Valhalla

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Valhol)
Jump to: navigation, search
In this illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript, Heimdall is shown guarding the gate of Valhalla.
In this illustration from a 17th century Icelandic manuscript, Heimdall is shown guarding the gate of Valhalla.

Valhalla (Old Norse Valhöll, "Hall of the Chosen") is Odin's hall in Norse mythology, located in Gladsheim and is the home for those slain gloriously in battle (known as Einherjar) who are welcomed by Bragi and escorted to Valhalla by the valkyries.

The main gate of Valhalla is called Valgrind, which is described in Grímnismál as a "sacred gate", behind which are the "holy doors" and "there are few who can tell the manner by which it is locked".

The hall itself has 540 doors, so wide that 800 warriors could walk through side-by-side. It is said that there is room enough for all those chosen. Here, every day, the slain warriors who will assist Odin in Ragnarök, the gods' final conflict with the giants, arm themselves for battle and ride forth by the thousands to engage in combat on the plains of Asgard. Those who die in the fighting will be brought back to life. At night, they return to Valhalla to feast on the boar Sæhrímnir and drink intoxicating drink. Those who do not get to Valhalla go to the home of the dead (Hel), a place beneath the underworld (Niflheim), or one of various other places. Those who are lost at sea, for example, are taken to Ægir's hall at the bottom of the sea. In addition to the Valkyries and the Einherjar, a rooster named Gullinkambi lives there.

In Beowulf, it is called the shining citadel.

Valhalla is a 19th century English mistranslation of the singular Valhöll into a genitival plural form. A more literally correct English translation is Val-hall, but Valhalla is by far the most common form in general use.

In the early 19th century, King Ludwig I of Bavaria ordered the construction of the Walhalla Temple, a place of honor for historically notable Germanic figures inspired by Valhalla, near Regensburg, Germany.

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.