In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for ("hall of the slain"). It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat enter Valhalla, while the other half are chosen by the goddess Freyja to reside in Fólkvangr. The masses of those killed in combat (known as the Einherjar) along with various legendary Germanic heroes and kings, live in Valhalla until Ragnarök when they will march out of its many doors to fight in aid of Odin against the jötnar. Valhalla is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, in the Prose Edda (written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson), in Heimskringla (also written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson), and in stanzas of an anonymous 10th century poem commemorating the death of Eric Bloodaxe known as Eiríksmál as compiled in Fagrskinna. Valhalla inspired innumerable works of art, publication titles, and elements of popular culture, and is synonymous with a martial (or otherwise) hall of the chosen dead. The name is rendered in modern Scandinavian languages as in Icelandic, while the Swedish and Norwegian form is , in Faroese it is , and in Danish it is . Etymology The Modern English noun Valhalla derives from Old Norse , a compound noun composed of two elements: the masculine noun 'the slain' and the feminine noun 'hall'. The form "Valhalla" comes from an attempt to clarify the grammatical gender of the word. has cognates in other Germanic languages such as Old English 'the slain, slaughter, carnage', Old Saxon 'murder', Old High German 'battlefield, blood bath'. All of these forms descend from the Proto-Germanic masculine noun *walaz. Among related Old Norse concepts, also appears as the first element of the noun 'chooser of the slain, valkyrie'. The second element, , is a common Old Norse noun. It is cognate to Modern English hall and offers the same meaning. Both developed from Proto-Germanic *xallō or *hallō, meaning 'covered place, hall', from the Proto-Indo-European root *kol-. As philologists such as Calvert Watkins note, the same Indo-European root produced Old Norse , a proper noun employed for both the name of another afterlife location and a supernatural female entity as its overseer, as well as the modern English noun hell. In Swedish folklore, some mountains traditionally regarded as abodes of