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From "Asatru: A Native European Spirituality" by Stephen A. McNallen, page 158:
Feast of the Einherjar - November 11
The einherjar are the heroes chosen to go to Odin’s hall, Valhalla, after death in battle.
Once in Valhalla, the lore tells us that the slain warriors feast on endless pork and quaff horns of mead carried to them by beautiful valkyries. Every day they fare out and fight each other, inflicting the most horrible wounds. When evening comes, however, they are miraculously healed so they can feast that night, then go out the next day and do it all again. This seemingly pointless activity is actually practice for Ragnarok, the great battle at the end of this cycle of time, when Odin and the other Gods will need all the heroes they can muster. To be listed among the einherjar is the highest honor the Teutonic warrior can attain.
The myths surrounding the einherjar are a symbolic expression of several spiritual truths. First, the afterlife is not a place of rest, but of continued struggle, growth, and purpose. These things are, after all, the very essence of life, on either side of the transition we call death. Second, human actions make a difference. We can aid the cause of the Gods, fighting alongside them either literally or metaphorically. Third, there is a path of transcendence, a way of becoming a demigod, by paradoxically utilizing the power of death to overcome death. The lesson here seems to be that immortality is attainable only by those not afraid to die.
November 11 is, of course, Veterans Day in the United States. It is also the birthday of the famous and controversial General George Patton - a true warrior mystic. Patton believed that he had been reincarnated as a warrior many times throughout history. He even experienced what today we’d call a “near-death experience.” Thrown from his horse and unconscious, he “dreamed” that he was being carried off a battlefield on a shield borne by two Viking warriors. They set him down when they realized it was not yet time for him to die.
