There are no known “rules” for traveling to Valhalla. As I wrote in an article yesterday, we don‘t really know what Old Norse‘s views of the afterlife were. The story says that the Aesir prophesied his arrival and prepared great illusions for him, so that when Gangerli enters the fortress, he sees a room of such height, he finds it difficult to see over it, noticing that the roof of the hall is covered with golden shields, as if they were shingles. Snorri quotes a stanza from Hvinir‘s skald Þjóðólfr (c. 900). As he continues, Gangleri sees a man in the doorway of the hall, juggling short swords and holding seven in the air at the same time. Among other things, the man says that the hall belongs to his king and adds that he can bring Gangleri to the king. Gangleri follows him and the door closes behind him. All around him, he sees many living spaces and crowds, some playing games, others drinking, and others fighting with weapons.
Gangleri sees three thrones and three figures sitting on them: high on the lowest throne, sitting just as high on the next upper throne and third on the highest. The man who runs Gangleri tells him that High is the king of the room. [11] As already mentioned, the constant struggle that takes place in Valhalla is one of the defining characteristics of the place. The medieval Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus describes how the hero Hadding discovers such a place in the underworld. [8] Moreover, the name Valhöll, “the hall of the dead”, seems to be clearly linked to the name Valhallr, “the rock of the dead”, a title given to some rocks and hills where the dead lived in southern Sweden, one of the largest historical centers of worship of Odin. [9] [10] When winter came, it snowed so much that the Vikings were able to snow to build fortresses. They used their fortresses as a battle arena. The snowball fight was not only entertaining for the kids, but also for training them with throwing skills. I don‘t want to spam his name too loudly, but. almost sure Jackson Crawford has a video about it.
As far as I know, the “rules” are that you die in battle. It is literally the hall of the dead, with spears and shields as a roof and chain mail as padding on the benches. (Source: Grímnismál (I think)). Valhalla was first mentioned in two anonymous poems honoring the deaths of two great kings – Erik Bloodaxe, who was killed at York in 954, and Hakon the Good of Norway, who died in battle in 961. The descriptions reflected an aristocratic view of life, with only a select few entering Odin‘s room. In addition, Viking children were able to train their discipline and rules through the game. Everyone had to know and silently swear not to intentionally hurt the opponent during the match. If you want to participate, you have to curse and the rule has been taken seriously. Those who broke the rules were called Níðingr, one of the worst critics of the Viking Age. We know from Viking legends that Viking boys would reach adulthood when they reached the age of 12. Brutal warriors were once innocent children.
But the warrior‘s blood flowed through their veins from birth until the days they entered Valhalla. However, not all Viking boys had the professional environment to train. Only those born into wealthy families could have the chance to learn different fighting skills and techniques. This does not mean that only children of rich families can become warriors. In fact, children in the lower classes could have played war games. They may have trained following their fathers to farm, hunt or fish. Even though they did not learn the fighting techniques during their cultivation, they were able to develop their endurance. In Norse mythology (/vælˈhælə, vɑːlˈhɑːlə/;[ 1]) is the anglicized name of Old Norse: Valhǫll (“Hall of the Killed”). [2] It is described as a majestic hall in Asgard ruled by the god Odin. Half of those who die in battle come to Valhalla, while the other half are chosen by the goddess Freyja to live in Fólkvangr. The masses of those killed in battle (known as Einherjar) live with various legendary Germanic heroes and kings from Valhalla to Ragnarök when they come out of its many gates to help Odin against the Jötnar. The two are pretty much the same.
However, warrior leaders went to Valhalla, while regular/Viking soldiers went to Fölkvangr. The life of a Viking warrior was usually brutal and short. In this case, up to 15 horses were slaughtered and designed for use in the other world. And you have to imagine the impact it would have had on viewers. Those who were not killed in action went to Hel to rest — it is true. Those who died in battle went to Valhöll or Fölkvangr — that‘s true. However, the soldiers were evenly distributed. It is accepted faith.
