valhalla means the home of half of all warriors who died gloriously in battle as well as many of the Æsir. It carries an Arena rating of 1717, earned across 52 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, valhalla ranks #387 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #402 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #517 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #563 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
valhalla is pronounced /vælˈhælə/.
Why “valhalla” is a great word
A great hall in Asgard where heroes slain in battle are received by Odin, its name a compound from Old Norse *valr* ("the slain on the battlefield") and *hǫll* ("hall"). Unlike Elysium, a serene paradise for the virtuous, or Hel, a silent underworld for the ignoble dead, Valhalla is a thunderous, perpetual reward for the violently chosen. It is the clash of swords echoing in a hall roofed with shields, the scent of impossibly resurrected boar heaped on endless platters, and the golden light of a dawn that heralds not a new day, but another brawl upon the waking field—eternity as an endless return to the fight, the feast, and the fierce embrace of those who met death head-on and were carried, singing, into the hall of the slain.
Etymology
From New Latin, from Old Norse Valhǫll (from valr (“dead warriors”) + hǫll (“hall”)).
name
- The home of half of all warriors who died gloriously in battle as well as many of the Æsir.
- A hamlet and census-designated place in Mount Pleasant, Westchester County, New York, United States.
noun
- An abode of the gods or afterlife in general.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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