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So, some people are kinda angry that there's phrases in this like "There is no place for the weak at Odin's table." And such. Now, I am literally disabled myself so I kind of have Opinions on this & they might not be what you expect, because I am Very Into Norse Stuff.
The whole point of Odin's Hall, Valhalla, is that he receives exactly half of the best, most ferocious fighters. The other half go to Freyja's Hall, Sessrumnir. Only Valhalla makes it into contemporary culture usually and it's kind of misconstrued by some as being Viking Heaven.
Valhalla is not Viking Heaven.
Valhalla is a place where Odin's chosen fight every day from dawn to dusk, killing each other in battle every single day, to be resurrected again. They train in this way every day in preparation for Ragnarok. It's a place of glory, but not respite.
Valhalla is a place where Odin's chosen fight every day from dawn to dusk, killing each other in battle every single day, to be resurrected again. They train in this way every day in preparation for Ragnarok. It's a place of glory, but not respite.
Valhalla has its own function in spirituality and it comes in the form of a 'consolation prize' for those warriors who died far from home, kith & kin, where they couldn't be interred with their ancestors. The idea is all the dead go to Hel. (With one L.) That's the respite place.
Hel is supposed to be where the dead reside and is one of the Nine Worlds. It's not like the Christian idea of Hell, it's not a place of punishment.
So, when one says, "There is no room at Odin's table for the weak," I assume they mean Valhalla, & they are CORRECT.
So, when one says, "There is no room at Odin's table for the weak," I assume they mean Valhalla, & they are CORRECT.
HOWEVER. Odin is the Allfather, a god of many things, of war, of frenzy, of artistic inspiration, of death, life and creation in many forms. So whilst Valhalla may serve a certain purpose... Odin still favours those who aren't physically the strongest in many other contexts.
Odin is said to gift artists with divine inspiration, & bless Skalds (Warrior poets.) He often represents himself as an old man with one eye who wanders the world, & he practises seidr, the art of magic, which was considered unmanly. He doesn't care. Odin knows power in all forms
So... To get mad at the idea that an ancient Norse man might shout someone down about not getting a seat by Odin for being weak or whatever... is to misunderstand what Valhalla is. Also, ancient cultures were, like, sometimes kinda problematic?
There are many rad and awesome ways in which the Vikings were very forward-thinking and more egalitarian than most other cultures at the time. But they had roles, and they had things compartmentalised in certain ways. A warrior was a WARRIOR in a certain sense.
You could be other things, or do other things, & not necessarily be looked down upon for it... As I keep saying, artists and craftspeople often enjoyed a certain level of veneration & respect. But no, unless you are Badass McBAD Number One, you're not going to Valhalla.
And honestly... Good? I dunno I don't wanna be stabbed to death every day until Ragnarok. Shit sounds boring and like it'd hurt, I've got other stuff I'd rather do until Fenrir breaks his chains just sayin'
