In
Norse mythologyNorse, North Germanic, or Scandinavian mythology comprises the myths of North Germanic pre-Christian religion.Most of the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled in medieval Iceland in Old Norse, notably as the Edda....
, the
einherjar (
Old NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
"lone fighters") are those that have died in battle and are brought to
ValhallaIn Norse mythology, Valhalla is a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin. Chosen by Odin, half of those that die in combat travel to Valhalla upon death, led by valkyries, while the other half go to the goddess Freyja's field Fólkvangr...
by valkyries. In Valhalla, the einherjar eat their fill of the nightly-resurrecting beast
SæhrímnirIn Norse mythology, Sæhrímnir is the creature killed and eaten every night by the Æsir and einherjar. The cook of the gods, Andhrímnir, is responsible for the slaughter and preparation using the cauldron named Eldhrímnir...
, and are brought their fill of
meadMead is an alcoholic beverage, made from honey and water via fermentation with yeast. Its alcoholic content may range from that of a mild ale to that of a strong wine. It may be still, carbonated, or sparkling. It may be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet...
(from the udders of the goat
HeiðrúnHeiðrún is a goat in Norse mythology, which consumes the foliage of the tree Læraðr and produces mead for the einherjar. She is described in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.-Prose Edda:-Poetic Edda:...
) by valkyries. The einherjar prepare daily for the events of
RagnarökIn Norse mythology, Ragnarök is a series of major events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures , the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water...
, when they will advance for an immense battle at the field of Vígríðr.
The einherjar are attested in the
Poetic EddaThe Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends.Codex Regius was written in the...
, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, the
Prose EddaThe Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Old Norse language Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Norse mythology...
, written in the 13th century by
Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
, the poem
HákonarmálHákonarmál is a skaldic poem which the skald Eyvindr skáldaspillir composed about the fall of the Norwegian king Hákon the Good at the battle of Fitjar and his reception in Valhalla. This poem emulates Eiríksmál and is intended to depict the Christian Hákon as a friend to the pagan gods...
(by the 10th century
skaldThe skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
Eyvindr skáldaspillirEyvindr Finnsson skáldaspillir was a 10th century Norwegian skald. He was the court poet of king Hákon the Good and earl Hákon of Hlaðir. His son Hárekr later became a prominent chieftain in Norway.His preserved works are:...
) as collected in
HeimskringlaHeimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
, and a stanza of an anonymous 10th century poem commemorating the death of
Eric BloodaxeEric Haraldsson , nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’ , was a 10th-century Scandinavian ruler. He is thought to have had short-lived terms as the second king of Norway and as the last independent ruler of the kingdom of Northumbria Eric Haraldsson (Erik, anglicised form of ; died 954), nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’...
known as
EiríksmálEiríksmál is a skaldic poem composed sometime in 954 or later on the behest of the Norwegian queen Gunnhild in honour of her slain consort Erik Bloodaxe. Only the beginning of the poem is extant....
as compiled in
FagrskinnaFagrskinna is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, Fagrskinna meaning 'Fair Leather', i.e., 'Fair Parchment'. Fagrskinna proper was destroyed in fire but copies of it and another vellum have been preserved...
. Scholarly theories have been proposed
etymologicallyEtymology is the study of the history of words and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages, and texts about the languages, to gather knowledge about how words were used at earlier stages, and...
connecting the einherjar to the
HariiThe Harii are a Germanic tribe attested by Tacitus in his first century CE book Germania, who Tacitus describes as painting themselves and their shields black, and attacking at night as a ghostly army, much to the terror of their opponents...
(a
Germanic tribeThe Germanic peoples are a historical ethno-linguistic group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age...
attested in the first century
CECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
), the eternal battle of Hjaðningavíg, and the
Wild HuntThe Wild Hunt was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern, Western and Central Europe...
. The einherjar have been the subject of works of art and poetry.
Poetic Edda
In the poem
VafþrúðnismálIn Norse mythology, Vafþrúðnismál is the third poem in the Poetic Edda. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the giant Vafþrúðnir...
