The Judgement of Valhalla

The collection opens with the execution of a condemned soldier and follows his spirit as it seeks admittance to a mythic hall of warriors, where a disembodied Eye and Truth judge the dead. Through a series of grave songs the voices of infantrymen, aviators, and gunners recount frontline violence, comradeship, technique, and sacrifice, and their celebration of martial courage contrasts with the deserter's shame. The tribunal denies entry, framing communal notions of honour, judgment, and exclusion in the aftermath of battlefield killing.