Valhalla, or Valhalla, is the name of a place that in later times played the role of a kind of paradise for warriors. We will talk in more detail about what Valhalla is, as well as about various features of the Viking underworld in this article.
Definition of Valhalla
The monuments of the Scandinavian epic 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 answering the question of what Valhalla is, mythological researchers say that it is something like a heavenly palace belonging to the supreme god Odin, where after death the bravest and most worthy warriors who died during the battle go. After moving to Valhalla, they are called Einherjar. The word “Valhalla” itself is most often translated as “palace of the fallen.” And this place is localized in Asgard - the highest world on the Yggdrasil tree.
Character of Valhalla
Although, when talking about what Valhalla is, it is often compared to heaven, this analogy is still quite conventional. Of course, getting there after death was the dream and cherished desire of any Viking. But the expectations of these warlike people from paradise were somewhat different from those with which the heavenly heights are associated with us - the heirs of centuries-old Christian culture.
Valhalla, as imagined by the ancient Viking, is a huge palace (one might say, just a hall or a tent, taking into account the concepts of palaces among the ancient Scandinavians), the roof of which is made of gilded shields propped up by spears. There are 540 gates leading to this palace. Morning in Valhalla begins with a bloody massacre. All its inhabitants put on armor and fight each other to the death until no one is left alive. Then all the warriors are miraculously resurrected, their wounds heal, and the severed body parts grow back. The resurrected and healed warriors continue their day with a grand feast. The main dish of this feast is the inexhaustible meat of a boar named Sehrimnir. He is stabbed daily by Odin's cook, and, like the warriors themselves, he rises from the dead daily, unharmed. And the drink for the feasting Einherjars is honey milk, which the goat Heidrun gives abundantly. This animal also lives in Valhalla and feeds on the leaves of the Yggdrasil tree. The picture of a warrior's paradise is, of course, completed by girls called Valkyries. They appear every evening, at the end of the feast, and throughout the night they please the inhabitants of this wonderful place. And all these events of the daily program are led by the god Odin - the head of the Scandinavian divine pantheon.
This is how the ancient Vikings imagined their ideal world - rude, down-to-earth and somewhat mercantile. However, what else did the ancient soldier require, besides the extremes of battle and sensual pleasures? But there was another alternative after death for the Viking, since Valhalla is not the only refuge of the dead.
The afterlife of the Scandinavians - Folkvangr
When the battle ends, according to Viking legends, Odin descends to earth and takes half of the souls from those killed, which he takes with him to Valhalla. For the rest, another place awaits, namely Folkvangr. The name of this place translates as “field of people,” and it is in charge. Just as we study myths to understand what Valhalla is, we must also approach the question of the role and character of Volkvangr. However, much less information about him has been preserved. It is only known that, like Odin’s palace, 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 end up in this world. Moreover, the latter were not even required to die in war. Unfortunately, nothing is known about what the inhabitants of Folkvangr were doing while spending the countless days and nights of their heavenly existence. However, it appears that being there was just as honorable and was seen as a blessing.
Dark World of Hel
In addition to the two described afterlife havens, it is also necessary to mention the world called Hel. According to the scheme, this is the bottom, characterized as a dark and joyless place. For the ancient Viking, all other afterlife worlds were preferable to this place. Its name comes from a word meaning “to hide.” The inhabitants of Hel do not have their own name. And their pastime consists of feasting with Hel, the goddess and mistress of this world that bears her name. However, later legends mention that sinners and oathbreakers are tormented in the northern part of Hel. However, this may be a later Christian accretion. In general, it is believed that Hel is the most archaic form of Scandinavian ideas about the afterlife. All the dead went there. With the further development of mythology and differentiation of worlds, Hel began to be considered as a refuge primarily for those who died from illness or old age.
