A fairy tale is a type of short story that features  human-shaped supernatural beings in Germanic what?
Fairy tale A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features folkloric fantasy characters, such as dwarfs, dragons, elves, fairies, giants, gnomes, goblins, griffins, mermaids, talking animals, trolls, unicorns, or witches, and usually magic or enchantments. Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends (which generally involve belief in the veracity of the events described) and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. The term is mainly used for stories with origins in European tradition and, at least in recent centuries, mostly relates to children's literature.
Shield-maiden A shieldmaiden (Old Norse: "skjaldmær" , Danish: "skjoldmø" , Norwegian: "skjoldmøy" , Swedish: "sköldmö" , Dutch: "Schildmaagd" , German: "Schildmaid" ) in Scandinavian folklore and mythology was a woman who had chosen to fight as a warrior. They are often mentioned in sagas such as "Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks" and in "Gesta Danorum". Shieldmaidens also appear in stories of other Germanic peoples: Goths, Cimbri, and Marcomanni. The mythical valkyries may have been based on the shieldmaidens. Their historical existence is debated.