Editing Valhalla (section)

== Etymology ==
The Modern English noun ''Valhalla'' derives from Old Norse {{lang|non|Valhǫll}}, a compound noun composed of two elements: the masculine noun {{wikt-lang|non|valr}} 'the slain' and the feminine noun {{wikt-lang|non|hǫll}} which originally referred to a rock, rocks, or mountain; not a hall, thus meaning Valhalla was originally understood as the "rock of the Slain".<ref name=":0" /> The form "''Valhalla''" comes from an attempt to clarify the [[grammatical gender]] of the word. {{lang|non|Valr}} has [[cognate]]s in other Germanic languages such as Old English {{wikt-lang|ang|wæl}} 'the slain, slaughter, carnage', [[Old Saxon]] {{wikt-lang|osx|wal-dād}} 'murder', [[Old High German]] 'battlefield, blood bath'. All of these forms descend from the [[Proto-Germanic]] masculine noun *''walaz''. Among related Old Norse concepts, {{lang|non|valr}} also appears as the first element of the noun {{wikt-lang|non|valkyrja}} 'chooser of the slain, [[valkyrie]]'.<ref name="VALHALLA-ETYMOLOGY">For analysis and discussion, see Orel (2003:256, 443) and Watkins (2000:38).</ref>

The second element, {{lang|non|hǫll}}, is a common Old Norse noun. It is cognate to Modern English ''hall'' and offers the same meaning. Both developed from Proto-Germanic *''xallō'' or *''hallō'', meaning 'covered place, hall', from the [[Proto-Indo-European root]] *''kol-''. As [[philology|philologists]] such as [[Calvert Watkins]] note, the same Indo-European root produced Old Norse {{lang|non|hel}}, a proper noun employed for both the [[Hel (location)|name of another afterlife location]] and a [[Hel (being)|supernatural female entity]] as its overseer, as well as the modern English noun ''hell''.<ref name="VALHALLA-ETYMOLOGY"/> In Swedish folklore, some mountains traditionally regarded as [[abode]]s of the dead were also called {{lang|sv|Valhall}}. According to many researchers{{Who|date=June 2024}}, the {{lang|non|hǫll}} element derives from {{wikt-lang|non|hallr}}, "rock", and referred to an underworld, not a hall.<ref>Simek (2007:347).</ref>