Northern European Shamanic View of the Afterlife.
By Petter Ulleland - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54937245
To start we need to understand that the pre-Christian peoples of Northern Europe did not fear death. They did not run around looking for it, but they were not afraid of it. One of the major factors for this was a strong belief that they would be reborn into their family line. Secondly, they believed their time of death was already written, so in a way, they believed they were immortal right up to the moment they are not. The last contributing factor was death was seen as an erotic union between the dying and the representative from the afterlife. In several sagas men are noted as saying, “Tonight we will sleep with …”.
The Northern European People had more than one or two places they could all end up after death.
Helgafell (The Sacred Mountain) – is a place where someone stayed with their ancestors after death. Certain powerful family’s/clans seemed to have their own private afterlives inside holy mountains. Certain families had burial mounds and individuals in their family line could end up there. These are the same mounds that family members would go to for Utiseti (out sitting).
Hel (means hidden or concealed) – This is an underground collective realm of the dead for the common man and woman who lived an ordinary life. “Everyone goes here first before they are divided up and sent to their respective afterlife abodes. Hel was separated from the living world by an ice-cold river that has razor sharp knives in it. It only has one bridge that only the dead can cross. Sleipnir (Odin’s eight-legged horse) is one of the ways the Aesir can transport a living person into and out of Hel. Once people are resting with their ancestors they feast, drink wine/mead, and have parties unless they are condemned to Nastrond.
Helheim – Hel’s world. Located in Helheim is a separate realm known as Nastrond (Corpse Shore). It is the place where Nidhoggr (dragon) lives and chews on the corpses of murderers, rapists, adulterers, and oath-breakers. This place is only mentioned by the Christian monk Snorri Sturluson.
Valhalla – Where those who die honorably in battle go. They are transported there by Valkyries. In Valhalla the warriors train all day to assist the Aesir, specifically Odin, in the great battle during ragnarok. Once their training is done for the day, they all sit down and feast, drink mead, and party. It is important to realize that not all who die honorably in battle go to Valhalla. The Icelandic poet Tinder Hallkelsson describes how the goddess Hel prepared a bed for an earl who was fighting on the battlefield.
Note: Hel and Valhalla are actually very similar. They both have feasting, wine, and parties. Only one thing separates them, Hel is a place of rest and Valhalla a place for warriors to train.
Folkvangr – (People’s Field) is the goddess Freya’s Hall. Freya is the queen of the Valkyries, and she gets the first pick of the honored warriors that fall in battle. She also has a dining hall where good people may go and have a good time until they are reincarnated. Eggal’s Saga mentions that a woman who is starving herself to death says, “I shall not eat until I dine with Freya.”
Note: men look forward to having sex with goddess and women look forward to relaxing and eating a great meal.
The goddess Frigga has a handmaiden named Gefion. She receives and welcomes women who died unmarried. It does not mention where Gefion takes them.
Death at sea:
Ran/female (Robber) is a Jotun who is married to Agier/male, another Jotun.
Ran has nine daughters that net the people who die at sea and bring them back to Ran. (An old Icelandic saying is, “They climbed into Ran’s bed.” This means that they died at sea.)
Odainsakr – (Field of the undying) This place is mentioned in the Hervarar Saga. It is a place where sickness and old age depart from every man who comes there and no one is permitted to die.
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