Development of ideas about Valhalla
Since we are talking primarily about Valhalla, we need to say a few words about the development of ideas about this place. It was not originally the seat of the Viking fighting elite after their death. The most archaic meaning of the root valr- is associated in Indo-European 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 narrowest sense, in its earliest stages, Valhalla acted as a place where the souls of enemy captured warriors ended up, who were then sacrificed to Odin. This is where the name of the girls - the inhabitants of Valhalla - comes from, that is, Valkyries. Valkyries were originally called women who walked among the ranks of captured soldiers and chose from them those who were to be brought to the altar of Odin. “He who chooses the dead” is how the word “Valkyrie” is translated. Only later did they turn into supernatural warriors, helping Odin select souls for himself on the battlefield. The road to Valhalla for the chosen ones was also provided and accompanied by them.
Scandinavian eschatology
But the stay in Valhalla, as the Scandinavians believed, would be temporary. When the day of the final battle of Ragnarok comes, eight hundred warriors will come out to each gate of Valhalla and will face the entire army of monsters, as well as the dead from the world of Hel, on the side of the Aesir (gods). In the end, almost everyone will die: people, monsters and gods. Valhalla, like all other afterlifes, will no longer exist. Only a few aces and two people will survive - Liv and Livtrasir, from whom a new human race will arise.
Date: 2010-05-19
Valhalla (Valhalla) is one of the most beautiful and majestic places in Germany, a monument that connects German history from ancient myths to modern times. In the vicinity of Regensburg, on the high bank of the Danube, stands an ancient temple reminiscent of the Athenian Parthenon. According to the plan of the Bavarian king Ludwig 1, Valhalla was to become a monument to the greatest representatives of Germany for 1800 years, starting with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. e. In 1842, the German pantheon was built according to the design of the architect Leo von Klenze. The main criterion for including the first 160 people immortalized in the Hall, Ludwig chose their belonging to the German culture, so there were representatives of Sweden, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the Baltic states. At the opening of the Hall of Valhalla, there were 96 busts and 64 plaques for people whose portrait or description was not available to model for sculpture. Since then, the number of “inhabitants” of Valhalla has been constantly growing.
And in its original meaning, according to ancient German-Scandinavian myths, Valhalla is a heavenly palace for those killed in battle, a paradise for valiant warriors. The world tree - Yggdrasil, connecting all worlds and growing in the center of the world, reaches with its crown Valhalla, the palace of Odin (Wotan), located in the divine city of Asgard. Asgard finds itself simultaneously in the sky and in the center of the world: after all, it is permeated by the world tree. In Valhalla it is called Lerad - "Shelter". Odin is called the Father of the Fallen, for those who fell in battle became his adopted sons. The fallen warriors are the Einherjar. For them, Odin built two afterlife palaces in Asgard. The main one was Glyadsheim-Valhalla, or the Hall of the Dead, the other was Vingolv, the “Abode of Bliss,” which should survive even after the death of the gods. The fallen heroes were shared equally with Odin by the goddess Freya. Freya's hall was called Folkwang, which means "human field" or "battlefield".
The dew flowing from the world tree to the ground is honey; bees feed on it and collect nectar. Two wonderful swans swim in the spring. Swans are magical birds into which divine maidens and Odin’s companions, the Valkyries, loved to transform. The gate to Valhalla is Valgrind (“Gate of the Dead”), the locks of which are unknown to ordinary people. At the gates of Valhalla grows a grove of magical trees Glasir - “Brilliant”, because all the leaves on the trees in this grove are made of red gold. On the roof of Valhalla the goat Heidrun stands and plucks the leaves of an ash tree, so intoxicating honey flows from her udder and fills a large jug every day, so that the feasting warriors in Odin’s hall have enough to get drunk. In addition to the goat, on the roof of Valhalla there is also a deer Eikturnir - “with oak-tipped horns”, he also eats leaves, and so much moisture drips from his horns that it flows down and fills the Boiling Cauldron, from which twelve earthly rivers originate.
Odin's main assistants were warrior maidens - Valkyries. Their name means "chooser of the dead." The Valkyries determined the fate of those who entered the battlefield and who were destined to fall on it, replenishing the squad of the Einherjar. The song of the Valkyries was a sign for the warriors. The names of Valkyries indicate the activities of warlike maidens.
Valkyries Hun ("Battle"), Rota ("Sowing Confusion") and Skuld ("Duty") - gallop on the battlefield and decide the outcome of the battle.
