Hello friends my name is Arith Härger and this is the third and last video of these series
using the Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim - to illustrate this subject
The Norse Afterlife
on the previous videos I have talked about the concept of religion and the spirit
trying to understand how our modern society was shaped by certain Hebraic religions
and certain asian spiritualities and philosophies
which constrained us to a certain way of thinking
and when we try to understand pagan beliefs-
it's hard to let go of our collective Western social thinking
I've also talked about the concept of the Underworld, the ancestors and the Draugr
and as you have seen in these videos and all my other videos I tend to focus on archaeological evidences
even the modern pagan movements, especially when it comes to Norse traditional pagan beliefs
people tend to focus solely on the Eddas and the Sagas to understand the pagan view of ancient Scandinavian societies
but the Eddas, as well as the Sagas, were written much later
when Scandinavia was already under the influence of Christianity
and had contact with other religious realities
if we want to truly understand the pagan view of the world our Norse ancestors had
we must literally dig the past, the pre-Christian past
prehistoric and proto-historic archaeological evidences show us-
a spirituality that in many aspects go against the Eddas
pointing into a true pagan belief "uncorrupted" by certain religious beliefs
which do not agree or even adjust to the Norse and Germanic realities
so in this video I'm going to talk about the Eddas and the concept of Valhalla
let's start with the Eddas
as you already know the Eddas date back to the 13th century
and deals only with themes related to poetry and a great mixture of many mythologies into one
the Poetic Edda is a medieval Icelandic compilation of Scandinavian oral traditions
which had many changes and influences throughout history
in the Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson explains the way of teaching the Icelandic poetic art
and when it comes to mythological accounts,
by the Christian influence of the author,
the structure of his work ends up resembling that of the Bible
which facilitates its somewhat reckless use in the present day
the Eddas provide multiple destinations for the life after death, but all associated with a certain deity
in the Prose Edda, Hel is portrayed as a goddess and not simply as a sub-region of the underworld or the afterlife itself
which shows the influence of other religions
another aspect, the one who brings death and guides the dead in the underworld is Odin,
or used to be Odin . . .
during medieval Scandinavia Hel started to appear as a figure leading a function that was originally Odin's job
moreover, Hel's portrayal as a pestilence, deformed malignant figure-
-no doubt comes much closer to the perspective of the afterlife from religions that deny reality, such as Christianity
building up a fear of the underworld, fear of the infernal realm
another aspect is that during medieval and modern Scandinavia to the mythology it was added the equivalent of Asgard with the sky
at the top of the tree Yggdrasil
it became easy to associate Asgard with the Christian paradise
the dichotomy becomes obvious and acceptable, pleasant, appealing to modern people
influenced by a Western religious worldview shaped by Christianity
and then we have Valhalla which appears to be also an equivalent with Heaven
and Hel its opposite - the Christian Hell
but let's take this thought into consideration:
if death in battle was worth more than life, the Nordic peoples had become extinct
why live if dying in battle leads to paradise?
becoming a martyr and go to paradise serving a specific deity and killing and dying for that deity
that is a notion that only makes sense in religions that deny life and reality
Norse paganism accepted life and reality
religious conflicts in ancient Scandinavian societies existed
especially during the Viking Age
but they weren't about religion, they were about politics
while Christianity, for instance, made wars in the name of God
in the name of fanaticism and to convert people by force
as I've said before, the notion that most people have of the afterlife is influenced by individualistic religions
it's perfectly natural for most pagans to see the afterlife in a Christian manner
because these details are so deeply rooted in our collective mentality that it is difficult to perceive them
so now speaking about Valhalla: this notion of a place in the afterlife
pretty fast became the notion of heaven and pop culture helped a lot in that
Valhalla became Heaven and Hel became the Christian Hell
Heaven vs. Hell
reward versus punishment
obviously I'll make a video solely about Valhalla-
-but I think it's important to speak of it in here so we can better understand the ancient Norse pagan notion of the afterlife
now, if we speak about Valhalla we must speak about the warrior cult
there is a clear glorification of death in battle when we deal with the concept of Valhalla
but not a mindless glorification that led people to blindly meet their doom
because they were expecting to go into a better place after death
for instance, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf-
it deals with the concept of battle in a much clearer way
and it is evident that the warrior does not surrender to death simply thinking about the afterlife
in fact, the warrior knows that he does not have much choice
his destiny is already defined and he only has to accept the order of things
and live life and accept duty in the best way possible
who decides a victory or defeat is the Wyrd (fate) and not his courage or desire to go to Odin
to the Norse the reputation and honor of the warrior in the living world was far more important than the hypothetical fate of the soul
it wasn't about when or where, but how people faced life
on the other hand if we analyze the criteria for going into Valhalla
and remembering that to the Norse and Germanic societies the body and spirit were linked and not separated as two different realities
we realized that there are some rules to enter Valhalla
you need to have your body destroyed or disabled in battle or through fire
the same way offerings were given to the gods
by destroying/disabling them or burning them
as I have spoken on the previous videos, destroying the matter to release the spirit
not everyone went to Valhalla
only nobles and warriors
upon death, Nobles had to have their bodies burned if they were not killed in battle
the point is: a destruction of the matter was needed to release the spirit, the force, the "Megin"
all right friends this is the last video of these series and I hope you have enjoyed it
don't worry about Valhalla . . .
I will delve deeper into that subject on another video
thank you so much for watching
and for being in here to support this channel
see you on the next video and . . .
Tack för idag! (Thank you for today!)
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