When looking at Norse culture we obviously have the image of those warriors who were slain honourably in battle being taken by the Valkyries to Valhalla or Folkvangr but what about those warriors who were recovered from the battlefield but still died of their injuries or from infections that developed later on? Did they also go to Valhalla or were they consigned to Hel's icy grip?
What about women who died in childbirth? I've always had the image in my mind of Norse women being treated a lot fairer than their contemporaries, similar to the Spartans, how accurate is that and does it transfer to women who died protecting their children, property, etc. or to women who died in childbirth (creating potential new warriors in the process)?
Essentially, what other criteria could allow someone into Valhalla or Folkvangr rather than being sent to Hel?
Essentially, what other criteria could allow someone into Valhalla or Folkvangr rather than being sent to Hel?
We don't know. Nobody knows. We don't even know if they believed in Valhalla or any of it. /u/Steelcan909 has an excellent post that goes into some detail about it all here. Basically we have almost no contemporary evidence of the actual beliefs of Early Medieval Scandinavia. All of our literary sources are written either from an outside perspective, a Christian perspective or both, and frequently up to centuries post-conversion.