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Chapter 6. The Sky 159
the Afterlife. Prior to the coming of Christianity to the North, the concept of an
Afterlife was basically a continuation of life on Midgard among the Ancestors with
the exception of some very special circumstances, either in the case of a violent death
as mentioned earlier or in the case of a great king/ military leader. Information
collected from various sources such as archeological finds, written documents of
recorded burial customs, anecdotal information from family sagas as well as from the
eddaic poetry all indicate that the concept of Valhalla being the “warrior’s paradise”
is most likely late in origin and may have even been influenced by the Christian
preaching of “going to sit at the right hand of the Father.” In fact, Valhalla in its
form as the Hall of the Slain may have originally been conceived as being connected
to the Hall of Hel with only the daily battlegrounds being in the sky realm. 24
Even in this day and age, however, the concept that those making the journey
to the Land of the Dead are not on their way to live in the Halls of their Gods is
not so strange. What makes it difficult for many to understand is that the western
civilizations have been so indoctrinated by pop-Christianity that they can no longer
understand the function of the Gods and the role that They play in the Universe.
Ego-centric philosophy has led many to believe that Gods or divine powers exist
only for the sole entertainment of Their worshipers. This type of philosophy does
not yet exist in many Third World countries (190, 191, 192).
The ancient Gods did not often deal with individuals (with the exception of
Óðínn) but dealt with the welfare of entire communities. For the ancient Germanic
peoples, individual help, wisdom, gifts, luck, power, etc. came primarily from the
Ancestors and from each individual’s dealings with other lineages upon Midgard.
The Gods did not often interfere with an individual’s life because Their main concern
was the well-being of Yggdrasil and the staving off of the Ragnarök until as far into
the future as possible . The community system of the sky-realm was for the Gods
to gather in council each day and to decide upon the organization or reorganization
of the homes within the World Tree. Snorri described this court only briefly:
“The third root of the ash extends to heaven, and beneath that root is a
well which is very holy, called Weird’s [sic] Well. There the Gods have their
court. Everyday the Æsir ride there up over Bifröst. It is also called As-bridge
. . . . And Thór walks (as opposed to horseback) to the court and wades rivers
whose names are: Kormt and Ormt and two Kerlaugs, these shall Thór wade
everyday when He is to judge at the Ash Yggdrasil, for As-bridge burns all
with flame, the holy waters boil.” 25
24 The reader is referred to H. R. Ellis-Davidson’s Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, 1964,
chapter 6, (Penguin Books; Middlesex, UK).
25 Faulkes, 1987, pp.17-18.