Off to the rave

Nursing school would get popular really fast.

Ah, I knew the Internet wouldn't let me down.
https://i.imgur.com/SJMF6o2.jpg

(Local copy. It's a wallpaper, someplace, but I don't like to link those sites since someone got a virus..)

Gives combat nurses a whole new meaning.

Odin the Psychopomp?

By now most of you know about what Odin's sphere is, and how he chooses those who will dwell with him in his hall

But does he only chose those died in battle or there is something else about the God we don't know yet, for know we will only focus on this subject.

When Roman writers and historians spoke of the gods and goddesses of other peoples, they generally tried to identify them with deities from their own religion, with some exception like Isis,Epona, which eventually gave birth to branches like Gallo-Roman religion and such

Odin was identified somewhat with Mercury due to his association with death more than war among the Germans as Tacitus wrote in his book 'Germania'

According to the tribes roman scholars came into contact, to them Wodan was the god of death, not just those who died in battle, from sickness to sacrificial, as well as his ability to talk to the dead and mastery over necromancy (another attribute of Mercury)

So, this opens up an interesting question, if Odin was associated with all manner of dead and their souls, then why did he became associated with only those who die in battle?

https://imgur.com/a/Z49iuOy

But I think you'd still go to Valhalla if you died because you were sick cuz it's kinda like a battle just against yourself, just like how women who died during or after childbirth would also go to valhalla

@SeaSquid ...kill me, Darth-Virus, and I'll be stronger than before...! ;-)

Nothing wrong with going to Folkvangr.

I found a funny video with a sweedish navyship greeting a norwegian navyship with a waterhose https://youtu.be/Fyp53qb3E4A

Intrestingly, Helsinki airports abbreviation is "HEL".

'@stabcutdrink' it gets better, there was a Finnair flight 666 from CPH to HEL.

There was another way to get into Valhalla. If you were a good enough warrior, you'd probably end up dying in your bed simply because you were too good in battle. For those warriors, they could get into Valhalla by carving Tyr's rune into their flesh on their death bed, and die with that open wound.
It's also hard to say how much people liked the thought of Valhalla. There were probably times when it seemed like a good deal and other times when it didn't.

Folkvanger was another option, although you had little say in whether you went there. You had to be picked by Freya, so perhaps it was a good idea to groom yourself before battle.

Ultimately we know very little, mainly because Horatio Nelson destroyed like 90% of all relics of that period before anyone had figured out how to translate them.

@ICBM Good enough warrior, haha. A good enough warrior would be one that achieved enough and quit while he was ahead. But then there would be no dying in battle anyway. Otherwise a younger and stronger guy would eventually slay one past his prime. Not to mention a stray arrow or a couple of enemies attacking at the same time could slay the mightiest of men randomly. It's no video game.

@Louhikaarme That's a smart warrior, haha.
A few people display remarkably vitality far into old age, and even today we see a few soldiers succeeding against odds that would have made you call BS if you saw it in a movie.

@ICBM From what I heard, if the valkyrie thought you were THAT good a warrior, they weren't above fixing the battle so you'd die anyway. Up to and including tying your bootlaces together before the battle.

I've read that there was a distinction between Helheim, which was dull and not nearly as good as Valhalla but open to all those who died unremarkable deaths, and Nastrond, which was where the Wyrm Nidhogg chewed on Murderers, Adulterers and Oathbreakers.

@Ravian First of all, Freya had first pick of those fallen in battle. So those she liked went to Folkwang, her place. Odin merely got the rest of them. Then, there may have been other places imagined besides Folkwang, Valhalla and Helheim. I believe I read somewhere sailors drowned at sea would go to the place of a sea nymph or goddess Ran, or Rann. There may be some hint somewhere that Thor housed some dead people too. Then again, there was the idea that sould remained connected to the graves, and family would try to contact them there. My best guess is there was an assumption that people would go to some place in the afterlife that suited them. Warriors to some warrior place, other people to appropriate other places.

That being said, the Sage of Biorn is cool and funny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV5w262XvCU