Viking Heaven

It never made any sense to me that only Viking warriors would go to heaven. The vast majority of Scandinavians were not warriors. Were they really all going to Helheim, that dreadful place where there's no hope and no salvation?

Besides Valhalla doesn't sound like a place I'd want to go. It's full of testosterone filed warriors eating, drinking and fighting, preparing for a great battel to come. Not exactly my idea of heaven.

Now that I'm looking more into Norse mythology, I've come to realize that the whole Valhalla thing is blown way out of proportions. It wasn't the only heaven. It wasn't the most important heaven. It wasn't even the heaven for most warriors. It was a place reserved only for people who truly enjoy a fight. Everybody else went to Folkvanger to be with Freya, the goddess of love.

That this was the way Scandinavians thought of things is evident from the way they buried people. Graveyards were shaped like ships, and these ships were called Sessrumnir, which means seats for many people. The graveyard itself was a ship. Those buried in it were going on a journey, and their destination was Folkvangr.

We know this because there's a palace in Folkvangr called Sessrumnir. It's the name of Freya's palace. 

This means that anyone buried in holy ground would go to heaven, where they would be with Freya.

But what to do with those lost at sea, or dead in battle? That issue was solved by the invention of Valkyries. They were angles who'd bring such people to heaven.

But who were these Valkyries working for?

It appears that they were working for Freya. Default destination for those dead in battle or otherwise lost was Folkvangr. Only those who were truly keen on fighting were sent to Valhalla, and only those who had died disgracefully were left for Hel to bring down to Helheim.

This makes a lot more sense than what we're regularly told. It's also evident that Christian custom is pretty much identical. We have graveyards with sacred ground. It's important to be buried there, because it brings safe passage to heaven. Warriors and people otherwise lost can also be saved by the ritual of praying. Only those who've lived and died dishonourably go to Hell.

Valhalla

By Max Brückner (1836-1919) - [1], Public Domain, Link