Editing Valhalla (section)

=== ''Poetic Edda'' ===
Valhalla is referenced at length in the ''Poetic Edda'' poem ''[[Grímnismál]]'', and ''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana II]]'', while Valhalla receives lesser direct references in stanza 32 of the ''[[Völuspá]]'', where the god [[Baldr]]'s death is referred to as the "woe of Valhalla",<ref name=LARRINGTON8>Larrington (1999:8).</ref> and in stanzas 1 to 3 of ''[[Hyndluljóð]]'', where the goddess [[Freyja]] states her intention of riding to Valhalla with [[Hyndla]], in an effort to help [[Óttar (mythology)|Óttar]], as well as in stanzas 6 through 7, where Valhalla is mentioned again during a dispute between the two.<ref name=LARRINGTON253-254>Larrington (1999:253–254).</ref>

==== ''Grímnismál'' ====
In stanzas 8 to 10 of ''[[Grímnismál]]'', the god Odin (in the guise of [[List of names of Odin|Grímnir]]) proclaims Valhalla is in the realm of [[Glaðsheimr]]. Odin describes Valhalla as shining and golden, and it "rises peacefully" as seen from afar. From Valhalla, every day Odin chooses from those killed in combat. Valhalla has [[spear]]-shafts for rafters, a roof thatched with shields, [[Mail (armor)|coats of mail]] are strewn over its benches, a wolf hangs in front of its west doors, and an eagle hovers above it.<ref name=LARRINGTON53>Larrington (1999:53).</ref><poem>
 The hall is easily recognised by those who come to Óðinn:
 Spear-shafts are the rafters, the hall is thatched with shields,
 And the benches are strewn with byrnies.

 The hall is easily recognised by those who come to Óðinn:
 A warg hangs before the western door,
 And an eagle hovers above . . .

 Andhrímnir lets Saehrímnir, best of flesh,
 Be seethed in Eldhrímnir, the cauldron,
 Though few know what the Einherjar feast on.

 Battle-accustomed, glorious Host-Father feeds Geri and Freki;
 But weapon-stately Óðinn lives on wine alone.

 Huginn and Muninn fly over the mighty earth every day;
 I fear for Huginn, that he not come back,
 But I look more for Muninn.

 Thundr roars loudly;
 Thjóðvitnir’s fish sports in the flood;
 The river roars loudly,
 The battle-slain think it too strong to wade.

 That which stands on the holy fields,
 Before the holy doors,
 Is called Valgrind, the Slain-Gate;
 Those gates are old,
 And few know how they may be locked.

 Five hundred and forty doors:
 So I know to be in Valhöll;
 Eight hundred Einherjar go out of one door,
 When they fare to battle the Wolf.

 The goat who stands on Host-Father’s hall
 Is called Heiðrún,
 And bites off the limbs of Laeraðr;
 She shall fill a cauldron with the shining mead,
 That drink will never be exhausted.

 The hart who stands on Host-Father’s hall
 Is called Eikthyrnir,
 And bites off the limbs of Laeraðr;
 And drops fall from his horns into Hvergelmir,
 To which all waters wend their way.

 Shaker and Mist I wish to have bear a horn to me;
 Skeggjöld and Striker, Shrieker and Battle-Fetter,
 Loudness and Spear-Striker, Shield-Strength and Rede-Strength,
 And God-Inheritance,
 They bear ale to the Einherjar.
(Grímnismál 9–10, 18–22, 23–26)
</poem><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Gundarsson |first=Kveldulf |title=The Teutonic Way: Wotan; The Road to Valhalla |date=2021 |publisher=The Three Little Sisters}}</ref>
Odin, throughout this story is seen to have pet ravens that he sends out, and the warriors of his hall are dead men and ghosts who endlessly fight battles and endlessly die. There are also women who feed them and serve them alcohol and are the same spirits who chose them to die in the battles they fight. Valhalla in this story can be seen as a beautiful hall for the dead but it can also be seen as a lofty stylization of a battlefield after a fight. There are broken weapons and shields and dead bodies and ghosts cover the hall that gets ravaged by wolves and ravens. To the Vikings of the time, this was not only their desired afterlife, but a way to cope with the horrors of battle.<ref name=":2" />

==== ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II'' ====

In stanza 38 of the poem ''[[Helgakviða Hundingsbana II]]'', the hero [[Helgi Hundingsbane]] dies and goes to Valhalla. In stanza 38, Helgi's glory there is described:

<blockquote><poem>
So was Helgi beside the chieftains
like the bright-growing ash beside the thorn-bush
and the young stag, drenched in dew,
who surpasses all other animals
and whose horns glow against the sky itself.<ref name=LARRINGTON139>Larrington (1999:139).</ref>
</poem></blockquote>

