The Einherjar: Warriors of Valhalla
Meet the Einherjar, the chosen warriors of Valhalla, their eternal feasting and fighting, and their role at the final battle of Ragnarok.
The Einherjar (Old Norse einherjar, “the singly mighty ones” or “the warriors of a single lord”) are the chosen warriors who die in battle and are brought to Valhalla, the hall of Odin, to feast and fight until the end of the world. According to the Prose Edda of Snorri Sturluson and the Grímnismál of the Poetic Edda, the Einherjar are selected by the Valkyries from among the slain of every battle, brought to Valhalla, and there are the constant companions of the chief god, eating the boar Sæhrímnir and drinking the mead of the goat Heiðrún until Ragnarok. The picture of the chosen warriors feasting and fighting in the hall of the slain is one of the most distinctive in the Norse mythological corpus.
The Name and Its Meaning
The name Einherjar is composed of the Old Norse elements ein- (“one,” “single,” “unique”) and -herjar (a form of herr, “army,” “host,” “warrior”). The most common reading, supported by Jacob Grimm in his Deutsche Mythologie (1835), is that the name means “the warriors of a single lord” or “the single host” — that is, the warriors who belong to a single commander, namely Odin. The reading emphasizes the unity of the chosen warriors under the chief god.
The name is sometimes translated into English as “the warriors of Valhalla,” “the chosen of the slain,” or “the single host.” Rudolf Simek, in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology (1993), argues that the name has a more specific sense, namely the warriors who are devoted to a single lord, and that the implication is that they are bound to Odin by a personal oath. The reading has been the subject of modern interpretation.
The Selection of the Einherjar
The selection of the Einherjar is described in the Gylfaginning (chapter 20) and in the Grímnismál (stanzas 8–10). According to the Gylfaginning, half of those slain in battle are received by Odin in Valhalla, and the other half are received by Freyja in her hall Sessrúmnir in the meadow of the slain, called Fólkvangr. The selection is performed by the Valkyries, the female warrior-beings of the Norse tradition, who ride out from Asgard at the time of a battle and choose the slain.
The Valkyries are described in the Grímnismál (stanza 8) as the “serving maids of Odin” who bring the chosen warriors to Valhalla. The Valkyries’ names — Skuld, “Skögul,” “Hildr,” “Þrúðr,” “Hlökk,” “Herfjötur,” “Göll,” “Geirahöð,” “Randgríðr,” “Ráðgríðr,” and “Reginleif” — are listed in the Grímnismál and in the Völuspá (stanza 30). The names are, in many cases, references to the war-like nature of the Valkyries: “Hildr” means “battle,” “Skögul” means “shaker,” “Herfjötur” means “fetterer of the army.” The Valkyries are, in short, the choosers of the slain, the agents of Odin’s will on the battlefield.
The selection of the slain is a key element in the Norse concept of the heroic afterlife. A man who dies in battle is, in the Norse imagination, a candidate for selection; a man who dies of old age or sickness is not. The selection is performed by the Valkyries, but the criteria are not entirely clear in the surviving sources. The selection is, in any case, an honor, and the warrior who is selected is, in a sense, blessed by the gods.
Life in Valhalla
The life of the Einherjar in Valhalla is described in the Grímnismál (stanzas 8–10) and in the Gylfaginning (chapter 38). According to the Gylfaginning, Odin receives the chosen warriors into his hall, where they live as his companions. They eat the boar Sæhrímnir, which is cooked each day and is whole again the next morning, and they drink the mead that flows from the udders of the goat Heiðrún, which stands on the roof of Valhalla and produces an endless supply of mead.
The Einherjar also fight. The Gylfaginning (chapter 38) says: “They have so much to do that they fight each day, and the slain are resurrected, and they ride back to Valhalla.” What we see here is a constant, ritual battle in which the Einherjar are constantly killed and constantly resurrected. The ritual is sometimes called the Hjaðningavíg (“the eternal battle of the Hjaðningar”) and is a common motif in the medieval Scandinavian tradition.
The Grímnismál (stanza 8) describes the number of the Einherjar in a striking way: “Five hundred doors and forty more I think are in Valhalla. Eight hundred warriors will come out of each door when they go to fight the wolf.” The number is mythic and astronomical — the 800 warriors from each of the 540 doors of Valhalla is a total of 432,000 warriors, an immense army. The number is also a poetic way of saying that the army of the slain is essentially infinite, a cosmic force ready to face the forces of chaos at Ragnarok.
The Valkyries and the Einherjar
The relationship between the Valkyries and the Einherjar is one of the most distinctive in the Norse tradition. The Valkyries are the choosers of the slain, and they bring the chosen warriors to Valhalla. Once in Valhalla, the Einherjar are the constant companions of Odin, and the Valkyries serve them mead and food. The Valkyries are sometimes described as the lovers of the Einherjar — as in the poem Helreið Brynhildar, in which the valkyrie Brynhildr has a lover among the Einherjar. The relationship is a community of warriors and serving maids, in which the warriors fight and the valkyries serve.
