Valhalla Ladder

They say the tale of the Valhalla Ladder harks back to the dawn of man, when the Allfather Óðinn and his brothers, Vili and Vé, first walked the shores of Midgard. There were no folk then... only sea and stone and sky. But on the tideline, driftwood lay strewn like bones of the world. And from those tide-tossed trees, the gods shaped the first of us... breathed life into wood, and gave us soul and sense. Now, in the old days when the sea called our kin to far-off lands... to raid or to roam... they’d each gather a bit of driftwood from the shore, not just as keepsake, but as spirit-ward, bound to the memory of the journey and the powers of sea and land. When they returned home, they’d string those sacred pieces together and hang them by the door... a garland of stories and safeguards. Each bit spoke of a place walked, a wave crossed, a path risked. It was both shield and saga, blessing and boast. That is the Valhalla Ladder... no idle ornament, but a woven spell of kinship, courage, an