FOOD AND DRINK IN VALHALLA. 



427 



A king arises 



In the empty land. 



Cattle die, 

 Kinsmen die, 



Land and ground are laid waste. 

 Since Hakou went 

 To the heathen gods 

 Many men are mournful. 



The warriors who went to Valhalla were named Einherjar, 

 and their food and drink are thus described : 



" Then said Gangleri : ' Thou sayest that all men who have 

 fallen in battle since the beginning of the world have now come 

 to Odin in Valhalla : what has he to give them to eat ' It seems 

 to me that there must now be a great multitude.' Har replied, 

 ' Thou sayest true that there are very great hosts of men 

 there ; but there will be many more, nevertheless they will be 

 thought too few, when the wolf comes ; but there are never 

 such hosts in Valhalla that there is not more than enough of 

 the flesh of the boar called Saehrimnir. He is boiled every day, 

 and every night he is whole again. As to this question which 

 thou now askest, I think few are wise enough to be able to 

 tell the truth about it ' ' (Later Edda). 



"Then Gangleri said : 'What have the Einherjar 1 to drink 

 which may last as long as the food ? Is water drunk there ? ' 

 Har answered : 'Strangely dost thou ask ; as if Allfodr (All- 

 father = Odin) would invite to him kings or jarls or other power- 

 ful men and give them water to drink ; and, by my troth, 

 many of the comers to Valhalla would think the drink of water 

 dearly bought if no better cheer were to be had there, and they 

 have before suffered pains and wounds unto death. I can tell 

 thee another thing. The goat Heidrun stands on the roof of 

 Valhalla, and bites buds off the branches of a very famous tree, 

 Lerad, and from her teats flows a mead which fills a large 

 vessel every day ; the vessel is so large that all the 

 Einherjar may get quite drunk out of it.' Gangleri said : ' That 

 is an exceedingly useful goat for them ; the tree, on which she 

 feeds must be very good.' Har said : ' Still more remarkable is 

 the stag Eikthyrnir which stands on Valhalla and feeds on the 

 branches of this tree. From his horns there falls such a large 

 drop that it comes down into Hvergelmir, and thence fall the 

 rivers named, Sid, Vid, Sekin, Ekin, Svol, Gunnthro, Fjorm, 

 Fimbulthul, Gipul, Goptil, Goinul, Geirvimul, which run 

 through the Asa-land' ' (Later Edda, Gylfaginning, c. 39). 



1 Einherjar is plural, and is a com- 

 pound. Em = only, single ; and lierjar, 

 from the verb herja = make warfare. 

 Thus it means the only fighters, the 



only champions, being the warriors chosen 

 by Odin to dwell in Valhalla with him. 

 while Freyja lodged one-half of the 

 slain. 