The Valkyries are also described, in some sources, as having their own will. The most famous valkyrie is Brynhildr of the Völsunga saga, who is a warrior of the highest standing and who, in the Helreið Brynhildar, is condemned to marry a mortal man. The figure of Brynhildr is one of the most important in the Norse tradition, and her story is one of the most often told in the medieval Scandinavian literature.
Hilda Ellis Davidson, in The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England (1962), argued that the Valkyries are, in part, a survival of an older Germanic tradition of female warrior-figures who presided over the battlefield. The reading has been the subject of modern interpretation.
The Einherjar and the End of the World
The most important role of the Einherjar is at Ragnarok. According to the Völuspá (stanza 50) and the Gylfaginning (chapter 53), the Einherjar are mustered by Odin for the final battle. They ride out from Valhalla, led by Odin, to the field of Vígróðr, where they meet the forces of the giants, the wolf Fenrir, the serpent Jörmungandr, and the fire giants of Muspelheim. The Einherjar fight the final battle, and most of them die.
The Gylfaginning (chapter 53) describes the muster of the Einherjar as a great host riding out from the 540 doors of Valhalla, and the Bifröst bridge breaking under their hooves as they cross. We see an immense army riding out to face the forces of chaos, and the breaking of the bridge is a sign of the end of the world.
The Einherjar’s role in the final battle is, in part, to provide the chief god with a fighting force equal to the enemy. The 432,000 warriors of Valhalla are, in the surviving sources, equal to the army of the giants. The two forces are matched, and the outcome of the battle is the destruction of both.
The Fate of the Einherjar at Ragnarok
The fate of the Einherjar at Ragnarok is described in the Völuspá and the Gylfaginning. According to the Gylfaginning (chapter 53), the Einherjar fight the final battle, and most of them die. The chief god Odin is killed by the wolf Fenrir. The god of thunder, Thor, kills the world-serpent but dies from the venom. The einherjar and the gods are killed. The world is consumed by fire.
The fate of the Einherjar at Ragnarok is one of the great tragic moments of the Norse mythological corpus. The warriors who have been chosen to fight at the end of the world are killed, and the army that Odin has been gathering for centuries is destroyed. The picture is of a force that has been in preparation for the final battle, only to be destroyed when the battle comes.
The Survival of the Einherjar
The Völuspá (stanza 60) describes the new world after Ragnarok. The surviving gods gather, the new earth rises from the sea, and the survivors walk in peace. The Einherjar are not mentioned by name in the surviving fragments of the new world, but the implication of the poem is that some of the chosen warriors survive and live in the new world. The reading matches with the medieval Icelandic understanding of the end of the world, in which some of the gods and some of the warriors are destined to live in the new world.
The survival of the Einherjar in the new world is one of the more interesting questions in Norse scholarship. The medieval sources do not give a clear answer, and the modern interpretation has been varied. Some scholars have argued that the Einherjar are entirely destroyed at Ragnarok; others have argued that some of them survive. The question is unresolved in the surviving sources and has been the subject of ongoing debate.
The Einherjar in the Sagas
The Einherjar are a major element in the medieval Icelandic sagas. The Völsunga saga describes the hero Sigurd as a chosen warrior of Odin, and the Hervarar saga describes the chosen warriors of the heroic age. The Einherjar are also mentioned in the Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar and in the Hrólfs saga kraka, in which the hero’s band of warriors is described as the chosen of Odin.
The picture of the chosen warrior in the sagas is one of the most distinctive in the medieval Scandinavian tradition. The hero is, in many respects, a candidate for selection by the Valkyries, and the hero’s death in battle is, in a sense, the moment of his selection. The medieval Icelandic world is, in this sense, a world in which the heroes are part of a larger cosmic order, in which the chosen warriors are bound for Valhalla.
The Einherjar in Modern Culture
The Einherjar have had a significant impact on modern popular culture. The picture of the chosen warriors of Valhalla has been used in fantasy novels, in video games (notably the God of War and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla series), in tabletop role-playing games, and in modern art. The name “Einherjar” is used in modern fiction as a name for a band of warriors, and the picture of the warriors feasting and fighting in the hall of the slain is one of the most famous in modern Norse-themed fiction.
John Lindow, in Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (2001), discusses the Einherjar at length, arguing that they are a key element in the Norse concept of the heroic afterlife. The reading has been treated in modern scholarship and continues to be the subject of interpretation.
In modern Asatru and Heathenry, the Einherjar are sometimes invoked in ritual. The act of invoking the chosen warriors is sometimes understood as an invocation of the heroic tradition, and the figure of the Einherjar is sometimes used as a symbol of the modern Heathen community.
The Symbolism of the Chosen Warriors
The Einherjar are central to the Norse concept of the heroic afterlife. The picture of a warrior dying in battle and being brought to Valhalla, where he feasts and fights, is one of the most distinctive in the Norse tradition. The Einherjar are the chosen of the gods, the warriors who are bound for the hall of the slain, and the army that is destined to fight at the end of the world.
The Einherjar are also central to the Norse concept of fate. The chosen warriors are bound for Valhalla by the will of the gods, but they are also bound to die in the final battle. The picture is of a force that is prepared for the end, and that is destined to be destroyed at the end. The reading matches with the Norse cosmic pessimism, in which the world is described as a temporary, doomed structure, destined to return to the elements from which it was made.