Valhalla

[3] The masses of those killed in combat (known as the einherjar), along with various legendary 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 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.

Valhalla has spear-shafts for rafters, a roof thatched with shields, coats of mail are strewn over its benches, a wolf hangs in front of its west doors, and an eagle hovers above it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Vafthrúðnir asks Odin about the topography of Valhalla in Stanzas 15 and 16Vafthrúðnir 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?

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.

In the chapter, King Gylfi sets out to Asgard in the guise of an old man going by the name of Gangleri to find the source of the power of the gods.

[15] In chapter 36, High states valkyries serve drinks and see to the tables in Valhalla, and Grímnismál stanzas 40 to 41 are quoted in reference to this.

High additionally states, at sunrise, Odin sends his ravens Huginn and Muninn from Valhalla to fly throughout the entire world, and they return in time for the first meal there.

In chapter 41, Gangleri says Odin seems to be quite a powerful lord, controlling quite a big army, but he wonders how the Einherjar keep busy while they are not drinking.

[20] At the beginning of Skáldskaparmál, a partially euhemerized account is given of Ægir visiting the gods in Asgard and shimmering swords are brought out and used as their sole source of light as they drink.

[22] In chapter 2, a quote from the anonymous 10th-century poem Eiríksmál is provided (see the Fagrskinna section below for more detail and another translation from another source): What sort of dream is that, Odin?

[23]In chapter 17 of Skáldskaparmál, the jötunn Hrungnir is in a rage and, while attempting to catch up and attack Odin on his steed Sleipnir, ends up at the doors to Valhalla.

Hrungnir goes in, demands a drink, and becomes drunk and belligerent, stating that he will remove Valhalla and take it to the land of the jötunn, Jötunheimr, among various other things.

These laws include that all the dead are to be burned on a pyre on a burial mound with their possessions, and their ashes are to be brought out to sea or buried in the earth.

[28] In chapter 8 of Fagrskinna a prose narrative states that after the death of her husband Eric Bloodaxe, Gunnhild Mother of Kings had a poem composed about him.

The composition is by an anonymous author from the 10th century and is referred to as Eiríksmál, and describes Eric Bloodaxe and five other kings arriving in Valhalla after their death.

[30] The women of Valhalla and their role in the theology of the Norse afterlife is in stark contrast to the commonly male-dominated perceptions of Viking society, mythology, and cultural practices.

Those chosen for Valhalla are often associated with heroic deeds in battle; the god Odin was said to have employed women - battle-maidens called valkyries - to carry the dead to his hall.

This later shift from violent overseers to sustainers of life shows how the image of women changed within Norse culture with the introduction of Christianity.

[32] Death chants were poetic compositions made to appease Odin and to earn a dead loved one's place in Valhalla.

Examples include K. Ehrenberg's charcoal illustration Gastmahl in Walhalla (mit einziehenden Einheriern) (1880), Richard Wagner's depiction of Valhalla in his opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (1848–1874), the Munich, Germany-based Germanic Neopagan magazine Walhalla (1905–1913), the book series Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan, the comic series Valhalla (1978–2009) by Peter Madsen, and its subsequent animated film of the same name (1986).

He wrote "Big Sur is very like Valhalla—a place that a lot of people have heard of, and that very few can tell you anything about" (Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, chapter 20).

[34] In the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road, the cult of the War Boys believe a heroic death in the service of dictator Immortan Joe will take them to Valhalla.

[36] The video game Apex Legends features a character named Bloodhound, who often references Valhalla and the Allfather, a commonly used kenning for the Norse god Odin.

These Valkyrie inspired skins feature a voice line where Mercy says, "till Valhalla" when she uses one of her mass team healing ability.