Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology, knew that he would need powerful forces for the Ragnarok, the doomsday on which the gods would fight evil giants in the world’s final battle. He therefore sent his maidens to battlefields to choose from the fallen warriors. The maidens, known as Valkyries (the “choosers of the slain”), brought the courageous souls to the glorious palace Valhalla (the “hall of the slain”). There, the dead heroes lived in anticipation of the Ragnarok, when they would fight by Odin’s side.

Valhalla teemed with splendor. Its walls were made of gold and its roof comprised of battle shields. The spears that held up its ceiling gleamed so brightly that they were the sole source of light. It was a grand hall, with 540 doors, wide enough to allow 800 fighters to enter abreast, and long tables at which the heroes feasted on boar and mead. Each morning, the slain warriors engaged in violent skirmishes, but their wounds were healed by the time they returned to the banquet.

Two classic Icelandic works inform modern knowledge of Norse mythology. The poet and historian Snorri Sturluson wrote the Prose Edda, or Younger Edda, in the 1220s. Though the anonymous Poetic Edda is a later manuscript, it contains older materials and therefore is known as the Elder Edda.

PostScript: The Anglo-Saxons referred to Odin as Woden, and the word “Wednesday” originates from “Woden’s day.” Additionally, “Thursday” derives from the name of one of Odin’s sons (Thor), and “Friday” from the name of his wife (Frigg).