Editing Valhalla (section)

===''Fagrskinna''===
In chapter 8 of ''[[Fagrskinna]]'' a prose narrative states that after the death of her husband [[Eric Bloodaxe]], [[Gunnhild Mother of Kings]] had a poem composed about him. The composition is by an anonymous author from the 10th century and is referred to as ''[[Eiríksmál]]'', and describes [[Eric Bloodaxe]] and five other kings arriving in Valhalla after their death. The poem begins with comments by Odin (as Old Norse ''Óðinn''):

<blockquote><poem>
"What kind of a dream is it," said Óðinn,
in which just before daybreak,
I thought I cleared Valhǫll,
for coming of slain men?
I waked the Einherjar,
bade valkyries rise up,
to strew the bench,
and scour the beakers,

wine to carry,
as for a king's coming,
here to me I expect
heroes' coming from the world,
certain great ones,
so glad is my heart.<ref name=FINLAY58>Finlay (2004:58).</ref>
</poem></blockquote>

The god [[Bragi]] asks where a thundering sound is coming from, and says that the benches of Valhalla are creaking—as if the god Baldr had returned to Valhalla—and that it sounds like the movement of a thousand. Odin responds that Bragi knows well that the sounds are for Eric Bloodaxe, who will soon arrive in Valhalla. Odin tells the heroes [[Sigmund]] and [[Sinfjötli]] to rise to greet Eric and invite him into the hall, if it is indeed he.<ref name=FINLAY59>Finlay (2004:59).</ref>

Sigmund asks Odin why he would expect Eric more than any other king, to which Odin responds that Eric has reddened his gore-drenched sword with many other lands. Eric arrives, and Sigmund greets him, tells him that he is welcome to come into the hall, and asks him what other lords he has brought with him to Valhalla. Eric says that with him are five kings, that he will tell them the name of them all, and that he, himself, is the sixth.<ref name=FINLAY59/>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Image:Gylfe stood boldly before Odin by George Wright.jpg|''Gylfe Stood Boldly Before Odin'' (1908) by [[George Hand Wright]]
Image:AM 738 4to Valhöll.jpg|In this illustration from a 17th-century [[Iceland]]ic manuscript, [[Heimdall]] is shown guarding the gate of Valhalla
Image:Heimdallr and valkyries by Frølich.jpg|A depiction of valkyries encountering the god [[Heimdallr]] as they carry a dead man to Valhalla (1906) by [[Lorenz Frølich]]
</gallery>