Valhalla, or Valhalla, is a place that, in late Scandinavian mythology, played the role of a kind of paradise for warriors. We will talk more about what Valhalla is, as well as about the different features of the afterlife of the Vikings in this article.
Definition of Valhalla
The monuments of the Scandinavian epos brought to us a certain image of Valhalla, which, apparently, was a reflection of the beliefs and afterlife aspirations of these warlike tribes. Usually, when asked about Valhalla, mythological researchers say that it is something like a heavenly chamber belonging to the supreme god Odin, where after death the brave and worthy warriors who fell during the battle fall. After moving to Valhalla, they are called Einherias. The very word "Valhalla" is most often translated as "palace of the fallen." And they localize this place in Asgard - the highest world on the tree of Yggdrasil.
The character of Valhalla
Although, speaking of what Valhalla is, it is often compared with paradise, this analogy is still rather arbitrary. Of course, getting there after death was a dream and a cherished desire of any Viking. But the expectations of these warlike people from paradise were slightly different than those with which the heavenly heights are associated with us - the heirs of a centuries-old Christian culture.
The view of the ancient Viking is a huge palace (one might say, just a hall or an awning, taking into account the concepts of palaces among the ancient Scandinavians), the roof of which is composed of gilded shields supported by spears. 540 gates lead to this palace. Morning in Valhalla begins with a bloody massacre. All its inhabitants put on armor and fight with each other to death, until no one is left alive. Then all the soldiers miraculously resurrect, their wounds heal, and the severed parts of the body grow back. The resurrected and healed warriors continue their day with a grand feast. The main dish of this feast is the inexhaustible boar meat named Sekhrimnir. He is stabbed daily by the cook of Odin, and, like the warriors themselves, he is daily resurrected from the dead safe and sound. A drink for feasting Einherias is honey milk, which is given abundantly by the goat Heidrun. This animal also lives in Valhalla and feeds on the leaves of the Yggdrasil tree. The fullness of the picture of military paradise is, of course, given by the girls, called the Valkyries. They appear every evening, at the end of feasting, and throughout the night they please the inhabitants of this wonderful place. And all these activities of the daily program are headed by God Odin - the head of the Scandinavian divine pantheon.
This is how the ancient Vikings imagined the ideal world - roughly, mundane and somewhat mercantile. However, what else was required by the ancient soldier, besides the extreme battle and sensual pleasures? But there was another alternative after the death for the Viking, since Valhalla is not the only refuge of the dead.
The Underworlds of the Scandinavians - Folkwang
When the battle ends, according to the Viking legends, Odin descends to the ground and takes from the dead half of the souls that he takes with him to Valhalla. The rest is waiting for another place, namely Volkvangr. The name of this place is translated as “the field of people”, and the goddess Freyja is in charge of it . As we study myths in order to understand what Valhalla is, we must also approach the question of the role and character of Volkvangra. However, information about him has been preserved much less. It is only known that, like the palace of Odin, this is the palace or throne room of Freya - the goddess of love and war among the pagan Vikings. However, in addition to half of the killed warriors, the best of women also fall into this world. Moreover, the latter were not even required to die in the war. Unfortunately, nothing is known about what the inhabitants of Volkvangra were doing short of the countless days and nights of their paradise existence. However, apparently, being there was just as honorable and was seen as a blessing.
The Dark World Hel
In addition to the two described afterlife shelters, it is also necessary to mention the world called Hel. According to the tree diagram, Yggdrasil is a lower, otherworldly world, characterized as a dark and joyless place. For the ancient Viking, all the rest of the afterlife were preferable to this place. Its name comes from a word meaning "to hide." The heirs of Hel do not have their own names. And their pastime consists in feasting with Hel - the goddess and mistress of this world that bears her name. However, later legends mention that in the northern part of Hel sinners and violators of oaths are tormented. However, this may be a later Christian layering. In general, it is believed that Hel is the most archaic form of Scandinavian ideas about the afterlife. All the dead fell there. With the further development of mythologemes and differentiation of worlds, Hel began to be considered as a refuge, first of all, of those who died of illness or old age.
The development of ideas about Valhalla
Since we are primarily talking about Valhall, we need to say a few words about the development of ideas about this place. Initially, it was not the seat of the Viking fighting elite after their death. In the Indo-European language, the most archaic meaning of the root of Valr is associated with the dead in general. And only on the basis of German spirituality does it gradually acquire a highly specialized meaning. But even in its narrow sense, at the earliest stages, Valhalla acted as a place where the souls of enemy captive warriors fall, who were then sacrificed to Odin. From here comes the name of the girls - inhabitants of Valhalla, that is, the Valkyries. The Valkyries were originally called women who walked among the rows of captured soldiers and selected from them those who were to be brought to the altar of Odin. “One who chooses the dead” - this is how the word “Valkyrie” is translated. Only later did they turn into supernatural warriors who help Odin select souls for themselves on the battlefield. The road to Valhalla of the elect was also secured and accompanied by them.
Scandinavian eschatology
But a stay in Valhalla, as the Scandinavians believed, would be temporary. When the day of the last battle of Ragnarok arrives, eight hundred warriors will come out at every gate of Valhalla and will collide on the side of the aces (gods) with the whole army of monsters, as well as the dead from the world of Hel. In the end, almost everyone will die: people, monsters and gods. Valhalla, like all other afterlife, will no longer be. Only a few aces and two people will survive - Liv and Livtrasir, from whom the new human race will descend.