the dead were also called . According to many researchers, the element derives from , "rock", and referred to an underworld, not a hall. Attestations Poetic Edda Valhalla is referenced at length in the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál, and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, while Valhalla receives lesser direct references in stanza 32 of the Völuspá, where the god Baldr's death is referred to as the "woe of Valhalla", and in stanzas 1 to 3 of Hyndluljóð, where the goddess Freyja states her intention of riding to Valhalla with Hyndla, in an effort to help Óttar, as well as in stanzas 6 through 7, where Valhalla is mentioned again during a dispute between the two. Grímnismál In stanzas 8 to 10 of Grímnismál, the god Odin (in the guise of Grímnir) proclaims Valhalla is in the realm of Glaðsheimr. Odin describes Valhalla as shining and golden, and it "rises peacefully" as seen from afar. From Valhalla, every day Odin chooses from those killed in combat. Valhalla has spear-shafts for rafters, a roof thatched with shields, coats of mail are strewn over its benches, a wolf hangs in front of its west doors, and an eagle hovers above it. From stanzas 22 to 24, more details are given by Odin about Valhalla: the holy doors of the ancient gate Valgrind stand before Valhalla, Valhalla has five hundred and forty doors so eight hundred men can pass through simultaneously (from which the einherjar will flow forth to engage the wolf Fenrir at Ragnarök). Within Valhalla exists Thor's hall Bilskirnir, and within it exist five hundred and forty rooms, and of all the halls within Valhalla, Odin states he thinks his son's may be greatest. In stanzas 25 through 26, Odin states the goat Heiðrún and the hart Eikþyrnir stand on top of Valhalla and graze on the branches of the tree Læraðr. Heiðrún’s udder produces vats of mead, a liquor beyond compare, and Eikþyrnir's antlers drip liquid into the spring Hvergelmir from which flows forth all waters. Helgakviða Hundingsbana II In stanza 38 of the poem Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, the hero Helgi Hundingsbane dies and goes to Valhalla. In stanza 38, Helgi's glory there is described: So was Helgi beside the chieftains like the bright-growing ash beside the thorn-bush and the young stag, drenched in dew, who surpasses all other animals and whose horns glow against the sky itself. Prose follows after this stanza,