Odin himself, sitting on a high throne at the banquet table, drinks only wine and does not touch the food - he throws it to two wolves, which instead of dogs lie at his feet - Geri and Freki - Greedy and Gluttonous - that is the name of the wolves. On the shoulders of God sit two ravens - Hugin and Munin - the Thinker and the Rememberer. One sends them to fly over the world - they bring him all the news and whisper them in the ear of their master. Wolves and crows are the animals of the god of death and on the battlefield: they feed on corpses. But another giant wolf hangs on the western wall of Valhalla; this is Fenrir, bound by a magical chain - he is destined to devour Odin himself at the end of time. This constant reminder forces Odin to peer intently into all the worlds with his only eye - fortunately, his throne stands near the world tree itself, from where everything in the world should be visible. But this look is not enough for him and what the prophetic ravens Hugin and Munin report is not enough - he himself wanders through all the worlds, for which he needs the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. One must know in advance about the approaching Fate of the gods, that is, the death of the gods in the last battle of Ragnarok, when the gods and the squad of the Einherjars will meet in battle against the evil god Loki and his legions of the dead from Hel (the underworld of the dead who did not deserve to be in Valhalla).
Rules Valhalla. He selects half of the warriors who died in battle, and the Valkyries deliver them to the palace. The other half of the fallen goes to Folkvangr (en:Fólkvangr "Human Field") to the goddess Freya.
According to legend, Valhalla is a gigantic hall with a roof of gilded shields supported by spears. This hall has 540 doors and through each one 800 warriors will emerge at the call of the god Heimdall for the final battle of Ragnarok. The warriors who live in Valhalla are called Einherjar. Every day in the morning they put on armor and fight to the death, and then they are resurrected and sit down to feast at a common table. They eat the meat of the boar Sehrimnir, which is slaughtered every day and every day it is resurrected. The Einherjar drink the honey that is used to milk the goat Heidrun, who stands in Valhalla and chews the leaves of the World Tree Yggdrasil. And at night beautiful maidens come and please the warriors until the morning.
In order to displace pagan cultures, Christianity and the baptists of Northern Europe identified Valhalla with hell. The Aesir were identified with demons, the Einherjar (heroes) with great sinners, the principle of endless carnage and the daily feast after resurrection from the dead (and the regrowth of severed limbs) were identified with the infinity of hellish torment.
see also
- Bilskirnir, Thor's chambers
Literature
- Ludwig Buisson: Der Bildstein Ardre VIII auf Gotland. Reihe: Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Dritte Folge Nr. 102. Göttingen 1976
- Grettis saga: Die Geschichte vom starken Grettir, dem Geächteten. In: Sammlung Thule Bd. 5 Düsseldorf, Köln 1963.
- Gutalag och Gutasaga utg. af Hugo Pipping, København 1905-1907 (Samfund 33)
- Sögubrot af Fornkonungum. In: Sögur Danakonunga, udg. av C. af Petersens och E. Olson, København 1919-1925 (Samfund 46.1). Dänische Übersetzung: C. Ch. Rafn, Nordiske Kaempe-Historier, Bd. III (1824).
- Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, rec. et ed. J. Olrik et H. Ræder, Bd. I (1931), Lib. VII, c.X.; Lib. VIII, c.IV.
- H. Uecker: Die altnordischen Bestattungsriten in der literarischen Überlieferung(Diss. München 1966).
Links
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.:- Synonyms
- Milonga
Collodion
See what "Valhalla" is in other dictionaries: VALHALLA - valhalla, valhalla (ancient isl. valholl, “hall of the slain”), in Scandinavian mythology, located in the sky, belonging to Odin, the home of the einherjars of the brave warriors who fell in battle, who feast there, drink the inexhaustible honey milk of the Heidrun goat and eat... ...
See what "Valhalla" is in other dictionaries: Encyclopedia of Mythology - Valhalla (ancient Scand. Valholl, the palace of the dead), in Scandinavian mythology, the palace of Odin, where warriors who fell in battle end up and where they continue their former heroic life...
Big Encyclopedic Dictionary Valhalla - noun, number of synonyms: 1 valhalla (3) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013…
Synonym dictionary Valhalla - (Valhalla), in the mythology of the Germans and Scandinavians, the palace of Odin, where brave warriors killed in battle end up. ...
