Writing The Halls of Valhalla: the Researching Stage

What do you know about Norse Mythology?

There are plenty of answers I’m sure I could see right off the bat. Some people’s experience with Norse myth is from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and their comic-book takes on popular characters. Others might have heard tales growing up, learning the same myths their distant ancestors told around a fire. Maybe you took a class, specifically diving into the myths of the North Germanic peoples, as what was written in the Prose Edda.

Writing The Halls of Valhalla: the Researching Stage

Either way, what we know about popular culture has been infinitely affected by Nordic myths and stories. So many symbols we know off the top of our head has come directly from Nordic runes! The biggest example: the Bluetooth logo. 

When I first started working on The Halls of Valhalla, it was five years ago, and I spent more time researching rather than writing. There was an idea, nestled in the back of my mind, that sprouted a feverish need to begin writing. Rather than jumping for it, I held it back, and spent at least a year researching everything and anything written as Norse mythology. 

The difference between writing something heavily rooted in a traditional mythology, and a fantasy entirely based off your own imagination, is that as the author, you need to rely on other stories. If you wanted to write a book based off Greek mythology, and you don’t know everything there is to know about it, every single reader will be able to tell.

That’s what’s so intriguing about the Percy Jackson Series. Riordan manages to build an enthralling world based off centuries old myths, but can also keep it simple enough for his middle-school grade audience to understand. Anyone who reads it can close the book at least knowing one thing for sure: Riordan knows what he’s talking about.

Norse mythology is ten times more complicated than the others, in my opinion. Many stories aren’t known as well as other myths, many characters are seen in popular culture doing things that stray entirely from what their original mythos stated. Truly knowing Norse Mythology means reading the Prose Edda, spending real time looking over what has been written out for the modern-age to understand. 

When it came to the pre-writing stage of The Halls of Valhalla, it was all about research. I have a series of Google Docs pages that are strictly devoted to everything I learned about Norse Myths. Whether or not all those stories show up in the first book, you’ll have to read it and find out! 

Before an author gets down to writing their first manuscript, there are many different paths to follow. Some writers have to plan out every single aspect of their idea before they can get started with writing. They need to know about all the characters and every sequence. They need to be able to close their eyes, and see the setting they write in so well it’s as though they were transported worlds away. Some writers fill out a series of character sheets so they can know their characters as well as they know themselves. 

The beauty of writing is that every author can do this differently! There is never a “set” way of how you need to plan out your manuscript. There are even some writers out there who don’t bother with planning or note-taking. They get that blank page ready and rip out some of the most beautiful work readers have ever seen. 

The Halls of Valhalla began as a fun project during my college years. While still in high school, I began the work and research, coming up with fun little ideas and writing short chapters to get the juices flowing. By the time sophomore year of college came around, I felt finally ready enough to write the manuscript from start-to-finish. That being said, if you were to take that first draft, and put it alongside what is on the bookshelves today, there would be strikingly apparent differences. 

What remained the same, however, was all the research that went into the story in the first place. And all this research, even if it sounds grueling and time-consuming, carried me through every single draft before the finished project. In this way, whenever someone reads The Halls of Valhalla, the first thing they say to me is how well-researched everything is. You can tell that it is rooted in classic Norse mythology.

It is not the Marvel Universe.

It is not Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

It is something entirely, something that no one can expect. 

And I am over the moon still, to do this day, months after it’s release, to say that I put years and years of research and planning into it. 

On Wednesday, we’ll discuss the actual writing of The Halls of Valhalla, and my tips and techniques to produce stellar work within a first draft.

Thanks for tuning in. See you soon :)