can only imagine -- will our angels be deficient.

Unfortunately, there are many ulterior motives which find their way into our deeds. We may treat others well for want of their business or some other return favor -- or simply for the honor we will receive in their eyes. We may perform a ritual - such as eating matzah on Passover -- with little thought of its true significance. Deeds which are empty of meaning - - or full of ulterior motives -- will create angels which are little better. If we were lucky enough to be judged with a simple set of heavenly scales, perhaps a sincere deed would weigh ten pounds while an insincere one would way one. It would be better than nothing. As G-d's true justice dictates, however, an impure or wrongly motivated deed may literally be powerless to truly defend us.

For this reason, we mentioned once in the past that it is far more beneficial for our spiritual growth to focus on one or a few mitzvos (commandments) rather than grabbing out at a whole slew of superficial deeds. (If anyone can find the past class in which we wrote that, he or she is welcome to a no-prize! I couldn't come up with it in a quick search... We should make sure we do at least one thing well -- with forethought, reflection and devotion. It could mean taking a single prayer from the prayer book and reciting it with sincere devotion. Or it could be a matter of taking a single good quality -- say honesty -- and upholding it with uncompromising zeal. Or it could be some very small act of sacrifice -- ordering fish only at non-kosher restaurants -- so that while the person realizes he or she is far from perfect, what he does observe he does with unwavering dedication.

And such acts of sacrifice and commitment will serve us well when we one day stand before our Maker -- very possibly better than thousands of repetitive acts of empty ritual. Sometimes a single act of devotion and altruism may make an entire life worthwhile (and for that it's never too late). As the Talmud puts it, "Whether one does much or little, so long as he directs his heart towards Heaven" (Berachos 5b).

sabradan wrote:Angels ARE a judeo-Christian idea.

I'm not as well versed in eastern philosophy/religion, but my understanding of the Devas is that tehy are a sort of "lesser gods"

Merriam Webster wrote:1. a spiritual being superior to humans in power and intelligence; especially : one in the lowest rank in the celestial hierarchy

sabradan wrote:A Valkerie is a angel-like warrior woman from Norse mythology. Literally, a Valkerie was a "Maiden of Odin" who would take slain warriors, who had proven themselves particularly brave in battle, to the Hold of Odin, Valhalla, the Hall of Slain Heroes.

Whereas Angels are Judeo-Christian concept and are servants of/messengers for the Almighty.

Griffinkeeper wrote:

sabradan wrote:A Valkerie is a angel-like warrior woman from Norse mythology. Literally, a Valkerie was a "Maiden of Odin" who would take slain warriors, who had proven themselves particularly brave in battle, to the Hold of Odin, Valhalla, the Hall of Slain Heroes.

Whereas Angels are Judeo-Christian concept and are servants of/messengers for the Almighty.

Just to expand on Sab's post a little bit.

After being taken to Vahalla, the warriors would rest until the final apocalyptic battle would occur between Loki and the forces of evil and Odin and the forces of good.

So, let's be clear on this. Valkyries would most certainly be found over recent battlefields, collecting the souls of dead warriors. Angels would be found as some sort of messenger of god.

The use of angel would be much more general than the use of Valkyrie.