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Mimir: The Rǫcstóll aff Valkyrs...
Atreus: What is that, Mimir?
Mimir: It's a council chamber of sorts, hidden away in Midgard. The Valkyries would often need a place to confer outside of Odin's prying eyes. They thought themselves properly concealed, but "The Allfather Sees All," so the saying goes.

–Mimir and Atreus on the Council of Valkyries.

The Council of Valkyries, also known as the Rǫcstóll aff Valkyrs, is a region/location of Midgard introduced in God of War (2018). According to the name, it was a council chamber that served as the private meeting place of the Valkyries. After their corruption at Odin's hands, the Rǫcstóll aff Valkyrs was left abandoned and in ruins in the years to come.

Plot[]

Backstory[]

For centuries, the Valkyries served the All-Father Odin and were responsible for ensuring souls of the deceased were brought to the right resting places, based on the circumstances of their birth and death, gods and humans dying in combat going to Valhalla or Fólkvangr, while those who who died outside of combat went to Helheim. Those who were neither god nor human were instead sent to the Lake of Souls in Alfheim. Those who refused to die and instead chose to fight the Valkyries were warped into and forced to roam the realms as Draugr.

Upon Odin's marriage to Freya, she was made the Valkyrie Queen, as part of her dowry. The Valkyries revered her, because of the freedom and respect she gave to them. However, when her marriage to Odin ended with him stripping her of her powers and banishing her to Midgard, the Valkyries were deeply disturbed and split from within.

While the Valkyries ultimately answer to Odin, those who no longer trusted the All-Father - due to his treatment of Freya and his increasingly atrocious crimes against the realms - sought out a meeting place to discuss ongoing affairs privately, away from his sight: the Rǫcstóll aff Valkyrs. In addition, Sigrún would become the new Valkyrie Queen, and the Valkyries would continue to serve Odin and meet his demands.

Unfortunately, though the Valkyries thought themselves to be completely concealed, but the Allfather saw it as in accordance with the saying "The Allfather Sees All." As his banishing of Freya didn't satisfy him, Odin unleashed an archaic piece of magic upon the Valkyries, forcing them to remain in a physical form and gradually go insane. Because of the danger the Valkyries posed in their newfound state, Sigrún took her sisters and placed them in areas where they could hibernate undisturbed and therefore cause no harm, before locking herself away in a Realm Tear.

With no Valkyries present to escort souls to the right places, Helheim became overcrowded with souls meant for Valhalla or Folkvangr. Consequently, Helheim was forced to eject these souls back to the realms as Hel-Walkers; walking dead. This problem would only worsen over time, and it would be a long while before the council was ever reunited again.

In God of War (2018)[]

An Unlikely Intervention[]

On the journey to spread his wife's ashes, Kratos, and their son, Atreus, came across magically sealed doors throughout their travels. Upon learning that they had to spread the ashes at the highest mountain peak in Jötunheim, they enlisted the help of Mimir, as the realm had been securely locked off by Týr a long time ago, to stop Odin's genocide of the Jötnar. To reopen travel to Jötunheim, one of the tools the trio required was a piece of Thamur's magic chisel, to carve the rune at the travel gate.

Upon venturing to Thamur's Corpse and retrieving a piece of the chisel, they were now one step closer to reaching Jötunheim. Not only that, but they could now open the sealed doors they came across. Some such doors housed the hibernating Valkyries inside. At each door, the father and son defeated the Valkyries, slowly gleaning more information on what caused them to be locked away and completely crazed.

To fully fix and learn the truth of what had happened the Valkyries, Kratos and Atreus would have to reunite the council and face Sigrún. The father and son ventured the realms which hadn't been locked off by Odin, and collected the helms of each Valkyrie they slew, before heading to the Council of the Valkyries.

Reuniting the Council[]

Having slain the Council of Eight in their corporeal forms, Kratos and Atreus made for the Council of Valkyries. Placing the helms of each slain Valkyrie on the eight thrones, the reunited Council collectively reached out to Sigrun, revealing the Realm Tear she had locked herself in long ago, right in the center of the circle of thrones.

With the Queen being the only one left to face, Kratos reached into the tear to initiate the encounter. Having heard the message broadcast by her sisters, Sigrún, with what little sanity she had left, erupted from the tear and charged at Kratos, to do battle with him and his son. After a long, gruelling battle, the two caught Sigrún off-balance, killing her by ripping her wings off.

Now free from her corporeal, corrupted form, Sigrún thanked the pair, and was also shocked to see Mimir was freed. She then proceeded to explain the full story of the Valkyries and how they were corrupted to begin with. Now that all the Valkyries were free, Sigrún then left to help her sisters in repairing the damage caused by the Valkyries' absence, but not before blessing the trio with the eternal blessings of the Valkyries.

In God of War: Ragnarök[]

In the wake of Baldur's death, Freya swore vengeance against Kratos for taking her son's life. During Fimbulwinter, the three-year winter preceding Ragnarök, many of the curses Odin placed on Freya (save for the one forbidding her from leaving Midgard) weakened, due to the deteriorating effect Fimbulwinter has on magic. One by one, Freya would break each curse she could find by herself, regaining her Valkyrie wings and fighting spirit in the process. Following this, she would set up camp at the Council of Valkyries, and spend the next few years hunting Kratos and Atreus, leaving Chaurli to brave the cold alone.

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