Seiðr Loom

place

Valaskjálf

A silver-thatched hall built by a god for himself in ancient days; Snorri makes it Odin's hall and places the high seat Hliðskjálf inside it.

Valaskjálf is one of the silver-roofed halls of the gods. In Grímnismál, it is the third home Odin names, "with silver thatched / By the hands of the gracious gods", set up "in days of old" by "a god for himself" Grímnismál 6. The poem does not say which god.

Snorri answers the question: "Odin possesses that dwelling; the gods made it and thatched it with sheer silver", and in this hall stands Hliðskjálf, the high seat from which Allfather "surveys all lands" Gylfaginning 17. That makes Valaskjálf the setting for Odin's view over the worlds.

Snorri's assignment may be right, but it is his. Elsewhere in Gylfaginning he calls Hliðskjálf itself "one abode", without mentioning Valaskjálf Gylfaginning 9. Because the first part of the name can be read as Vála-, some scholars have proposed that the builder in the poem is Váli. The sources settle neither question.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

A third home is there, with silver thatched By the hands of the gracious gods: Valaskjolf is it, in days of old Set by a god for himself.
Grímnismál 6 The poem does not say which god built it.
Another great abode is there, which is named Valaskjálf; Odin possesses that dwelling; the gods made it and thatched it with sheer silver, and in this hall is the Hlidskjálf, the high-seat so called.
Gylfaginning 17 Snorri gives the hall to Odin and puts Hliðskjálf in it.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • Grímnismál 6 says only that 'a god' set it for himself. Some scholars have suggested Váli, because of the sound of the name; Snorri says Odin. Neither is certain.

Related

Odin Óðinn Chief of the Æsir: a one-eyed god of wisdom, poetry, magic, war and the dead, who gave an eye and hanged himself on a tree for knowledge, and who dies at Ragnarök. Hliðskjálf Odin's high seat, from which he can see over all the worlds; Frigg shares it with him, and Freyr's one forbidden turn in it costs him his sword. Valhalla Valhöll Odin's vast hall of the battle-dead, roofed with shields and raftered with spears, where the einherjar feast and fight each day until they march out to meet the wolf at Ragnarök. Glaðsheimr The gold-bright place where Valhalla stands, according to Grímnismál; Snorri makes it the golden hall of the gods' twelve judgment seats. Glitnir Forseti's hall, pillared with gold and roofed with silver, where every quarrel brought before him is settled. Breiðablik Baldr's hall, the fairest dwelling in heaven, in a land where nothing unclean may be and where, the poem says, there are fewest baleful runes.