Synonym dictionary Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary - Valhalla (ancient Scand. ValhÖll, the palace of the dead), in the mythology of the Germans and Scandinavians, the palace of Odin, where warriors killed in battle end up. * * * VALHALLA VALHALLA, Valhalla (other scand. Valholl, the palace of the dead), in Scandinavian mythology, the palace of Odin ...
Big Encyclopedic Dictionary encyclopedic Dictionary - see Valhalla. New dictionary of foreign words. by EdwART, 2009. Valhalla see Valhalla. Explanatory dictionary of foreign words by L. P. Krysin. M: Russian language, 1998 ...
Big Encyclopedic Dictionary- Valhalla ("the hall of the slain") in the myths of the ancient Scandinavians, the home of brave warriors who fell in battle, located in the sky, in Asgard. In Valhalla, warriors feast, drink endless honeyed goat's milk and eat endless boar meat. Valhalla... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"
Synonym dictionary- Valhalla (ancient Scand. Valhöll, the palace of the dead), in Scandinavian mythology, the palace of the supreme god Odin, where warriors who fall in battle go after death and where they continue their previous heroic life... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Synonym dictionary- see Valhalla... Popular dictionary of the Russian language
See what "Valhalla" is in other dictionaries:- [valhalla, valhalla; ancient history valhöll the hall of the slain], in scand. mythology, the heavenly home of fallen heroes (Einherjar). V. belongs to Odin and is located in Asgard, the village of the fortress of the gods of the Aesir. There the brave warriors feast: they drink goat's honey milk... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia
Books
- Project "Valhalla", Andrey Zemskov. April 1945. The great world slaughter is nearing its end. Some in the West are already beginning to calculate profits and future indemnities. However, the most far-sighted functionaries...
VALHALLA.
Val(b)halla, Val(b)galla (ancient Icelandic Valh?ll) in German-Scandinavian mythology - a heavenly palace in Asgard ("chamber of the slain" in Odin's chamber) for those killed in battle, Paradise for valiant warriors.
Valhalla was located in Asgard next to the ash tree Yggdrasil. It is surrounded by the deep Tund stream, which the Einherjars cannot cross.
On its roof stand the deer Eikturmir and the goat Heidrun, eating the leaves of the World Tree Yggdrasil (the gigantic ash tree (or yew), in the form of which the Scandinavians imagined the universe). It belonged to the supreme god Odin and was part of his palace complex, which was called Gladsheim.
According to legend, Valhalla is a gigantic hall with a roof of gilded shields supported by spears. This hall has 540 doors and through each one 800 warriors will emerge at the call of the god Heimdall for the final battle of Ragnarok. Instead of fire, Valhalla was illuminated by shining swords.
Five hundred doors
and forty, as I remember, -
Valhalla has:
at the door every eight
hundreds of warriors
will go to battle with the Wolf
Eliseeva L. A.
Odin rules Valhalla. He selects half of the warriors who died in battle, and the Valkyries deliver them to the palace. The other half of the fallen goes to Folkwang (“Human Field”) to the goddess Freya.
The Einherjar go to Valhalla after death. These are chosen people, marked by military valor and who died a death “worthy of a warrior.” During their lifetime, they already enjoyed the special protection of the Supreme God Odin, and when they died, the Valkyries took them and transferred them to Valhalla. There they spend their time feasting and fighting.
The warriors who live in Valhalla are called Einherjar. Every day in the morning they put on armor and fight to the death, and then they are resurrected and sit down to feast at a common table. They eat the meat of the boar Sehrimnir, which is slaughtered every day and every day it is resurrected. The Einherjar drink the honey that is used to milk the goat Heidrun.
In order to supplant pagan cultures, Christianity and the Baptists identified Valhalla with hell. The Aesir were identified with demons, the Einherjar (heroes) with great sinners, the principle of endless carnage and the daily feast after resurrection from the dead (and the regrowth of severed limbs) were identified with the infinity of hellish torment.
Gladsheim is the fifth,
there's a lot of gold there
Valhalla shines;
there Khroft collects
brave warriors,
killed in battle.
