They swiftly
carried Woden's favorite warriors to Valhalla, the hall of the
slain. The walls of Valhalla were hung with shields; its ceiling
glittered with polished spearheads. From its five hundred and
forty gates, each wide enough for eight hundred men abreast to march
through, the warriors rushed every morning to fight a battle that
lasted till nightfall and began again at the break of each day.
When the heroes returned to Valhalla the Valkyries served them with
goblets of mead such as Woden drank himself.
The Teutons believed that before there were any gods or any world
there was a great empty space where the world now is. It was called
by the curious name Ginnungagap, which means a yawning abyss.
To the north of Ginnungagap it was bitterly cold. Nothing was
there but fields of snow and mountains of ice. To the south of
Ginnungagap was a region where frost and snow were never seen. It
was always bright, and was the home of light and heat. The sunshine
from the South melted the ice mountains of the North so that they
toppled over and fell into Ginnungagap. There they were changed
into a frost giant whose name was Ymir (e'mir).
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