Episode 24 - The Valkyries, Freyja, and Fólkvangr

Norse Mythology: The Unofficial Guide - A podcast by Wælhræfn

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History

There's an intriguing stanza in one of our source poems mentioning a compromise between the goddess Freyja and the god Óðinn. It seems to tell us only half the slain warriors are received by Óðinn in Valhöll because the other half are chosen by Freyja for a place called Fólkvangr. But what does it really mean to choose the slain? Who decides who dies? And what happens when the god of the slain wants something that goes against the decrees of fate? This episode is a little more interpretive than others, but isn't speculation what makes the study of mythology fun?

Sources:

  • “Dictionary of Northern Mythology” by Rudolf Simek, 2007
  • “Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs” by John Lindow, 2001
  • “The Ship in the Field” by Joseph S. Hopkins and Haukur Þorgeirsson, 2012
  • “The Poetic Edda”, transl. by Carolyne Larrington, 2014
  • “The Prose Edda”, transl. by Anthony Faulkes, 1995

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Music:

Celebration by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/