"Five hundred doors, and forty eke, I think, are in Valhall. Eight hundred Einheriar will at once from each door go when they issue with the wolf to fight." (Grimnismal 23, translation by Benjamin Thorpe)
What appears to be less known or commented on is that just one verse later it is noted that Thor's hall Bilskirnir has 540 floors:
"Five hundred floors, and forty eke, I think, has Bilskirnir with its windings. Of all the roofed houses that I know, is my son's the greatest." (Grimnismal 24)
Why this important verse (Grimnismal 24) is ignored I do not know but it is worthy of exploration for it cannot be a coincidence that whilst Odin's hall has 540 doors his son Thor's has 540 floors. What could be the significance of this?
As Carolyne Larrington correctly points out in her notes to her translation of the Poetic Edda the reference to hundred could be that of a Germanic 'long hundred' of 120. Scholarly opinion is divided on the issue of whether a standard or a long hundred is intended here. Rudolf Simek likewise points out this uncertainty in his Dictionary of Northern Mythology. So Valhalla and Bilskirnir have either 540 or 640 doors and floors depending on which interpretation of a hundred one uses. Furthermore the 540 floors of Bilskirnir may be interpreted as 540 rooms! I should also add that the '800' warriors thus becomes 960 and the arithmetic changes startlingly:
540 x 800 = 432,000
640 x 960 = 614, 400
Likewise compared to the better known Valhalla, Bilskirnir is virtually unknown amongst non-heathens and probably is little better known within the heathen community! The interpretation of Bilskirnir according to Simek is "the one striking lightning with rays of light". John Lindow is uncertain about the meaning of the name but his interpretation is "suddenly illuminated [by lightning] or everlasting." (Handbook of Norse Mythology) Andy Orchard's interpretation is "lightning-crack" (Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend). From my rudimentary knowledge of Old Norse an interpretation could just as easily be 'shining crack'. Bilskirnir simply represents the lightning strike and of course this is a fitting name for Thor's hall.
Bilskirnir is mentioned three times in the Prose Edda; once in Gylfaginning and twice in Skaldskaparmal. Bilskirnir is situated in either Thrudvang (Gylfaginning 20, Skaldskaparmal 17 and Ynglinga Saga 5) or Thrudheim (Grimnismal). Simek interprets Thrudvang to mean 'power-field' and Thrudheim as 'power-home'-essentially the same place. Lindow gives a slightly different translation of Thrudvang and Thrudheim-'strength-field(s) ' and 'strength-world'. Thrudvang/Thrudheim is of course located in Asgard.
So we now come to the question, who resides in Bilskirnir apart from Thor and his immediate family? One possibility is that this is the abode of thralls who have faithfully served Thor. My reason for saying this is the following passage:
"Odin has all the jarls that in conflict fall; but Thor the race of thralls." (The Lay of Harbard, Poetic Edda, Thorpe)
There is a dispute amongst scholars as to whether Harbard was in fact either Odin or Loki in disguise but the predominant theory is that it is Odin. It does beg the question that if the jarls go to Odin and the thralls to Thor then where do the caste of carls go? As discussed before in previous articles on other blogs the jarls and carls had far more in common with each other racially and status wise than the caste of thralls who are depicted as being an alien element in Norse society. It should be noted that unlike the jarls and carls the thralls being slaves were not freemen and were not allowed to own weapons so the likelihood of any of them ever dying in battle is a slim one at the very least. With this fact in mind one may theorise that Valhalla was the abode not only of the jarl but of the karl providing they showed their bravery and loyalty to Odin. The thrall would not have this opportunity but may if they were of good conduct dwell with Thor in Bilskirnir. That is ONE theory and I am not suggesting that this is correct.
The second theory is that there is indeed a connection between the 540 doors of Valhalla and the 540 floors or rooms of Bilskirnir. Whilst the feasting and battle play are carried out in the precincts of Valhalla could it be that Bilskirnir represents the actual sleeping quarters of the warriors of Valhalla? I am only suggesting this because of the numerical equivalency and for no other reason.
It should be remembered that only half of the battle slain are claimed by Odin; half are chosen by Freyja and go to Folkvang:
"Folkvang is the ninth, there Freyja directs the sittings in the hall. She half the fallen chooses each day, but Odin th' other half." (Grimnismal, Thorpe)
This effectively doubles the number of warriors that the Gods will have at their disposal at Ragnarok. The 432,000 now becomes 864,000-something which is never commented upon by the exponents of the esoteric theories regarding the number 432,000 in Indo-European lore. I have discussed these theories before and do not wish to bog down this article in repeating them but I may revisit this in a future article. Furthermore if we apply the theory of the long hundred to the calculations then we have the following result:
432,000 x 2 = 864,000 (Einheriar of Valhalla and Folkvang)
614,400 x 2 = 1,228, 800 (Einheriar of Valhalla and Folkvang)
This would be a far bigger army in which to fight Ragnarok! The etymology of Folkvang according to Simek is 'field of the people' or 'field of the army'. The actual hall of the Goddess in Folkvang is Sessrumnir-'seat-roomer' (Simek). The life of the Einheriar in Folkvang is largely ignored by other commentators but I intend to discuss this in depth in the near future.
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