Prose follows after this stanza, stating a [[Tumulus|burial-mound]] was made for Helgi. After Helgi arrived in Valhalla, he was asked by Odin to manage things with him. In stanza 39, Helgi, now in Valhalla, has his former enemy Hunding—also in Valhalla—do menial tasks; fetching foot-baths for all of the men there, kindling fire, tying dogs, keeping watch of horses, and feeding the pigs before he can get any sleep. In stanzas 40 to 42, Helgi returns to Midgard from Valhalla with a host of men. An unnamed maid of Sigrún, Helgi's valkyrie wife, sees Helgi and his large host of men riding into the mound. The maid asks if she is experiencing a delusion, if Ragnarök is started, or if Helgi and his men were allowed to return.<ref name=LARRINGTON139/>

In the following stanzas, Helgi responds none of these things occurred, and so Sigrún's maid goes home to Sigrún. The maid tells Sigrún the burial mound is opened, and Sigrún should go to Helgi there. Helgi asked her to come and tend his wounds after they opened and are bleeding. Sigrún goes into the mound, and finds Helgi is drenched in gore, his hair is thick with frost. Filled with joy at the re-union, Sigrún kisses him before he can remove his coat of mail, and asks how she can heal him. Sigrún makes a bed there, and the two sleep together in the enclosed burial mound. Helgi awakens, stating he must "ride along the blood-red roads, to set the pale horse to tread the path of the sky," and return before the rooster Salgófnir crows. Helgi and the host of men ride away, and Sigrún and her servant go back to their house. Sigrún orders her maid to wait for him by the mound the next night, but after she arrives at dawn, she finds he is still journeying. The prose narrative at the end of the poem relates Sigrún dies of sadness, but the two are thought to be re-born as [[Helgi Haddingjaskati]] and the valkyrie [[Kára]].<ref name=LARRINGTON139-141>Larrington (1999:139–141).</ref>

==== Vafthrúðnismál ====
In the story of [[Vafþrúðnismál|Vafthrúðnismál]] Odin disguises himself as a man named [[Gagnráðr|Gagnráð]] and visits the all knowing giant, [[Vafþrúðnir|Vafthrúðnir]], to not only test his knowledge, but gain wisdom from the giant as well. Odin and Vafthrúðnir exchange questions and tests Odin on his knowledge of the afterlife and cosmology. Vafthrúðnir asks Odin about the topography of Valhalla in Stanzas 15 and 16<poem>
Vafthrúðnir said: Say this, Gagnráðr,
since you want to test your talent on the floor:
What is the river called that divides the earth
among the sons of giants and among the gods?

Óðinn said: The river is called Ífing,
which divides the earth among the sons 
of giants and among the gods.
</poem><ref name=":3">{{Citation |last=Pettit |first=Edward |title=Vafþrúðnismál |date=2023-03-03 |work=The Poetic Edda |pages=135–164 |place=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Open Book Publishers |doi=10.11647/obp.0308.03 |doi-access=free |isbn=978-1-80064-772-5}}</ref>

Then, it is Odin's turn to ask the giant questions but instead of asking questions on the afterlife, Odin asks more esoteric questions like the fate of the gods and the end of the world. Those that are chosen to live in Valhalla with Odin prepare every day for the end of the world, also known as [[Ragnarök]]. These Vikings prepare for the battle of the end of the world everyday in the eternal battle and is the main characteristic to daily life in Valhalla.<ref name=":2" /> Stanzas 17 & 18 of the poem describe the field in Valhalla where this battle takes place<poem>
Vafþrúðnir said:
Say this, Gagnráðr,
since you want to test your talent on the floor:
What is the field called
where Surtr and the sweet gods
will meet in battle?

Óðinn said:
The field is called Vígríðr,
where Surtr and the sweet gods
will meet in battle.
It is a hundred leagues
in every direction —
that is the field determined for them.
</poem><ref name=":3" />
This poem also describes the picking of slain warriors and their entrance into Valhalla in stanza 41 that states<poem>
Vafþrúðnir said:
All the unique champions
in Óðinn’s enclosed fields
fight each other every day;
they choose the slain
and ride from battle;
thereafter they sit together in peace.
</poem><ref name=":3" />
The last question Odin asks, is what he himself whispered into the ear of his dying son, [[Baldr]], at Baldr's funeral pyre. This question, revealed Odin's true identity since only he can know the answer to that question. Vafthrúðnir realizes he has been tricked, and the story concludes with the All-father, Odin, himself humbling the wise giant who must acknowledge his unparalleled wisdom.