# Societies that required someone to die in battle **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212 "2016-09-06T18:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/1 "2016-09-06T18:49:02Z")
Are there any societies in history where if you didn’t die in battle you couldn’t go to whatever good afterlife they believed in? I’m thinking in terms of Klingons as an example. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/2 "2016-09-06T18:55:32Z")
Apparently, Norse Paganism had something like that. > **[Death in Norse paganism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_Norse_paganism)** > > Death in Norse paganism was associated with diverse customs and beliefs that varied with time, location and social group, and did not form a structured, uniform system. After the funeral, the individual could go to a range of afterlives including Valhalla (a hall ruled by Odin for the warrior elite who die in battle), Hel (a realm for those who die of natural causes) and living on physically in the landscape. These afterlives show blurred boundaries and exist alongside a number of minor afterli... ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/3 "2016-09-06T19:04:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Apparently, Norse Paganism had something like that. > > [Death in Norse paganism - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_Norse_paganism) Interestingly, from your link, other than Valkyries, Valhalla was largely a sausage fest and the women went to a different afterlife. I hope they had mixers or something. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/4 "2016-09-06T19:08:57Z")
Not afterlife, per se, but in ancient Sparta, the only people who were allowed to have their name on a tombstone were men who died in battle, or women who died in childbirth. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/5 "2016-09-06T20:21:21Z")
Maybe the Kzin? I don’t know much about their religious beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/6 "2016-09-06T20:44:23Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Maybe the Kzin? I don’t know much about their religious beliefs. I binged the name and it came up with a fictional cat race of some sort. If that’s not who you meant let me know. I know I brought up Klingons but I’m looking for real world examples. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/7 "2016-09-06T21:46:12Z")
The Aztecs believed warriors who died in battle went to a paradise, while those who died normal deaths from illness or accident were sent to the underworld. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/8 "2016-09-06T21:54:39Z")
[Dwarves](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0737.html) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/9 "2016-09-06T23:34:17Z")
The classical Greco-Roman world believed in three afterlives: If you really royally pissed off the gods somehow, then you went to Tartarus, where some special punishment would be custom-devised for you, and if you really pleased the gods (which often involved dying in battle), then you went to the continual party of the Elysium Fields. But the vast majority of people just went to Hades, which was mostly just kind of boring. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/10 "2016-09-07T01:29:01Z")
I’m not an expert but Japanese soldiers in World War 2 were apparently given one of the best after-life’s if they either died in battle, willingly sacrificed their lives, or committed suicide honorably. This apparently was such a good after-life it was extended to civilians who committed suicide rather than be captured towards the end of the war as proclaimed by Emperor Hirohito himself. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/11 "2016-09-07T11:24:08Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > I binged the name and it came up with a fictional cat race of some sort. If that’s not who you meant let me know. I know I brought up Klingons but I’m looking for real world examples. How do you binge a name? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/12 "2016-09-07T11:27:41Z")
By searching in bing. Like googling, but with a different company. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/13 "2016-09-07T13:58:35Z")
I use Bing. Prounced as in ”pinging" or as in “fringe” (or, as said, “binge”) with an “ing?” I always say as a verb “Google” even though I’m an outlier. What’s the point, unless you’re a Microsoft employee? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/14 "2016-09-07T14:05:03Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I use Bing. Prounced as in ”pinging" or as in “fringe” (or, as said, “binge”) with an “ing?” > > I always say as a verb “Google” even though I’m an outlier. > > What’s the point, unless you’re a Microsoft employee? Actually, that’s probably worth a poll and an acrimonious unresolvable argument thread in IMHO. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/15 "2016-09-07T14:11:18Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > The Aztecs believed warriors who died in battle went to a paradise, while those who died normal deaths from illness or accident were sent to the underworld. The Aztecs also extended the “best place” to women who died in childbirth. Interesting that more than one ancient civilization view the two sorts of deaths as sort of equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/16 "2016-09-07T23:09:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Apparently, Norse Paganism had something like that. > > [Death in Norse paganism - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_Norse_paganism) They leave out a few things (I’d cite books, but I’m not at home at the moment). Sailors who drowned got an afterlife almost as good as Valhalla. They ate and drank and partied in a great hall under the sea. This makes sense as to get to the place you were going to do battle, Vikings generally took a boat. We have at least one historical account of a man committing suicide to get intoo Valhalla. The chief servant of Harold Shockhead/Fairhair decided he was old and would never die in battle. So he put on his armor and walked to a cliff. Holding his sword over his head, he said (in fewer words) 'I believe in the gods of Asgard. I believe in Valhala. This is the strength of my belief!" and jumped off the cliff. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/17 "2016-09-08T00:08:08Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > The Aztecs also extended the “best place” to women who died in childbirth. > > Interesting that more than one ancient civilization view the two sorts of deaths as sort of equivalent. Considering what childbirth back then must have been like, I’m not surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/societies-that-required-someone-to-die-in-battle/765212/18 "2016-09-08T00:29:22Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > By searching in bing. Like googling, but with a different company. Yeah, you can use Bing to google stuff.