,
OdinOdin , is considered the chief god in Norse paganism and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon Wōden and the Old High German Wotan, it is descended from Proto-Germanic *Wōđinaz or *Wōđanaz.The name Odin is generally accepted as the modern translation; although, in some cases, older...
engages the wise jötunn
VafþrúðnirVafþrúðnir is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. In the Poetic Edda poem Vafþrúðnismál, Vafþrúðnir acts as both Odin's host and opponent in a deadly battle of wits, resulting in his defeat.-References:...
in a game of wits. Disguised as
Gagnráðr, Odin asks Vafþrúðnir "where men fight in courts every day." Vafþrúðnir responds that (here
einherjar is translated as
einheriar):
- 'All the Einheriar fight in Odin's courts
- every day;
- they choose the slain and ride from battle;
- then they sit more at peace together.'
In the poem
GrímnismálGrímnismál is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of Grímnir, one of the many guises of the god Odin, who is tortured by King Geirröth...
, Odin (disguised as
Grímnir) tells the young
AgnarAgnar may refer to:* Agnar, a god in the Dark and Light universe* Two figures in the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál;**Agnarr Geirröðsson, son of King Geirröðr**Agnarr Hrauðungsson, brother of King Geirröðr...
that the cook
AndhrímnirAndhrímnir is the chef of the Æsir and einherjar in Norse mythology. Every day in Valhalla, he slaughters the beast Sæhrímnir and cooks it in Eldhrímnir, his cauldron. At night, Sæhrímnir is restored to life to be eaten again the next day. He also makes the Æsir's mead from the milk of Heiðrún, a...
boils the beast
SæhrímnirIn Norse mythology, Sæhrímnir is the creature killed and eaten every night by the Æsir and einherjar. The cook of the gods, Andhrímnir, is responsible for the slaughter and preparation using the cauldron named Eldhrímnir...
, which he refers to as "the best of pork," in the container
EldhrímnirIn Norse mythology, Eldhrímnir is the cauldron in which the cook of the gods, Andhrímnir, prepares Sæhrímnir every evening.-References:* Orchard, Andy . Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell. ISBN 0 304 34520 2...
, yet adds that "but few know by what the einheriar are nourished." Further into
Grímnismál, Odin gives a list of valkyries (Skeggjöld, Skögul, Hildr, Þrúðr, Hlökk, Herfjötur, Göll, Geirahöð, Randgríð, Ráðgríð, and Reginleif), and states that they bear ale to the einherjar. Towards the end of the poem, another reference to the einherjar appears when Odin tells the king
GeirrödIn Norse mythology, Geirröd was a jötunn and the father of the giantesses Gjálp and Greip.The story of Geirröd is told in Þórsdrápa. Loki, while flying as a hawk, was captured by Geirröd. Because he hated Thor, Geirröd demanded that Loki bring his enemy to Geirröd's castle without his magic belt...
(unaware that the man he has been torturing is Odin) that Geirröd is drunk, and that Geirröd loses much when he loses his favor and the favor of "all the Einherjar."
In the poem
Helgakviða Hundingsbana IVölsungakviða, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I or the First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane is an Old Norse poem found in the Poetic Edda...
, the hero
SinfjötliSinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
flytsFlyting is a contest of insults, often conducted in verse. The word has been adopted by social historians following the example of William J. Ong from Scots usage of the fifteenth and sixteenth century, in which makars would engage in public verbal contests of high-flying, extravagant abuse...
with Guðmundr. Sinfjötli accuses Guðmundr of having once been a female, including that he was "a witch, horrible, unnatural, among Odin's valkyries" and that all of the einherjar "had to fight, headstrong women, on your account".
Prose Edda
In the
Prose Edda book
GylfaginningGylfaginning, or the Tricking of Gylfi , is the first part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda after Prologue. The Gylfaginning deals with the creation and destruction of the world of the Norse gods, and many other aspects of Norse mythology...
, the einherjar are introduced in chapter 20. In chapter 20,
ThirdHigh, Just-As-High, and Third are three men that respond to questions posed by Gangleri in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning...
tells
GangleriGangleri may refer to a number of things:* one of Odin's many nicknames meaning "the wanderer" or "Wayweary"* the name of the ancient Swedish king Gylfi given while in disguise, as described in the book Gylfaginning collected in the Prose Edda...