In addition, Freya received the first selection of the dead for Fólkvangr and left Odin, if she did not want to, for Valhöll. Valhalla is mentioned at length in the poem Grímnismál and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, while Valhalla receives less direct mentions in stanza 32 of Völuspá, where the death of the god Baldr is called the “grief of Valhalla”,[5] and in verses 1 to 3 of Hyndluljóð, where the goddess Freyja declares her intention to ascend with Hyndla to Valhalla. in an effort to help Óttar, as well as in verses 6–7, where Valhalla is mentioned again during a dispute between the two. [6] This stanza is followed by prose, which indicates that a burial mound was made for Helgi. After Helgi arrived at Valhalla, Odin asked her to sort things out with him. In stanza 39, Helgi, now in Valhalla, has his former enemy Hunding do menial work – also in Valhalla; He fetched foot baths for all the men present, lit fires, tied up dogs, watched over horses and fed pigs before he could sleep. In verses 40–42, Helgi returns to Midgard with a crowd of men from Valhalla. An anonymous maid from Sigrún, Helgi‘s Valkyrie wife, sees Helgi and his large group of men climbing the hill.
The maid asks her if she has a delirium, if Ragnarök will be started or if Helgi and her men have been allowed to return. [9] Source: Ellis, Hilda Roderick. 1968. Der Weg nach Hel: Eine Studie über die Konzeption der Toten in der altnordischen Literatur. pp. 85–86. At the beginning of Skáldskaparmál, a partially euhemerized account is given of how Ægir visits the gods of Asgard and the shimmering swords are taken out and used as the only source of light while they drink. There are many gods, they have a lot of strong mead, and the hall has wall panels covered with attractive shields. [18] This location is confirmed in chapter 33 as Valhalla.
[19] What kind of dream is this, Odin? I dreamed that I would get up before sunrise to clean Val-Hall for people killed. I woke up the Einheriar, asked them to get up to sprinkle the benches, clean the beer cups, the Valkyries to serve wine for the arrival of a prince. [20] The mystery of the death of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh has been fascinating since the first discovery of his tomb in 1922. What is the truth about how he died? The sagas and skaldic verses – poems written at the court of Norse rulers – assume that those who were invited to Valhalla had shown martial qualities of bravery and honor. But those who acted dishonorably could be excluded forever. The ancient Icelandic saga Njal tells us that a Viking who seduced the daughter of his benefactor and burned down a pagan temple would be “banished from Valhalla forever”. So where was Valhalla? It depends on the source you are consulting. Well, you had to have at least five years of experience for the Valhalla internship The poetic Eddas say that Freya chose half of the dead in battle and the other half went to Odin in Valhalla, the Valkyries only take the killed after Freya chose her half. Odin gave this right to Freya as a sign of kindness to the Vanir to end the war between them and the Aesir and make their friendship.
Freya lived with her brother Freyr with the Aesir in Asgard, Fólkvangr is in Asgard and not in Vanaheim, Freya‘s homeworld. These viewers would have remembered it all their lives, and they in turn would have passed on stories about what they had seen through the generations, so that whoever boarded this ship to the next life would never forget. Valhalla is often portrayed as an empire where respected warriors are engaged in continuous combat, and it is precisely a place described in important ancient sources as being underground and, interestingly, without the name “Valhalla” or a related place anywhere in the report. From stanzas 22 to 24, Odin gives more details about Valhalla: the sacred gates of the ancient Valgrind gate stand in front of Valhalla, Valhalla has five hundred and forty gates, so that eight hundred men can pass at the same time (from where the Einherjar will flow to attack the wolf Fenrir in Ragnarök). At Valhalla, Thor‘s Bilskirnir Hall exists, and there are five hundred and forty rooms, and of all the rooms in Valhalla, Odin says he thinks his son‘s might be the largest. [8] In verses 25–26, Odin says that the Heiðrún goat and the tough Eikþyrnir stand on Valhalla and graze on the branches of the Læraðr tree. The Heiðrún udder produces vats with mead, an incomparable liquor, and the woods of Eikþyrnir drain liquid into the Hvergelmir spring, from where all the water flows. [8] According to the Old Norse poem Grímnismál (“The Song of the Masked Man”), the roof of the “golden” Valhalla consists of shields and spears for its rafters.
Cuirass seats surround the many banquet tables in the huge hall. Its gates are guarded by wolves and eagles fly over them. [2] In chapter 39, Gangleri asks about the food and drink consumed by the Einherjar and asks if there is only water available.