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Fólkvangr is a meadow in Ásgarðr or Vanaheimr. It is ruled over by Freyja.

It is inhabited by half of those slain in battle (the other half are in Valhǫll) as well as Freya and her daughters Hnoss and Gersemi. It is possible it was once the abode of Óðr as well.

Attestations[]

In the poem Grímnismál collected in the Poetic Edda, Odin (disguised, or Grímnir) tells the young Agnar that Freyja allots seats to half of those that die in her hall Fólkvangr, while Odin receives the other half (Fólkvangr is here anglicized to Fôlkvang and Folkvang):

Benjamin Thorpe translation:

Fôlkvang is the ninth, there Freyia directs
the sittings in the hall.
She half the fallen chooses each day,
but Odin th' other half.

Henry Adams Bellows translation:

The ninth is Folkvang, where Freyja decrees
Who shall have seats in the hall;
The half of the dead each day does she choose,
And half does Othin have.

In chapter 24 of the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, High tells Gangleri (described as king Gylfi in disguise) that Freyja is "the most glorious of the ásynjur", that Freyja has a dwelling in the heavens called Fólkvangr, and that "whenever she rides to battle she gets half of the slain, and the other half Odin, as it says here: [the stanza above from Grímnismál is then quoted]". High then continues with a description of Freyja's hall Sessrúmnir.

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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Fólkvangr (view authors). As with Myth and Folklore Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported).
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