Thus the Elder Edda, in the lay of Grimner:
Gladsheim is named the fifth dwelling;
There the golden-bright
Valhal stands spacious;
There Hropt[52] selects
Each day those men
Who die by weapons.
Easily to be known is,
By those who to Odin come,
The mansion by its aspect.
Its roof with spears is laid,
Its hall with shields is decked,
With corselets are its benches strewed.
Easily to be known is,
By those who to Odin come,
The mansion by its aspect.
A wolf hangs
Before the western door,
Over it an eagle hovers.
Odin was preëminently the god of war. He who fell in battle came after
death to Odin in Valhal. There he began the battle anew, fell and arose
again. Glorious was the life in Valhal.
The hall was called Valhal, that is, the hall of the slain; Odin was
called Valfather (father of the slain), and the maids he sent out to
choose the fallen heroes on the field of battle were called valkyries.
Valhal must not, as before stated, be confused with the silver-roofed
valaskjalf.
The heroes who came to Valhal were called einherjes, from _ein_ and
_herja_, which together mean the excellent warrior, and we find that
Odin was also called Herja-father (father of heroes).
Valhal is situated in Gladsheim. It is large and resplendent with gold;
spears support its ceiling, it is roofed with shields, and coats of mail
adorn its benches. Swords serve the purpose of fire, and of its immense
size we can form some idea when we read in the Elder Edda that
Five hundred doors
And forty more
Methinks are in Valhal;
Eight hundred heroes through each door
Shall issue forth
Against the wolf to combat.
Outside of Valhal stands the shining grove Glaser. All its leaves are
red gold, whence gold is frequently called Glaser’s leaves.
What does Odin give all his guests to eat? If all the men who have
fallen in fight since the beginning of the world are gone to Odin in
Valhal, there must be a great crowd there. Yes, the crowd there is
indeed great, but great though it be, it will still be thought too
little when the wolf comes (the end of the world). But however great the
band of men in Valhal may be, the flesh of the boar Sæhrimner will more
than suffice for their sustenance. This boar is cooked every morning,
but becomes whole again every night. The cook is called Andhrimner and
the kettle Eldhrimner. Thus the Elder Edda:
Andhrimner cooks
In Eldhrimner
Sæhrimner;
’Tis the best of flesh;
But few know
What the einherjes eat.
What do the guests of Odin drink? Do you imagine that Allfather would
invite kings and jarls and other great men and give them nothing but
water to drink? In that case many of those, who had endured the greatest
hardships and received deadly wounds in order to obtain access to
Valhal, would find that they had paid too great a price for their water
drink, and would indeed have reason to complain were they there to meet
with no better entertainment. But we shall see that the case is quite
otherwise; for the she-goat Heidrun (the clear stream) stands above
Valhal and feeds on the leaves of a very famous tree. This tree is
called Lerad (affording protection), and from the teats of the she-goat
flows mead in such great abundance that every day a bowl, large enough
to hold more than would suffice for all the heroes, is filled with it.
And still more wonderful is what is told of the stag, Eikthyrner (the
oak-thorned, having knotty horns), which also stands over Valhal and
feeds upon the leaves of the same tree, and while he is feeding so many
drops fall from his antlers down into Hvergelmer that they furnish
sufficient water for the thirty-six rivers that issuing thence flow
twelve to the abodes of the gods, twelve to the abodes of men, and
twelve to Niflheim.
Ah! our ancestors were uncultivated barbarians, and that is proved by
the life in Valhal, where the heroes ate pork and drank mead! But what
are we, then, who do the same thing? Let us look a little more carefully
at the words they used. Food they called flesh, and drink,
mead,—expressions taken from life; but they connected an infinitely
higher idea with the heavenly nourishment. Although but few know what
the einherjes eat, we ought to know it. When we hear the word ambrosia,
we think of a very fine nourishment, although we do not know what it
was. In the _Iliad_ (14, 170), it is used of pure water. The words used
in the Norse mythology in reference to the food and drink of the gods
are very simple, And-hrimner, Eld-hrimner, and Sæ-hrimner. Hrim (rime)
is the first and most delicate transition from a liquid to a solid;
hrimner is the one producing this transition. The food was formed, as
the words clearly show, by air (_and_, _önd_, _aande_, breath), by fire
(_eld_), and by water (_sæ_, sea). We have here the most delicate
formation of the most delicate elements. There is nothing earthly in it.
The fundamental element is water boiled by the fire, which is nourished
by the air; and the drink is the clear stream, which flows from the
highest abodes of heaven, the pure ethereal current, which comes from
the distant regions where the winds are silent. Nay, we cannot even call
it a drink, but it is the purest and most delicate breath of the air,
that fills the lungs of the immortal heroes in Valhal.
A mighty band of men there is in Valhal, and Odin must indeed be a great
chieftain to command such a numerous host; but how do the heroes pass
their time when they are not drinking? Answer: Every day, as soon as
they have dressed themselves, they ride out into the court, and there
fight until they cut each other into pieces. This is their pastime. But
when meal-time approaches, they remount their steeds and return to drink
mead from the skulls of their enemies[53] in Valhal. Thus the Elder
Edda:
The einherjes all
On Odin’s plain
Hew daily each other,
While chosen the slain are.
From the battle-field they ride
And sit in peace with each other.