However briefly, one may paint Nordic woman (5)
I believe the answer is:
thora
'however briefly one' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.
'paint nordic woman' is the wordplay.
'paint nordic' becomes 'th' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'woman' becomes 'Ora'.
'th'+'ora'='THORA'
'may' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for thora that I've seen before include "lady" , "Woman" , "Actress, dame, who died in 2003" , "Hat or change for a girl" .)