InNorse mythology,Sessrúmnir (Old Norse "seat-room"[1] or "seat-roomer"[2]) is both the goddessFreyja's hall located inFólkvangr, a field where Freyja receives half of those who die in battle (Odin takes the other half toValhalla), and also the name of aship. Both the hall and the ship are attested in theProse Edda, written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson. Scholarly theories have been proposed regarding a potential relation between the hall and the ship.
Sessrúmnir is specifically referred to as a hall in chapter 24 of theProse Edda bookGylfaginning. After describingFólkvangr,High tellsGangleri (described as kingGylfi in disguise) that Freyja has the hall Sessrúmnir, and that "it is large and beautiful".[3]
Sessrúmnir is secondly referred to in chapter 20 of theProse Edda bookSkáldskaparmál. In the chapter, means of referring to Freyja are given, including a reference to Sessrúmnir: "possessor of the fallen slain and of Sessrúmnir [...]".[4] Sessrúmnir is referenced a third and final time within a list of ship names in chapter 75.[5]
Rudolf Simek theorizes that one of the two notions of Sessrúmnir (as a ship or as a hall) may come from a misunderstanding, as the meaning of the name can be understood in both cases as "space with many or roomy seats."[6] In a 2012 paper, Joseph S. Hopkins and Haukur Þorgeirsson propose a connection between Fólkvangr, Sessrúmnir, and numerousstone ships found throughout Scandinavia. According to Hopkins and Haukur, Fólkvangr and Sessrumir together paint an image of a ship and a field, which has broader implications and may connect Freyja to the"Isis" of the Suebi mentioned by Roman senatorTacitus in his first centuryGermania.[7]