Valhalla
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Valhalla (Old Norse Valhöll, "Hall of the Slain") is Odin's hall in Norse mythology, located in the Asgardian realm of 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 "höll" part of Valhöll means 'hall'.) The term 'Valhalla' has entered popular usage for an ideal, heaven-like destiny.
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[edit] The story
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 or loch.
In addition to the Valkyries and the Einherjar, a rooster named Gullinkambi lived there.
[edit] Popular culture references
[edit] Books
- Valhalla is featured in the book The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
- Valhalla is also found in "The Last of the Renshai", a book a part of Mickey Zucker Reichert. It is a Norse concept adapted into the book followed by the Renshai.
[edit] Games
- Valhalla is a studio currently making games.
- Valhalla is a heaven-like area in the MMORPG "Ragnarok Online" where high level characters are led to Valhalla via "The Book of Ymir."[1] In Valhalla, players "transcend" their characters into their highest attainable and most powerful forms.
- Valhalla is a Halo 3 multiplayer level set in a canyon.
- Also in the game Lenneth, Valhalla, the kingdom of the gods, is part of the plot. In Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Valhalla itself is an explorable dungeon, resembling a grand castle where different Aesir guards are fought.
- Valhalla, also called Beyond the Pale, is an astral plane to which characters ascend after beating the Naughty Sorceress and freeing King Ralph XI in the online game Kingdom of Loathing.
- Valhalla is the battlepoint of the 'greatest warriors of all time and space' in the tabletop game, Heroscape.
- Valhalla is the home world of the hidden Viking character Olaf in the video game Rock N' Roll Racing.
- Valhalla is a level on Marvel, Ultimate Alliance
- Valhalla; Sword of, is a magician's sword in Lineage II.
[edit] Music
- The creation and destruction of Valhalla ais the main plot of Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung),a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner: Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung. The operas are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied.
- Led Zeppelin wrote a song about Valhalla (Immigrant Song). In the song the narrator is a Viking from Iceland going to North America to find new land, which in fact he does (the new land is Newfoundland). They sail to the west and make war.
- The songs Gods of War and Sleipnir from the album Gods of War by Manowar has many references to Odin and Valhalla.
- The song Valhall Awaits Me by Amon Amarth has many references to Odin and Valhalla.
- The song Valhalla by Blind Guardian is a song about the gods in Valhalla and the daily fighting, and ending with references to Ragnarök.
- The Swedish Power Metal band Crystal Eyes made a song called "The Halls of Valhalla" of their album "Dead City Dreaming" which was about the want to go there.
- Swedish Viking metal band Bathory wrote a song named "Valhalla".
- Jethro Tull wrote a song inspired in the Valhalla, intituled Cold Wind to Valhalla as part of Minstrel in the Gallery album.
- Yngwie Malmsteen wrote a song describing the life of Vikings in Valhalla
- Elton John wrote Valhalla which is on the Empty Sky album. "Seek and you will find ... Valhalla"
- The song "The Great Hall of Feasting" by the band 3 Inches of Blood talks about the banquet halls of Odin.
- In the song "We Will All Go Together When We Go," Tom Lehrer mentions going directly to one's respective Valhalla.
- The band 30 Seconds To Mars has an unreleased but still widely spread song called "Valhalla".
- The band White Lion made a song called "The Road to Valhalla" which is on their "The Definitive Rock Collection" album.
[edit] Places
- Valhalla is the name of the student-run bar on the campus of Rice University.
- Valhalla2 is the name of an Internet café in Brighouse.
- Valhalla is a suburb of Pretoria, South Africa.
- Walhalla is a restaurant in Suomenlinna, Finland.
- Valhalla is a cemetery in Los Angeles, California
- Vahalla inn is a hotel in toronto, canada
- Valhalla is a water ride at Pleasure Beach theme park, Blackpool, United Kingdom.
- Valhallabadet is a bathing house in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- Valhalla is a Danish house for the New Zealand Danish Society in Leigh, New Zealand.
[edit] Sport
- The Valhalla Golf Club is a private golf club designed by professional golfer Jack Nicklaus, located in Louisville, Kentucky. Valhalla hosted the 1996 and 2000 PGA Professional National Championship and the 2004 Senior PGA Championship.
- Berry College's mascot is a Viking, with its quick service dining area called 'Valhalla'.
[edit] Television and film
- Leo was taken to Valhalla in the premiere episodes of Charmed's sixth season.
- In the anime Saint Seiya, the five bronze Saints head for the palace of Valhalla to release Polaris Hilda from the spell of the Nibelung ring
- In an episode of the Cartoon Network show The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Billy is mistakenly sent to Valhalla, while the Viking he replaced ravages his house.
- In an episode of Samurai Jack, Jack fights a warrior, who was turned into a monster by Aku, so he could die in battle and break free from Aku's spell and go to Valhalla.
- In the film 'Eric the Viking', the characters briefly visit Valhalla.
- In the movie Beowulf, it is called the shining citadel.
- In the second season of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Jimmy Olsen is a victim of a conspiracy known as "Project Valhalla."
- In the movie "The Thirteenth Warrior" Valhalla is where the dead go.
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