She had been flying all night, soaring high above Asgard, dreading her upcoming First Day Ceremony. She tilted her wings and flew headlong into the fading darkness, hoping to follow the night, praying day would not find her.īut darkness betrayed her and allowed in the light. It was her mortal enemy, that would bring only sorrow. But Freya did not welcome the rising sun. The first rays of dawn swept over the distant horizon and drove away the long night. Though we have forgotten them, they haven’t forgotten us. In today’s battles, soldiers have long forgotten Valhalla and the Valkyries that fly in to gather up the chosen dead.

This was their heaven and their paradise.

They would dance with the Valkyries and listen to their enchanting songs as the Battle-Maidens entertained the dead.Ī warrior’s days at Valhalla were spent on the training grounds outside the heavenly hall, as they picked up their weapons and gloried once again in endless battle. Coming to Earth, or Midgard, as they called it, to choose among the dead and dying only the most valiant of warriors to deliver to Odin at Valhalla.Īrriving at Valhalla, these chosen warriors would spend their nights sitting with Odin, feasting and drinking. In the middle of the battlefield, the Valkyries would swoop down from the skies, riding their winged Reaping Mares and howling their haunted cries. But to get there, they had to be selected by an elite group of winged Battle-Maidens, known as the Valkyries. In ancient times, the Vikings fought valiantly to earn a seat at Valhalla. Each door is wide enough to allow eight hundred slain warriors to pass through, marching side by side. Resting deep within the ethereal plane it is accessible from Earth only by crossing Bifröst.Įnormous in size, with a thousand spires rising high into the clouds, Valhalla hosts over five hundred entrance doors. Across that magnificent bridge, far from the World of Man, you will find Asgard: Land of the Norse Gods and home of Valhalla.Īlso known as Odin’s Great Heavenly Hall for the Heroic Dead, Valhalla sits in the very centre of Asgard. They are the glow of the Rainbow Bridge called Bifröst. Those shimmering colours are not an illusion.

‘If on some cold winter’s night you gaze up into the darkened sky and see the glow of the Northern Lights – consider this.

Valkyrie by Kate O'Hearn