Einherjar

The tale of the einherjar

In the North, a warrior's greatest fear was not death. It was dying badly: old, sick, in bed, forgotten. The best death was in battle, sword in hand, and the reward for it was the greatest honour a Norse warrior could imagine. The valkyries would choose him and carry him to Odin's hall, and he would become one of the einherjar, the "lone fighters", the chosen dead.

Valhalla

Their home is Valhalla, the "hall of the slain", in Asgard. It is so large that it has 540 doors, and 800 warriors can march out of each door side by side. Its roof is thatched with golden shields, its rafters are spears, and coats of mail lie on its benches. A goat named Heiðrún stands on the roof, eating the leaves of the tree Læraðr, and from her udders flows an endless stream of mead.

Every morning the einherjar put on their armour, go out into the courtyard and fight each other, for practice and for the joy of it. They cut each other down. Every evening, the fallen rise again, their wounds healed, and everyone goes back into the hall to feast. The cook Andhrímnir boils the boar Sæhrímnir in a great cauldron, and every night the warriors eat it all; every morning it is whole and alive again. The valkyries bring them mead. Odin sits at the high table, giving his own food to his wolves, and drinks only wine.

Training for the end

The feasting is not the point. The einherjar are an army, and they are in training. Odin knows that at Ragnarök the giants, the wolf Fenrir and the World Serpent will come against the gods, and he gathers the bravest dead to stand beside him on that day. One poem says that when the wolf comes, 432,000 einherjar will march out of Valhalla's doors.

That is why Odin sometimes lets great heroes fall in battle when they could have won. He needs them more in Valhalla than on earth.

Einherjar in Battle of Myths

The Einherjar is a cost 1 Norse hero with two aspects. As the Chosen Dead (warrior) he goes Berserk, attacking faster and healing from every blow for a few seconds. As the Shield of Valhalla (guardian and warrior) he makes a Last Stand, gaining a shield and extra armor and resist. As his quote says: he died well once already, and the second time is practice. Like every Norse hero, he grows stronger with Ragnarök the longer a fight lasts.

Did you know?

• The idea of Valhalla comes mainly from the 13th-century Icelandic poems of the Poetic Edda and from Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda.
• Not all the brave dead go to Valhalla: Freya chooses half of them for her own hall, Fólkvangr.