(described as king
GylfiIn Norse mythology, Gylfi, Gylfe, Gylvi, or Gylve was the earliest king in Scandinavia recorded. The traditions on Gylfi deal with how he was tricked by the gods and his relations with the goddess Gefjon.-The creation of Zealand:...
in disguise) that Odin is called
Valföðr (Old Norse "father of the slain") "since all those who fall in battle are his adopted sons," and that Odin assigns them places in Valhalla and
VingólfIn Norse mythology, Vingólf is one of the buildings of the gods. It is described as the hall or hörgr of the goddesses and also as a place where righteous men and those slain in battle go after death...
where they are known as einherjar. In chapter 35,
HighHigh, Just-As-High, and Third are three men that respond to questions posed by Gangleri in the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning...
quotes the
Grímnismál valkyrie list, and says that these valkyries wait in Valhalla, and there serve drink, and look after tableware and drinking vessels in Valhalla. In addition, High says that Odin sends valkyries to every battle, that they allot death to men, and govern victory.
In chapter 38, High provides more detail about the einherjar. Gangleri says that "you say that all those men that have fallen in battle since the beginning of the world have now come to Odin in Val-hall. What has he got to offer them food? I should have thought that there must be a pretty large number there." High replies that it is true there are a pretty large number of men there, adding many more have yet to arrive, yet that "there will seem too few when the wolf comes." However, High adds that food is not a problem because there will never be too many people in Valhalla that the meat of Sæhrímnir (which he calls a
boarWild boar is a species of pig, including at least 16 subspecies, and part of the biological family Suidae. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises. Wild boar are native across much of Central Europe, the Mediterranean Region and much of Asia as far...
) cannot sufficiently feed. High says that Sæhrímnir is cooked every day by the cook Andhrímnir in the pot Eldhrimnir, and is again whole every evening. High then quotes the stanza of
Grímnismál mentioning the cook, meal, and container in reference.
Further into chapter 38, Gangleri asks if Odin consumes the same meals as the einherjar. High responds that Odin gives the food on his table to his two wolves
Geri and FrekiIn Norse mythology, Geri and Freki are a pair of wolves, companions of the god Odin. Freki is translated as "Ravenous." Geri is "Greedy"...
, and that Odin himself needs no food, for Odin gains sustenance from wine as if it were drink and meat. High then quotes another stanza from
Grímnismál in reference. In chapter 39, Gangleri asks what the einherjar drink that is as plentiful as their food, and if they drink water. High responds that it is strange that Gangleri is asking if Odin, the All-Father, would invite kings, earls, and other "men of rank" to his home and give them water to drink. High says that he "swears by his faith" that many who come to Valhalla would think that he paid a high price for a drink of water if there were no better beverages there, after having died of wounds and in agony. High continues that atop Valhalla stands the
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
HeiðrúnHeiðrún is a goat in Norse mythology, which consumes the foliage of the tree Læraðr and produces mead for the einherjar. She is described in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.-Prose Edda:-Poetic Edda:...
, and it feeds on the foliage of the tree called
LæraðrLæraðr is a tree in Norse mythology, often identified with Yggdrasill. It stands at the top of the Valhöll. Two animals, the goat Heiðrún and the hart Eikþyrnir, graze its foliage.-Etymology:...
. From Heiðrún's
udderAn udder is the mammary organ of female cattle and some other mammals, including goats and sheep. Udder care and hygiene in cows is important in milking, aiding uninterrupted and untainted milk production, and preventing mastitis. Products such as Bag Balm are used to soothe the chapped skin of...
s flow
meadMead is an alcoholic beverage, made from honey and water via fermentation with yeast. Its alcoholic content may range from that of a mild ale to that of a strong wine. It may be still, carbonated, or sparkling. It may be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet...
that fills a vat a day. The vat is so large that all of the einherjar are able to drink to their fullness from it.