It's easy to guess
where is Odin's home?
looking at the chambers:
the rafters there are spears,
and the roof is shields
and armor on the benches.
It's easy to guess
where is Odin's home?
looking at the chambers: Hall Valhalla. Illustration for the "Prose Edda". 1760 g
the wolf is to the west
hanging from the door,
an eagle soars from above.
Elder Edda "Speeches of Grimnir" (8-10)
Valhalla, as a heavenly kingdom for the chosen ones, apparently differentiated relatively late from the underground kingdom of the dead (Hel). In the "Speeches of Grimnir" (Elder Edda), Valhalla is correlated with Gladsheim ("dwelling of joy"), and in the Younger Edda, the dwelling in which Odin and "all people worthy and righteous" (Christian influence) live is called Gimle (“protection from fire”) or Vingolv (“abode of bliss”).
The commander of one of the companies of the Norwegian motorized infantry battalion "Telemark" inspires his soldiers before attacking Taliban positions with the battle cry "Til Valhalla!" (To Valhalla!) Literally: “You are predators, the Taliban are your prey. To Valhalla! To Valhalla! To Valhalla!”
Val(b)halla, Val(b)galla (ancient Icelandic Valh?ll) in German-Scandinavian mythology - a heavenly palace in Asgard ("chamber of the slain" in Odin's chamber) for those killed in battle, Paradise for valiant warriors.
Valhalla was located in Asgard next to the ash tree Yggdrasil. It is surrounded by a deep stream of Tund, which the Einherjars cannot cross.
On its roof stand the deer Eikturmir and the goat Heidrun, eating the leaves of the World Tree Yggdrasil (the gigantic ash tree (or yew), in the form of which the Scandinavians imagined the universe). It belonged to the Supreme God Odin and was part of his palace complex, which was called Gladsheim.
According to legend, Valhalla is a gigantic hall with a roof of gilded shields supported by spears. This hall has 540 doors and through each one 800 warriors will come out at the call of God Heimdall for the final battle of Ragnarok. Instead of fire, Valhalla was illuminated by shining swords.
Five hundred doors
and forty, as I remember, -
Valhalla has:
at the door every eight
hundreds of warriors
will go to battle with the Wolf
Eliseeva L. A.
Odin rules Valhalla. He selects half of the warriors who died in battle, and the Valkyries deliver them to the palace. The other half of the fallen go to Folkwang (“Human Field”) to the Goddess Freya.
The Einherjar go to Valhalla after death. These are chosen people, marked by military valor and who died a death “worthy of a warrior.” During their lifetime, they already enjoyed the special protection of the Supreme God Odin, and when they died, the Valkyries took them and transferred them to Valhalla. There they spend their time feasting and fighting.
The warriors who live in Valhalla are called Einherjar. Every day in the morning they put on armor and fight to the death, and then they are resurrected and sit down to feast at a common table. They eat the meat of the boar Sehrimnir, which is slaughtered every day and every day it is resurrected. The Einherjar drink the honey that is used to milk the goat Heidrun.
In order to supplant pagan cultures, Christianity and the Baptists identified Valhalla with hell. The Aesir were identified with demons, the Einherjar (heroes) with great sinners, the principle of endless carnage and the daily feast after resurrection from the dead (and the regrowth of severed limbs) were identified with the infinity of hellish torment.
Gladsheim is the fifth,
there's a lot of gold there
Valhalla shines;
there Khroft collects
brave warriors,
killed in battle.
It's easy to guess
where is Odin's home?
looking at the chambers:
the rafters there are spears,
and the roof is shields
and armor on the benches.
It's easy to guess
where is Odin's home?
looking at the chambers:
the wolf is to the west
hanging from the door,
an eagle soars from above.
Elder Edda "Speeches of Grimnir" (8-10)
Valhalla, as a heavenly kingdom for the chosen ones, apparently differentiated relatively late from the underground kingdom of the dead (Hel). In the "Speeches of Grimnir" (Elder Edda), Valhalla is correlated with Gladsheim ("dwelling of joy"), and in the Younger Edda, the dwelling in which Odin and "all people worthy and righteous" (Christian influence) live is called Gimle (“protection from fire”) or Vingolv (“abode of bliss”).