Erhältlich:
Nicht auf Lager
Buch (Softcover): Fachbuch
Halls of the Dead - Valhalla, Helheim, and the Norse Beliefs About Death and the Afterlife
A History of Norse Afterlife Beliefs, Burial Customs, and Sacred Realms
Verlag:
Independently Published Unsere-Artikel-Nr.: P36739158
EAN: 9798190468793
Erhältlich:
Nicht auf Lager
Zustellung: Do, 01.10.2026
Versand: Kostenlos
CHF 29.25
Beschreibung
Valhalla. is famous. It is also only one hall on a far larger map. Modern retellings often reduce the Norse Afterlife. to a simple choice: brave warriors enter Valhalla, while everyone else is condemned to Hel. But the Vikings did not imagine a single heaven, a single hell, or a universal judgment of the dead. Their afterlife was an intricate world of gods, graves, halls, mountains, meadows, and seas. Where a person belonged could depend on how they died, who claimed them, the life they had lived, and how their community prepared the body. Halls of the Dead. reconstructs this forgotten geography of death. Drawing on Norse Mythology. , Viking Age archaeology, Eddic poetry, Icelandic sagas, ship burials, grave goods, runestones, and historical eyewitness accounts, Leif Hrafnmark separates early Scandinavian beliefs from the Christian and modern assumptions that later reshaped them. Inside, you will discover:. Why Valhalla was an exclusive military garrison rather than a universal Viking heaven. How Freyja claimed her share of the battle-slain for Fólkvangr. Why Helheim was not the fiery place of punishment suggested by the English word "hell". How the hamr, hugr, fylgja, and hamingja formed the many-part Norse soul. What ship burials, cremation, sacrificed animals, grave goods, and burial mounds reveal about the journey beyond death. How Rán, ancestral mountains, draugar, specialized halls, and local spirits expanded the Norse afterlife. Why funeral rites, Hel-shoes, runestones, sacrifice, and communication with the dead mattered to the living. How örlög, wyrd, honor, reputation, and Ragnarök shaped the Viking understanding of courage. This is not merely a catalog of gods and legends. It is a vivid investigation of how death beliefs influenced Viking society-and how medieval Christianity, popular culture, and modern political movements distorted that history. Accessible, provocative, and rich in archaeological and literary detail, Halls of the Dead is for readers fascinated by Norse mythology, Viking history, pagan religion, ancient burial customs, and the worlds beyond Valhalla.
Spezifikationen
Sprache
- Englisch
Autor
- Leif Hrafnmark
Erscheinungsjahr
- 2026
Format
- Buch (Softcover)
Anzahl Seiten
- 322