In chapter 40, Gangleri says that Valhalla must be an immense building, yet it must often be crowded around the doorways. High responds that there are plenty of doors, and that crowding doesn't occur around them. In support, High again quotes a stanza from
Grímnismál. In chapter 41, Gangleri notes that there are very many people in Valhalla, and that Odin is a "very great lord when he commands such a troop". Gangleri then asks what entertainment the einherjar have when they're not drinking. High responds that every day, the einherjar get dressed and "put on war-gear and go out into the courtyard and fight each other and fall upon each other. This is their sport." High says that when dinner time arrives, the einherjar ride back to Valhalla and sit down to drink. In reference, High quotes a stanza from
Grímnismál.
In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök. After the god Heimdallr awakens all the gods by blowing his horn
GjallarhornIn Norse mythology, Gjallarhorn is the horn with which the gatekeeper god, Heimdallr, announces Ragnarök. As said in the Völuspá :...
, they will assemble at a
thingA thing or ting was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
, Odin will ride to the well Mímisbrunnr and consult
MímirMímir or Mim is a figure in Norse mythology renowned for his knowledge and wisdom who is beheaded during the Æsir-Vanir War...
on behalf of himself and his people, the world tree
YggdrasilIn Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is the world tree. Yggdrasil is central in Norse cosmology, and around it exists Nine Worlds....
will shake, and then the
ÆsirIn Old Norse, áss is the term denoting a member of the principal groups of gods of the pantheon of Norse paganism. They include many of the major figures, such as Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Tyr. They are one of the two groups of gods, the other being the Vanir...
and the einherjar will don their war gear. The Æsir and einherjar will ride to the field Vígríðr while Odin rides before them clad in a golden helmet, mail, and holding his spear
GungnirIn Norse mythology, Gungnir is Odin's magical spear, it always hits its mark and always kills.-Poetic Edda:In the Poetic Edda poem Völuspá, the war between the Æsir and the Vanir is described as officially starting when Odin throws a spear over the heads of an assembly of Vanir gods...
, and heading towards the wolf Fenrir.
In chapter 52, Gangleri asks what will happen after the heavens, earth, and all of the world are burned and the gods, einherjar and all of mankind have died, noting that he had previously been told that "everyone will live in some world or other for ever and ever." High replies with a list of locations, and then describes the re-emerging of the world after Ragnarök. The einherjar receive a final mention in the
Prose Edda in chapter 2 of the book
SkáldskaparmálThe second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...
, where a quote from the anonymous 10th century poem
EiríksmálEiríksmál is a skaldic poem composed sometime in 954 or later on the behest of the Norwegian queen Gunnhild in honour of her slain consort Erik Bloodaxe. Only the beginning of the poem is extant....
is provided (see the
Fagrskinna section below for more detail and another translation from another source):
- What sort of dream is that, Odin?
- I dreamed I rose up before dawn
- to clear up Val-hall for slain people.
- I aroused the Einheriar,
- bade them get up to strew the benches,
- clean the beer-cups,
- the valkyries to serve wine
- for the arrival of a prince.
Heimskringla
At the end of the
HeimskringlaHeimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
saga
Hákonar saga góða, the poem
HákonarmálHákonarmál is a skaldic poem which the skald Eyvindr skáldaspillir composed about the fall of the Norwegian king Hákon the Good at the battle of Fitjar and his reception in Valhalla. This poem emulates Eiríksmál and is intended to depict the Christian Hákon as a friend to the pagan gods...
(by the 10th century
skaldThe skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
Eyvindr skáldaspillirEyvindr Finnsson skáldaspillir was a 10th century Norwegian skald. He was the court poet of king Hákon the Good and earl Hákon of Hlaðir. His son Hárekr later became a prominent chieftain in Norway.His preserved works are:...
) is presented. The saga relates that king
Haakon I of NorwayHaakon I , , surnamed the Good, was the third king of Norway and the youngest son of Harald Fairhair....
died in battle, and yet though he is Christian, he requests that since he has died "among heathens, then give me such burial place as seems most fitting to you." The saga relates that, shortly after, Haakon died on the same slab of rock that he was born upon, that he was greatly mourned by friend and foe alike, and that his friends moved his body northward to Sæheim in North
Hordalandis a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...
. Haakon was there buried in a large burial mound in full armor and his finest clothing, yet with no other valuables. Further, "words were spoken over his grave according to the custom of heathen men, and they put him on the way to Valhalla." The poem
Hákonarmál is then provided.
