In the Scandinavian culture, Einheria - warriors who fell in battle, whose souls were transferred to Valhalla by the Valkyries. Etymologically, we are talking about the Old Norse word "einherjar" (in the singular - "einheri"), but today there is not a single linguistic theory that could explain its origin and meaning. That is, we do not know what the word Einherius means.
In the Eddic texts, only dead soldiers are called Einherias, that is, during life, a person, with all his will, cannot be enrolled in the army of the All-Father. Moreover, after his death on the battlefield, he fell either to Odin or to Freya, they divided the souls of the fallen equally. What is interesting is that in the Scandinavian epic there is no explanation by what criteria the selection takes place. It is known that only those who were taken by Odin became Einherias. The souls that fell to Freya were sent to her chamber, which was called Folkvangr.
An important point is that the number of Einherias is strictly limited. In the Elder Edda (the song "Divination of the Volva"), there is a direct indication of this: in the bloody hour, Ragnarok Odin will lead his army into battle, while 800 Einheris will pass through each of 540 doors of Valhalla. The total is 432 thousand. And although this does not mean at all that Valhalla is not able to accommodate a larger number of Einheris, it seems unlikely that one of them will remain in the Halls of Odin on the last day of peace.
Einherian afterlife
The Edda says that the warriors of Valhalla go out to battle every day and feast peacefully every evening. There is no direct mention of the Eincherias fighting some external enemy, so we can talk about training sparring. Moreover, even the most severe wounds of the Einherians always heal, in other words, they are potentially immortal.
The Einherrians drink the honey that flows from the udder of the goat Heidrun. It is not known what properties this drink has and whether it is fair to classify it as alcoholic. Einheria is eaten meat that belongs to the magic boar named Sehrimnir. Sehrimnir is prepared every evening by Asgard's head chef, Andhrimnir. The peculiarity of the boar is not even that it is able to feed almost half a million warriors. Every evening Sehrimnir is eaten, but every morning he comes to life again, safe and sound (an obvious analogy is the goats of Thor, but the goats "got up" only after the consecration by Mjolnir).
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Valhalla is justly called a paradise for the Scandinavian warriors, so each of them probably dreamed of becoming Einhery. But there are a number of specific criteria here. For example, some sources say the following: in order for a warrior to be accepted in Eincheria, the Valkyries must find him killed, but not letting go of the weapon. There is no such mention in traditional Eddic texts.
But in the Elder Edda it is said that in Valhalla it is the Valkyries who bring honey to the Einherians, and together they make up Odin's retinue. At the same time, the Valkyries do not serve the Einherries, they probably have equal status, and this is evidenced by the fact that both the Valkyries and the Einherries will fight together during Ragnarok.
Einherria, Hyadningi, Asgardreiden
Many researchers associate the Einheris with the Hyadning. The Hyadning are warriors of two warring kings, Hedin and Hogni (this story was first mentioned in the Younger Edda). According to legend, the daughter of Hogni (she is also the wife of Hedin) named Hild ("battle") resurrects the dead (on both sides) every night so that they can continue the battle. Hild in this myth is called the Valkyrie. All this really brings the images of the Einheris and Hyadning closer together (more details about this comparative analysis can be found in the works of O. Hoeffler).
Often, the Einherians are also compared to the harias (in the original - "harii"), whom Tacitus repeatedly mentions (in general, this is a Germanic tribe, but the Roman historian sometimes metaphorically calls them ghost warriors who terrify enemies). In Germanic myths, there is an army of the dead / ghosts that moves across the sky under the leadership of Wotan, as an omen of great bloodshed. Later in European folklore, this army was called the Wild Hunt, and in Scandinavia, Odin's army began to be called asgardreiden (the etymology of the word has not been clarified). And in fact, it's hard to say here who borrowed from whom. That is, it is obvious that the medieval culture of the Scandinavians largely "grew" from the culture of the early Germans, but then some folklore elements obviously seeped back to the south, forming new mythological layers.
"Odin's Wild Hunt" by PN Arbo.
Some researchers (for example, the already mentioned O. Hoeffler) suggest that the question of Einheria is more complicated than it seems. It is possible that in the myths about the warriors of Valhalla, an indication of military brotherhoods or cults of the ancient Germans and Scandinavians is hidden. This theory is supported by the same Tacitus, describing the "wolf warriors", plus numerous archeology with images of werewolves, as well as the military sub-culture of the Vikings, known as berserkers and wulfheadnars. Nevertheless, although these versions seem logical, at the moment they are only hypotheses.