Disputes about where the human soul goes after physical death have been going on, probably, since the time of the emergence of humanity as such. Modern monotheistic religions, claiming to be able to explain everything and everyone, indicate only two mutually exclusive paths: the souls of the righteous will go to heaven, the souls of the villains awaits hell. I don't see much point in discussing this complex topic, because, as they often say in such cases, no one has yet returned to tell us, while still alive, what is happening on the other side of life. Once we all know about it absolutely for sure; perhaps, as Bulgakov's Woland said, each of us will be rewarded according to his faith.
In this regard, the ideas of the afterlife, adopted by the ancient Scandinavians, from the point of view of today, look quite curious. Most of the information about the worldview and beliefs of the Viking Age Scandinavians can be gleaned from the Elder Edda, a collection of poetry from the thirteenth century, whose authorship is not precisely established. An even more interesting and detailed source of information is the "Younger Edda", inherited by the descendants of the medieval Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson. It is in these two works that the descriptions of the gods, heroes and events that formed the basis of the beliefs of the ancient northern peoples are contained.
The vast majority of people after death went to Helheim, one of the nine worlds of Scandinavian mythology. It is a dark and cold place, hidden by eternal mists, from which there is no return. The dark goddess Hel, the fruit of the vicious union of the god of cunning Loki and the terrible giantess Angrboda, reigns here. All people who died of old age, illness or for any other reason fall into the tenacious hands of this sinister deity and remain forever in Helheim. Apparently, in the minds of the ancient Scandinavians, this place did not look like Hell in the sense that is implied now. Rather, it meant only the edge of eternal rest for those unfortunate enough to fall in battle. For the soldiers who died in the battle, a completely different fate was intended - a direct road to Valhalla, to the throne of Odin himself, the supreme deity of the German-Scandinavian pantheon. Wherein,some of the fallen heroes could get into the retinue of Odin's wife, the goddess Freya. How exactly this division took place remains largely unclear; perhaps women warriors were at Freya's disposal.
After the death of a warrior in battle, his flying away soul was picked up by the female warriors, the Valkyries, and escorted to Valhalla (Walhall, also Valholl - "palace of the fallen"). Here the fallen heroes became the einherjar - the chosen army of Odin. Death in battle was considered the most honorable death among the Vikings, therefore, it is Valhalla that can be called the place most similar to paradise, where the most distinguished ones fell. There is a version that not all fallen warriors, without exception, were honored with such an honor, but only those who, at the time of death, could not let go of their weapons. Once among the chosen ones, the fighters continued to fight with each other and improve their military skills, and in the intervals between battles they feasted in the palaces of Odin. Their food was the meat of the boar Sehrimnir, which can be reborn every morning after a night feast. The Einherrians also consumed drunken honey, which was extracted for them from the udder of a goat called Heidrun. According to some reports, during the feasts the heroes were served by the Valkyries, but this is a rather dubious and poorly substantiated version.
The number of Einheriev is not indicated anywhere exactly. According to legends, at the hour of the last battle, Ragnarok, eight hundred warriors of Odin will come out of the five hundred and forty doors of Valhalla, i.e. the supreme Scandinavian god will have at his disposal a fairly impressive army, numbering four hundred forty two thousand eight hundred fighters. In later (mostly Germanic) myths, there is a mention of a certain army of ghosts, led by a fierce leader, who can be seen in the sky before the very last battle in the history of the world. It is possible that we are talking precisely about the legions of the Einherians and Valkyries accompanying Odin in the battle for power over the world.