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So I am currently researching into ancient war gods and goddesses of various ancient religions and also learning about all the various afterlives the dead go to.

I'm trying to learning something kind of specific however and that is afterlives that are similar in their existence to Valhalla of the ancient Norse religion, basically a afterlife made for warriors to go to where they may continue to fight in battle.

With all the ancient war gods and goddesses that there are in history and so many different religions I would expect there to be more realms specifically reserved for warriors where they can continue to fight in battle such as Valhalla but so far I have only found the stereotypical Heaven where the deceased has everything they can ever want and doesn't ever have to lift a finger again.

So does anyone know of such ancient civilizations that had such afterlives in their religions?

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  • @Gibet Right now I'm only trying to find afterlives that are similar to Valhalla in the fact that one of the main aspects about being there is the deceased get to continue fighting in battle. I've had no trouble finding afterlives that are peaceful in nature but when I try to search for ones where you fight the only result I get is Valhalla so far.
    – Set767
    Commented Oct 11, 2016 at 18:45
  • @Gibet, you're confusing two different stories. Valhalla is where Odin's warriors train for the final confrontation between the gods and giants: Ragnarok. The story about Brisingamen (Sorla thattr) tells how Odin set Loki to steal Freyja's necklace, Brisingmen, and wouldn't give it back to her until she set two kings and all their followers to battle eternally. (They were eventually set free when a Christian saved them.)
    – solsdottir
    Commented Oct 12, 2016 at 14:22
  • It's always worth mentioning Fólkvangr, although this is also within the Nordic tradition ans thus not the answer you're looking for.
    – DukeZhou
    Commented Oct 13, 2016 at 16:03

2 Answers 2

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The Aztecs seem to have had a comparable afterlife. While some warriors are said to have gone on to paradise, others join Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and human sacrifice, for endless war.

From the Wikipedia entry on Huitzilopochtli, citing Michael D. Coe's 2008 monograph, Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs (published at London by Thames & Hudson, p. 211):

According to Miguel León-Portilla, in this new vision from Tlacaelel, the warriors that died in battle and women who died in childbirth would go to serve Huitzilopochtli in his palace (in the south, or left). From a description in the Florentine Codex, Huitzilopochtli was so bright that the warrior souls had to use their shields to protect their eyes. They could only see the god through the arrow holes in their shields, so it was the bravest warrior who could see him best. Warriors were transformed into hummingbirds upon death and went to join Huitzilopochtli.

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I can give you a close example from Armenian mythology.

But instead of dying and going to a dedicated realm, an Arazel will come down from the heavens (or according to some scriptures from mount Ararat) and lick your wounds, revivng you and allowing you to keep fighting.

The reason this is close is, when you come back, you're not really alive; you are given a chance to continue fighting, but not to continue living.

The wiki page on Aralezs is not very accurate though.

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