Hero Homes
Valhalla, the idealized afterlife home for Norse warriors, is known from 10th- and 13th-century epic poems of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. The general depiction involves daylong battles followed by nights of drink and feasting. Lesser known is the tradition that only half of eligible combatants enter Valhalla; the others have been chosen by the goddess Freyja for her own battlefield, Fólkvangr. Nevertheless, all warriors will rise to fight alongside Odin during Ragnarök.
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According to tradition, King Arthur was slain at the Battle of Camlann by his son-nephew Mordred. This historical conflict took place AD 537.
Later narrators Geoffrey of Monmouth and Thomas Malory say that after being gravely injured at Camlann, Arthur was borne away “to the Isle of Avalon to be cured of his wounds.” Folk beliefs, written down beginning in the 10th Century, proclaim that Arthur will return “to save Britain in its darkest hour.”
This legend was not only held among the “lower” classes. In 1554, Philip II of Spain married Mary I of England, and swore that he would resign the kingdom if Arthur should return.
This entry concludes our look at some Hero Homes of myth and history. Remember, the greatest Hero of all wants to come home ... into your life.
Merry Christmas! See you Monday.
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