Asgard Home of the Aesir (6th Part)

This is the 6th part of Asgard and the continuation of the places of renown and great importance that lie in the realm of the Aesir tribe of gods.

Vingolf

There is another hall that few know about it, since all the other most known halls in the norse mythology have somehow placed the others in the shade. One of these "not-so-famous" halls is Vingolf, which at first was aquired by Odin because Valhalla was filled with Einherjar and another hall was needed to place the overflowing warriors. But Valhalla isn't yet filled because of various reasons that I have written in the previous posts.

Vingolf became the property of the Aesir goddesses, they claimed it of their own and it is now a haven for the female Aesir. Of course that men can visit this hall, however, it is filled with that feminine touch, but it is quite beautiful and its gardens are pleasent to look upon. This hall was built in a beautiful land filled with hot springs around the hall itself, and there is also a small hall built in the center of the hot springs which serves as a healing house.

Bilskirnir

The largest hall in Asgard and one of the largest single-owner hall in all the nine worlds, is Thor's hall called Bilskirnir. This single hall is larger than Valhalla and all the houses around it, including the walls. Bilskirnir is the equivalent of a small city. This hall has six hundred and forty rooms, not only filled with people from Valhalla but also with those who died in battle and were sworn to Thor. In it Thor's guests also live there for a while, the servants of Thor and also Sif's servants, even Loki dwelt there for a time. The walls of this huge hall are made of brick and stone and all the rooms are high-ceilinged and each room has windows that are constantly open to let the air in, even when it is raining.

Unlike what we are used to hear or see about Thor in out modern world prespective, Thor is the champion of Asgard, he is the god of the common people such as farmers, he is the protector of mankind and often wanders in the world of mortals and has mortals as guests in his own hall. Thor isn't blond, he is red-haired and has a red-beard.

In this great hall also lives Meile, which most don't know who this figure is, and in truth he doesn't want to be known or be famous, but he is one of Thor's younger brothers who seldom is at Bilskirnir, but can be found there once in a while.

There are two other denizens of this great hall, two other of great renown a part from Sif herself, the wife of Thor. These two are Roskva and Thjalfi or Thjalfr. They are the children of Egil Skytten, the midgard mortal, it is said that he had an affair with Groa, the giant sorceress wife of Aurvandil who is the first husband of Sif, and together they had a son, the god Ullr. So it is said that Roskva and Thjalfi are the sons of Egil the mortal and of Groa, which makes them Half-human.
There are many talls of how Roskva and Thjalfi came to live with Thor, the most heard one (summarizing) is that when Thor and Loki were traveling together, they came to a farm where they found this human family with two children. They all sat and had dinner together, they ate one of Thor's goats but all had been warned not to break any bones. The children did it and as a payment for their disobedience, Thor took them to his hall to work there.
Another tale, not so often heard, is that Groa and Aurvandil were good friends of Thor and after raising the two children, they sent them to be fostered at Bilskirnir. Thjalfi became Thor's page, accompanying him in many journeys.
Thjalfi is also the messenger of Bilskirnir and a guide for those who are wandering about Asgard and lost. Roskva helps in Bilskirnir and she is also a guide there, for this great hall is a confusing labyrinth.

Behind Thor's hall there is a small hall (small compared with Bilskirnir itself) that belongs to Thor's daughter Thrud, the sister of Magni and Modi. The land where Thor's hall was built is called Thrudheim, in honor of Thor's daughter and to show the love and pride he has for her.


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The Afterlife in the Northern-Tradition paganism

The Afterlife has always been a subject of many studies and doubts, mankind seeks to know and understand what's behind the veiled curtain between this world and the next, we have been seeking it since we exist. The ultimate fight against the greatest fear we have, the fear of death.
In this post i will talk about the Afterlife as it is seen in the Northern European Paganism, the vast realms, different from one to another and the purpose of each place.

All living creatures have a soul, it is real and it is as free as any of our dreams, the only thing which is indestructible. Free as we are, the Afterlife as a variety of possibilities and most of the time it's a matter of individual preference.
The most famous place in the Norse/Germanic Afterlife is Valhalla, in Gladsheimr in Asgard, the halls of Odin, were the bravest of all warriors go after death carried by the Valyries, where they spend eternity fighting and feasting, preparing for Ragnarök the last of all battles. Well, fighting everyday and feasting all night for eternity, would soon become a painful and cruel life rather than a pleasant one, because in truth, Valhalla is not only about the handling of weapons and warfare studies, it is a place of personal growth, the continuous evolution of our soul, of ourselves. Most of the time, the Afterlife is seen as a beautiful place where we can be in constant peace, walking in green gardens, doing nothing, well in the first years that would seem great, but we would soon be extremely bored, becoming ignorant for the lack of things to do and too lazy. So Valhalla is the place to continue our studies, evolving the mind, learn new things, the place to study and gain knowledge of all the things we did not have the time to learn while we were attached to our mortal bodies, a place to expand our wisdom, to become better and most people don't realize that, especially the younger ones who are just now discovering this pagan strand through music, for those people, it is all about feasting, drinking and fighting, that would turn us into hollow beings, ignorant and all that we learned or should have learned in this life to become better persons, would be in vain, and we would be worse then ever. See Valhalla as a great beautiful city where we can learn all that we wish if we are willing to work hard to gain knowledge and wisdom. But not all go to Valhalla, there is also a similar place, Fólkvangr the halls of the goddess Freyja and there are many other places and halls to where we can go after death, a person might be connected to a god or a goddess for some reason, they might be a priest or a priestess of a specific god, and they can go to the halls or realms of those gods, for exemple a Thorsman can go to Thruthheim, or if a person is more connected to the Vanir gods, they can go to Vanaheim, there is also the possibility that a family might be connected to some god, and all his family goes to the same place where that god or goddess lives, linking us to our ancestors, being part of a great family group that works with a specific god.
There is also that old story of Helheim, the ream of Hela/Hel the goddess of death, the place from where christians made their Hell, the place for punishment and torture for all those who have sinned, but in truth, Helheim isn't such a place like the Christian Hell, in fact it is a very a pleasant and cheerful realm, where the dead go too, a realm divided for the needs of each group of people or how they behaved while alive, for exemple, where Hela lives, that is the place for all of those who have suffered greatly, with diseases, whether physical or psychological, which changed their minds giving them paranoia, emotional breakups, depressions, nervous breakdowns well.. all the psychological problems which exhausts the brain and people live in constant fear and sadness, Helheim is the place to be healed, mentally healed. There is also the place of where murderers and oath breakers go, Nastrond, no matter how evil you might have been, there are places to learn how to become better, of course for these people, rehabilitation is not a pleasant job, evil people get what they deserve, but they will not be tortured for eternity, that would just made them even worse, they can become better. In the Norse/Germanic Afterlife, there is also lots of villages and towns and even cities where people live, i could say all over the nine realms, but some places aren't safe unless you have friends there or if you are used to go or somehow you might be protected by the connections you make in your journeys. There is also the possibility, that a person might choose to stay near  or with their families, in the vicinity of their graves and burial mounds and also in the house, watching over their decendents, helping and taking care of them, also if they had farms and the family keeps working the land, people can choose to stay there and help in every way they can, and the decendents after their death, can stay there also, near by doing the same kind of help their ancestors were doing. The soul or spirit is free, and most of the time is a matter of personal choise to where we can go after we die, death is seen as a natural part of life, a continuation of our being, constantly evolving and learning new things.

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