Editing Valhalla (section)

{{Short description|Legendary enormous hall in Asgard}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Good article}}
[[Image:Walhalla (1896) by Max Brückner.jpg|250px|thumb|''Walhalla'' (1896) by [[Max Brückner (artist)|Max Brückner]] in a scenic backdrop for [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'']]

In [[Norse mythology]], '''Valhalla''' ({{IPAc-en|v|æ|l|ˈ|h|æ|l|ə}} {{respell|val|HAL|ə}}, {{IPAc-en|USalso|v|ɑː|l|ˈ|h|ɑː|l|ə}} {{respell|vahl|HAH|lə}};<ref>{{dictionary.com|Valhalla}}</ref> {{langx|non|Valhǫll}} {{IPA|non|ˈwɑlhɒlː|}}, {{lit|Hall of the Slain}})<ref name=ORCHARD171-172>Orchard (1997:171–172)</ref> is described as a majestic hall located in [[Asgard]] and presided over by the god [[Odin]]. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was [[Fólkvangr]], ruled by the goddess [[Freyja]]. The second was [[Hel (location)|Hel]], ruled by [[Hel (mythological being)|Hel]], Loki's daughter. The third was that of the goddess [[Rán]]. The fourth was the Burial Mound where the dead could live. The fifth and last realm was Valhalla, ruled by Odin and was called the Hall of Heroes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |title=Valhalla |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Valhalla/ |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> The masses of those killed in combat (known as the [[einherjar]]), along with various legendary [[Germanic mythology|Germanic heroes]] and kings, live in Valhalla until [[Ragnarök]], when they will march out of its many doors to fight in aid of Odin against the [[jötnar]]. Valhalla was idealized in Viking culture and gave the Scandinavians a widespread cultural belief that there is nothing more glorious than death in battle. The belief in a Viking paradise and eternal life in Valhalla with Odin may have given the Vikings a violent edge over the other raiders of their time period.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Larrington |first=Carolyne |date=2018 |title=Norse Mythology and Warfare |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/48577980. |journal=Medieval Warfare |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=14–18 |jstor=48577980 }}</ref>
{{Utopia}}

Valhalla is attested in the ''[[Poetic Edda]]'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, in the ''[[Prose Edda]]'' (written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]), in {{lang|is|[[Heimskringla]]}} (also written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson), and in stanzas of an anonymous 10th-century poem commemorating the death of [[Eric Bloodaxe]] known as ''[[Eiríksmál]]'' as compiled in ''[[Fagrskinna]]''. Valhalla has inspired innumerable works of art, publication titles, and elements of [[popular culture]] and is synonymous with a martial (or otherwise) hall of the chosen dead. The name is rendered in modern Scandinavian languages as {{lang|is|Valhöll}} in Icelandic, while the Swedish and Norwegian form is {{lang|sv|Valhall}}; in [[Faroese language|Faroese]] it is {{lang|fo|Valhøll}}, and in Danish it is {{lang|da|Valhal}}.