![]() The Prose Edda claimed that she could give lodging and gifts to those who died of old age and disease, providing them some small comfort in her unhappy world. ![]() Hel was not unkind to her people, however. Although it was not intended for punishment, it was a joyless and dreary place. Lying within Niflheim, Hel was a place of perpetual cold, fog, and darkness. Through most of Norse history, however, people thought they were likely to enter Hel’s home after death. Influenced by medieval Christian notions of reward and punishment in the afterlife, he saw Hel as the place where those who committed terrible crimes were sent. Snorri Sturluson later amended the view of Hel. They found themselves in Hel after succumbing to illness, old age, misfortune, or hunger. Most people, however, died in a less glorious way. They joined the treasures of shipwrecks at the bottom of the ocean. People who were lost at sea were dragged in nets down to Aegir’s underwater palace. Eventually, Folkvangr was also believed to house those who died well but not in battle, such as women who lost their lives in childbirth. The most valiant warriors who died in battle were selected to go do Odin’s hall of Valhalla or to be with Freya in Folkvangr. While the view of the afterlife changed over time, most Norse people believed that the manner of a person’s death determined where they went afterward. Hel’s realm was not the only potential afterlife the Norse people believed in. Her home was said to lie beneath one of Yggdrasil’s great branches, which kept her and the denizens of her world from traveling freely. Hel was not bound in the same way as Fenrir and Loki would later be, but her world was a prison nonetheless. Like the Greek Hades, the ruler of the dead was synonymous with the land she ruled. Most often, however, Hel’s realm is simply called Hel as well. Sometimes it was known as Helheim, or “Hel’s Home.” Occasionally, her hall is specifically referenced as Eljudnir. The specific home of the dead in this primordial world of frost and mist was called Niflhel. It was usually believed to have been in the world of Niflheim. Hel’s realm of death was called by many names. Although the prophecies of Ragnarok centered largely on his actions, Loki would remain free until after the death of Baldur. While Loki had hidden the births of his children from the gods, he was not immediately punished. Hel was sent far from Asgard and Midgard, to a place that was almost impossible to reach. Odin decided that Hel would be banished but not placed in chains. She was a slight blue-gray color and had a gloomy, downcast face even as a child.Īlthough she was one of Loki’s monsters, she did not represent the same immediate physical threat as her bestial brothers. While later art often showed her as decaying and grotesque, the Poetic Edda claims that her appearance more subtly hinted at her connection to death. The gods immediately noticed, however, that she was no ordinary giantess. Of the three, Hel was the most human in appearance. When he grew too large and vicious to trust, however, Tyr sacrificed his hand to have him bound with unbreakable chains. The gods tried for a time to tame the wolf Fenrir. He was thrown into the sea easily, although he would eventually grow large enough to encircle the world. Jormungandr, the serpent, had not yet reached his full size. Although Angrboda is not characterized in detail, the Prose Edda also suggests that her involvement was alarming to the gods.ĭetermined to reduce the risk posed by Loki’s children, the gods immediately decided to take them from Jotenheim and put them in a safer place. Prophecies of doom had been connected to Loki’s offspring. Loki and Angrboda kept the existence of their children from the gods for some time, but when the Aesir learned that they had been born they were greatly concerned. In Norse mythology, Hel was one of the three monstrous children of Loki and his mistress, Angrboda. Hel, both the goddess and the place, show that in studying Norse mythology it is often hard to separate ancient beliefs from later literature. Some historians, however, think that this wasn’t always the case. From the first prophecy of Ragnarok to the battle’s brutal climax, Hel is at the center of events. Hel’s realm plays an important role in many of Norse mythology’s most well-known stories. She and her world were interchangeable in both name and characterization. Hel’s domain was the grim, frozen land of death. While her father and brothers were all bound, Hel was sent to a far-off realm to be a ruler. Hel’s relatively unthreatening nature is likely why she was not punished as harshly as her family members. While later made more macabre, her only original connection to death was a blue pallor and dour expression. ![]() While her brothers were violent monsters, she was the most human in appearance. Of Loki’s three monstrous children, many people find Hel the most sympathetic.
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