Wait, I'm in the wrong feast hall!

[Triskele_Lynx]

I found out not too long ago that only half of the valorous dead go to Valhalla. The other half are taken to Freya's hall.
So, what if the hero's journey begins with dieing well, then waking up in the wrong feast hall?
(Optional) What if they are a an egg with a shell harder than a Viking helm?

 

[CarburetorThompson]

That’s because the true nords go to Sovengarde

 

[CharlesEBrown]

If I recall correctly (it's been a long time since I saw that part of the myths), Odin's feasthall is for those who lived for battle, fought against all odds, and were, basically, violent meatheads like his son Thor (until he sacrificed his eye to gain wisdom, and hung for three days from the World Tree for the knowledge of how to postpone Ragnarok, Odin was pretty bloodthirsty).
Freya's feasthall was more for the commanders, the tacticians and the people who did clever things in battle, or who died defending others rather than just attacking. She and her brother were calmer, more introspective, and more in tune with magical stuff than the martial side of things.

 

[Placeholder]

Quarter-assedly skimming this essay which purports to discuss the only known poetry and known myths, the stuff we now have is like 4 lines of skaldic material and that thinness introduces ambiguities where beliefs and practices used to be clear in listeners' heads.

The Norse Afterlife Part II: Folkvang & Valkyries

Wherein Freyja chooses half the slain

norsemythology.substack.com

> Freya's feasthall was more for the commanders, the tacticians and the people who did clever things in battle, or who died defending others rather than just attacking.

Skim the essay above and then look at their sources. Your remembering may not be highly supported by those sources. And could be a 20th century head-canon fan theory / divine revelation. One that is more palatable for moden non-combatants than whatever the historical canon was.

While I agree with the Viking practics of rescuing the gold or silver altarpieces and laundrywomen from ramshackle, flammable churches and monasteries, I do agree that if store-bought religon doesn't fit with one's own personal ethical practices, homemade is fine.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Huh, that's the first time I've seen both the names Urd and Skuld used in the same passage for sisters outside of Ahmigatsu! (Ah! My Goddess!)- but Verdandi somehow became Beldandi there.

Now if you want to make things really weird - some rare translations equate Freya with Frigga, Odin's wife. So maybe she picks the domestic workers, the servers, cooks, butchers, weaponsmiths and armorors who will die to supply her husband's followers...

 

[Placeholder]

> Ahmigatsu!

Definitely canon. Wish there were more flaming monastery episodes.

 

[Triskele_Lynx]

If I recall correctly (it's been a long time since I saw that part of the myths), Odin's feasthall is for those who lived for battle, fought against all odds, and were, basically, violent meatheads like his son Thor (until he sacrificed his eye to gain wisdom, and hung for three days from the World Tree for the knowledge of how to postpone Ragnarok, Odin was pretty bloodthirsty).
Freya's feasthall was more for the commanders, the tacticians and the people who did clever things in battle, or who died defending others rather than just attacking. She and her brother were calmer, more introspective, and more in tune with magical stuff than the martial side of things.

I saw a reference saying there were 2 ways to get into Valhalla. The other was "loss of breath from the thighs of a maiden."

 

[Phantonym]

head-canon fan theory / divine revelation.

I saw a reference saying there were 2 ways to get into Valhalla. The other was "loss of breath from the thighs of a maiden."

So Valhalla is full of people that are thirsty on two levels blood and...