In
Hákonarmál, Odin sends forth the two valkyries Göndul and Skögul to "choose among the kings' kinsmen" and who in battle should dwell with Odin in Valhalla. A battle rages with great slaughter. Haakon and his men die in battle, and they see the valkyrie Göndul leaning on a spear shaft. Göndul comments that "groweth now the gods' following, since Hákon has been with host so goodly bidden home with holy godheads." Haakon hears "what the valkyries said," and the valkyries are described as sitting "high-hearted on horseback," wearing helmets, carrying shields and that the horses wisely bore them. A brief exchange follows between Haakon and the valkyrie Skögul:
- Hákon said:
- "Why didst Geirskogul grudge us victory?
- though worthy we were for the gods to grant it?"
- Skogul said:
- "'Tis owing to us that the issue was won
- and your foemen fled."
Skögul says that they shall now ride forth to the "green homes of the godheads" to tell Odin the king will come to Valhalla. In Valhalla, Haakon is greeted by
HermóðrHermóðr the Brave is a figure in Norse mythology.-Prose Edda:Hermóðr appears distinctly in section 49 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning. There, it is described that the gods were speechless and devastated at the death of Baldr, unable to react due to their grief...
and
BragiBragi is a skaldic god in Norse mythology.-Etymology:Bragi is generally associated with bragr, the Norse word for poetry. The name of the god may have been derived from bragr, or the term bragr may have been formed to describe 'what Bragi does'. A connection between the name Bragi and English...
. Haakon expresses concern that he shall receive Odin's hate (Lee Hollander theorizes this may be due to Haakon's conversion to Christianity from his native heathenism), yet Bragi responds that he is welcome:
- "All einheriar shall swear oaths to thee:
- share thou the Æsir's ale, thou enemy-of-earls!
- Here within hast thou brethren eight," said Bragi.
Fagrskinna
In chapter 8 of
FagrskinnaFagrskinna is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It takes its name from one of the manuscripts in which it was preserved, Fagrskinna meaning 'Fair Leather', i.e., 'Fair Parchment'. Fagrskinna proper was destroyed in fire but copies of it and another vellum have been preserved...
, a prose narrative states that, after the death of her husband
Eric BloodaxeEric Haraldsson , nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’ , was a 10th-century Scandinavian ruler. He is thought to have had short-lived terms as the second king of Norway and as the last independent ruler of the kingdom of Northumbria Eric Haraldsson (Erik, anglicised form of ; died 954), nicknamed ‘Bloodaxe’...
,
Gunnhild Mother of KingsGunnhild konungamóðir or Gunnhild Gormsdóttir is a character that appears in the Icelandic Sagas, according to which she was the wife of Eric Bloodaxe . Many of the details of her life are disputed, including her parentage...
had a poem composed about him. The composition is by an anonymous author from the 10th century and is referred to as
EiríksmálEiríksmál is a skaldic poem composed sometime in 954 or later on the behest of the Norwegian queen Gunnhild in honour of her slain consort Erik Bloodaxe. Only the beginning of the poem is extant....
, and describes Eric Bloodaxe and five other kings arriving in Valhalla after their death. The poem begins with comments by Odin (as Old Norse
Óðinn):
- 'What kind of a dream is it,' said Óðinn,
- in which just before daybreak,
- I thought I cleared Valhǫll,
- for coming of slain men?
- I waked the Einherjar,
- bade valkyries rise up,
- to strew the bench,
- and scour the beakers,
- wine to carry,
- as for a king's coming,
- here to me I expect
- heroes' coming from the world,
- certain great ones,
- so glad is my heart.
The god Bragi asks where a thundering sound is coming from, and says that the benches of Valhalla are creaking — as if the god Baldr had returned to Valhalla — and that it sounds like the movement of a thousand. Odin responds that Bragi knows well that the sounds are for Eric Bloodaxe, who will soon arrive in Valhalla. Odin tells the heroes
SigmundThis article is about the mythological hero Sigmund, for other meanings see: Sigmund .In Norse mythology, Sigmund is a hero whose story is told in the Volsunga saga. He and his sister, Signy, are the children of Völsung and his wife Ljod...
and
SinfjötliSinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
to rise to greet Eric and invite him into the hall, if it is indeed he.
