Valhalla (Old Norse Valhöll, "Hall of the slain") is Odin's hall in Norse mythology, 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 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 five hundred and forty doors, so wide that eight hundred warriors could walk next to each other, walls made of spears, a roof made of shields and benches covered with breastplates. 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 mock combat on the plains of Asgard. At night they return to Valhalla to feast on roasted boar and drink intoxicating mead. Those who do not get to Valhalla end up in 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.

The English word 'hell' comes from the Teutonic 'Hel', which originally meant "to cover" and later referred to the goddess of the Norse underworld, Hel. Compare Anglo-Saxon helan and Latin celare = "to hide".

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 more common form in general use.

In German language, the Walhall refers to the mythological place, while Walhalla refers to the German Hall of Fame, the Walhalla temple, inaugurated in 1842.

Locations in Norse mythology | Life after death

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