subject: Valhalla And Puhjola Invade Popular & Pulp Fiction [print this page] Every mythology has a special place where its heroes go after death. In Norse mythology, it's Valhalla. In Finnish, it's Puhjola.
Valhalla (the name means "hall of the slain") is a grand place, a warriors' palace of sorts-a massive feasting hall where heroes are welcomed and rewarded when battle claims them at last. Built with golden shields in the roof thatch and spears as its rafters, Valhalla is massive-large enough to hold any number of warriors who have come to enjoy their final reward.
This great center of feasting and celebration of battle is in Asgard, the home of the gods, and it is a paradise of banqueting and rejoicing, where the food never runs out and the drink flows endlessly. It also serves as the site of hand-to-hand battles between warriors who have not yet had enough of the bloodthirsty delights of war and wish to test their prowess against one another.
Those warriors have been chosen by the Valkyries, who ride out before each battle on earth to choose who will die (and accompany them to the great feasting hall), and which side will emerge victorious on the earthly battlefield. Valhalla is presided over by Odin, the All-Father and father of Thor, god of thunder and wielder of the legendary hammer Mjolnir.
The Finnish mythical region of Puhjola (translated as Northland) is also the land of the dead-of heroes slain in battle or, in some tales, a source of pure evil ruled over by the powerful witch Louhi. There is great feasting and endless quaffing in Puhjola as well, thanks to the Sampo, a magical mill of plenty forged by the smith Seppo Ilmarinen that endlessly churns out bounty in food and drink.
The universe of Norse mythology, largely unknown by most of the world for centuries, experienced a surge in popularity as a source of inspiration for authors, and others, in the nineteenth century when it was "discovered" by antiquaries outside Scandinavia. The Norse/Germanic roots of mythology had been Christianized away from Europe and England far earlier than the Scandinavian region, and much of early lore had been purged or reconfigured by church fathers seeking to eliminate its influence. Thus, gods like Thor and Odin were largely unknown, or were reviled by rival faiths seeking to depict them as evil, along with their otherworldly realms.
However, the genie came out of the bottle, so to speak, with the publication in the nineteenth century of ancient Icelandic texts such as the Eddas, and the images once familiar only to a limited region became widespread as they inspired a range of creativity-from author William Morris's Sigurd the Volsung to composer Richard Wagner's Ring cycle of operas, The Ring of the Nibelung (Der Ring des Nibelungen). Since then, Thor and his brethren, the great hall of Valhalla, Yggdrasil the World Tree, and other motifs of Norse legend have figured in everything from art to poetry, pulp fiction to comics, manga, movies and rock music.
Mythologies of all cultures could be fodder for the pulp fiction writers of the 1930s and 1940s, who sought inspiration in all regions of the world-and beyond. Authors L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt collaborated on The Incompleat Enchanter, which were two fantasy stories in which protagonist Harold Shea was able to use magic-and visit various mythological universes, including that of Norse lore, by means of symbolic logic that would align the mind with the chosen destination.
Finnish mythology too has figured in popular fiction. L. Ron Hubbard chose to use Puhjola as inspiration in the pulp tale On Blazing Wings. This WWII air-adventure story relates the efforts of David Duane, artist, adventurer and pilot extraordinaire who has wandered from battle to battle-and from the earthly plane to Puhjola-time and again, although he cannot remember his sojourns in the eternal land of warriors. Deftly weaving (then-)modern-day WWII dogfights with the mythology of the Finns, Hubbard brought the otherworldly to war and created a hero who must challenge fate to realize his destiny.
Thor, of course, has transitioned from mythology to pulps to comics-and now to film, as Chris Hemsworth portrays the mighty warrior cast out from Asgard by Odin for dishonorable behavior and doomed to wander the earth until he should become worthy to wield Mjolnir once again. His larger-than-life adventures with his brethren from Asgard have kept generations enthralled, and look to continue to do so-not just in this latest Kenneth Branagh-directed effort, but in more films to come that chronicle the adventures of mighty superheroes, some of whom began life in the pulps.