Sigmund asks Odin why he would expect Eric more than any other king, to which Odin responds that Eric has reddened his gore-drenched sword with many other lands. Eric arrives, and Sigmund greets him, tells him that he is welcome to come into the hall, and asks him what other lords he has brought with him to Valhalla. Eric says that with him are five kings, that he will tell them the name of them all, and that he, himself, is the sixth.
Theories and etymological connections
According to
John LindowJohn Lindow is a professor specializing in Scandinavian medieval studies and folklore at the University of California, Berkeley and author. Lindow's works include Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Rituals, and Beliefs, a handbook for Norse mythology....
, Andy Orchard, and
Rudolf SimekRudolf Simek is an Austrian Germanist and Philologian.Simek studied German literature, history, philosophy and Catholic theology in the University of Vienna. Then he became a librarian and a docent there. He taught among others in the universities of Edinburgh, Tromsø and Sydney...
the einherjar are commonly connected to the
HariiThe Harii are a Germanic tribe attested by Tacitus in his first century CE book Germania, who Tacitus describes as painting themselves and their shields black, and attacking at night as a ghostly army, much to the terror of their opponents...
, a
Germanic tribeThe Germanic peoples are a historical ethno-linguistic group, originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Common Germanic in the course of the Pre-Roman Iron Age...
attested by
TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
in his first century CE work
GermaniaThe Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire....
. Tacitus writes:
- As for the Harii, quite apart from their strength, which exceeds that of the other tribes I have just listed, they pander to their innate savagery by skill and timing: with black shields and painted bodies, they choose dark nights to fight, and by means of terror and shadow of a ghostly army they cause panic, since no enemy can bear a sight so unexpected and hellish; in every battle the eyes are the first to be conquered.
Lindow says that "many scholars think there may be basis for the myth in an ancient Odin cult, which would be centered on young warriors who entered into an ecstatic relationship with Odin" and that the name
Harii has been
etymologicallyEtymology is the study of the history of words and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages, and texts about the languages, to gather knowledge about how words were used at earlier stages, and...
connected to the
-herjar element of
einherjar. Simek says that since the connection has become widespread, "one tends to interpret these obviously living armies of the dead as religiously motivated bands of warriors, who led to the formation of the concept of the
einherjar as well as the
Wild HuntThe Wild Hunt was a folk myth prevalent in former times across Northern, Western and Central Europe...
[...]". Simek continues that the notion of an eternal battle and daily resurrection can be found in book I of
Saxo GrammaticusSaxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :...
'
Gesta DanorumGesta Danorum is a work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
and in reports of the eternal battle of Hjaðningavíg.
According to
Guðbrandur VigfússonGuðbrandur Vigfússon, known in English as Gudbrand Vigfusson , was one of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century.-Life:He was born of an old Icelandic family in Breiðafjörður...
, the concept of the einherjar is directly connected to the Old Norse name
EinarEinar is a given name deriving from the Old Norse name Einarr. According to Guðbrandur Vigfússon, name Old Norse name Einarr is directly connected with the concept of the einherjar, undead warriors from Norse mythology...
r. Vigfússon comments that "the name Einarr is properly = einheri" and points to a relation to the term with the Old Norse common nouns
einarðr (meaning "bold") and
einörð (meaning "valour").
Modern influence
In art and poetry, the einherjar are often portrayed as an element of the larger concept of Valhalla. Examples include "Gastmahl i Walhalla (mit einziehenden Einheriern)" (1880, charcoal drawing) by K. Ehrenberg, and the poem "Einheriarne" (published in
Nordens Guder, 1819) by A. Oehlenschläger, and "Braga" (1771) by Klopstock. The
NorwegianNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
musical group
EinherjerEinherjer is a Viking metal band from Haugesund, Norway, founded in 1993. Some of their albums are heavily folk influenced, while other albums feature a more traditional black metal sound. Their lyrics retell Norse legends, and each of their albums has its own theme. The band split up in early...
take their name from the einherjar.