Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

THE CHOOSING. THE MIDDLE-AGE FABLE ABOUT "MARKING WITH THE
SPEAR-POINT."
If death on the battlefield, or as the result of wounds received on the field of
battle, had been regarded as an inevitable condition for the admittance of the dead into
Asgard, and for the honor of sitting at Odin's table, then the choosing would under all
circumstances have been regarded as a favor from Odin. But this was by no means the
case, nor could it be so when regarded from a psychological point of view (see above,
No. 61). The poems mentioned above, "Eiríksmál" and "Hákonarmál," give us examples
of choosing from a standpoint quite different from that of favor. When one of the
einherjes, Sigmund, learns from Odin that Erik Blood-axe has fallen and is expected in
Valhal, he asks why Odin robbed Erik of victory and life, although he, Erik, possessed
Odin's friendship. From Odin's answer to the question we learn that the skald did not
wish to make Sigmund express any surprise that a king, whom Odin loves above other
kings and heroes, has died in a lost, rather than a won, battle. What Sigmund emphasizes
is, that Odin would rather not take a less loved king unto himself than the so highly
appreciated Erik, and permit the latter to conquer and live. Odin's answer is that he is
hourly expecting Ragnarok, and that he therefore made haste to secure as soon as
possible so valiant a hero as Erik among his einherjes. But Odin does not say that he
feared that he might have to relinquish the hero forever, in case the latter, not being
chosen on this battlefield, should be snatched away by some other death than that by the
sword.
Hákonarmál gives us an example of a king who is chosen in a battle in which he
is the victor. As conqueror the wounded Hakon remained on the battlefield; still he looks
upon the choosing as a disfavor. When he had learned from Göndul's words to Skögul
that the number of the einherjes is to be increased with him, he blames the valkyries for
dispensing to him this fate, and says he had deserved a better lot from the gods (várum þó
verðir gagns frá goðum). 41 When he enters Valhall he has a keener reproach on his lips to
the welcoming Odin: illúðigr mjög þykir oss Óðinn vera, sjáum vér hans of hugi. 42
Undoubtedly for our ancestors, it was a glorious prospect to be permitted to come
to Odin after death, and a person who saw inevitable death before his eyes might comfort
himself with the thought of soon seeing "the benches of Baldur's father decked for the
feast" (Krákumál 25: Baldrs föður bekki búna veit at sumblum). But it is no less certain
from all the evidences we have from the heathen time, that honorable life was preferred
to honorable death, although between the wars there was a chance of death from sickness.
Under these circumstances, the mythical eschatology could not have made death from
disease an insurmountable obstacle for warriors and heroes on their way to Valhal. In the
ancient records, there is not the faintest allusion to such an idea. It is too absurd to have
existed. It would have robbed Valhall of many of Midgard's most brilliant heroes, and it
would have demanded from faithful believers that they should prefer death even with
defeat to victory and life, since the latter lot was coupled with the possibility of death
from disease. With such a view, no army goes to battle, and no warlike race endowed
41 Hákonarmál 12 : "(We) were worthy of victory from the gods"
42 Hákonarmál 15: "Odin seems angry, I can see (i.e. fear) his mood"