Valhalla - Definition and Overview

For other uses see Valhalla (disambiguation).

In Nordic mythology, Valhalla ("Hall of the slain") is Odin's hall, the home for those slain gloriously in battle, who are welcomed by Bragi and escorted to Valhalla by the Valkyries. It has five hundred and forty doors, walls made of spears, a roof made of shields and benches covered with armors. It is said that there is room enough for all those chosen, and finding a place in there is much easier than entering. Here, every day, the slain warriors who will assist Odin in Ragnarok, the final conflict with the giants, arm themselves for battle, and ride forth by thousands to their mimic combat on the plains of Asgard, and at night they return to Valhalla to feast on the flesh of the boar, and to drink the intoxicating mead. Those who do not get to Valhalla end up in the home of the dead, Helheim, a place beneath the underworld, Niflheim.

In addition to the Valkyries, the Einherjar and a rooster named Gullinkambi live there.

In Beowulf it is called the shining citadel.