The Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas on Hel

Contents > Chapter Xix: Hel

• attestation: Hel, daughter of Loki and Angurboda, was hurled by Odin into Niflheim and given power over nine worlds of the dead; she ruled a realm only accessible after a long painful journey over rough roads in cold, dark regions.

  "Hel, goddess of death, was the daughter of Loki, god of evil, and of the giantess Angurboda, the portender of ill... the wolf Fenris was secured in chains, thanks to the dauntless Tyr; and Hel or Hela, the goddess of death, was hurled into the depths of Nifl-heim, where Odin gave her power over nine worlds."

• attestation: To reach Hel's realm, spirits had to cross the river Gjoll over a bridge of crystal arched with gold, hung on a single hair, guarded by the skeleton Modgud who demanded a toll of blood.

  "Hermod the swift, mounted upon Sleipnir, had to journey nine long nights ere he reached the river Gióll. This formed the boundary of Nifl-heim, over which was thrown a bridge of crystal arched with gold, hung on a single hair, and constantly guarded by the grim skeleton Módgud, who made every spirit pay a toll of blood ere she would allow it to pass."

• attestation: After the Gjallar bridge, spirits passed through the Ironwood to Hel-gate, guarded by the blood-stained hound Garm cowering in the Gnipa cave; only those who had given bread to the needy could appease him with a Hel-cake.

  "passing through it, reached Hel-gate, beside which the fierce, blood-stained dog Garm kept watch, cowering in a dark hole known as the Gnipa cave. This monster's rage could only be appeased by the offering of a Hel-cake, which never failed those who had ever given bread to the needy."

• attestation: Northern races bound specially strong Hel-shoes on the feet of the dead so they might not suffer during the long journey to Hel's realm.

  "the Northern races were very careful to bind upon the feet of the departed a specially strong pair of shoes, called Hel-shoes, that they might not suffer during the long journey over rough roads."

• attestation: Hel's hall Elvidner was described with named personifications: Hunger was her dish, Greed her knife, Idleness her man, Sloth her maid, Ruin her threshold, Sorrow her bed, and Conflagration her curtains.

  "Further on in this gruesome place was Elvidner (misery), the hall of the goddess Hel, whose dish was Hunger. Her knife was Greed. "Idleness was the name of her man, Sloth of her maid, Ruin of her threshold, Sorrow of her bed, and Conflagration of her curtains.""

• attestation: Hel received not only criminals and perjurers but also those who died without shedding blood — of old age or disease — a mode of death contemptuously called 'straw death'.

  "she received not only perjurers and criminals of all kinds, but also those who were unfortunate enough to die without shedding blood. To her realm also were consigned those who died of old age or disease--a mode of decease which was contemptuously called "straw death," as the beds of the people were generally of that material."

• attestation: Criminals and the impure were consigned to Nastrond, wading through ice-cold venom streams in a serpent-walled cave, then washed into the cauldron Hvergelmir where Nidhug gnawed their bones.

  "spirits being banished to Nastrond, the strand of corpses, where they waded in ice-cold streams of venom, through a cave made of wattled serpents, whose poisonous fangs were turned towards them. After suffering untold agonies there, they were washed down into the cauldron Hvergelmir, where the serpent Nidhug ceased for a moment gnawing the root of the tree Yggdrasil to feed upon their bones."

• attestation: Hel occasionally left her realm to ride the earth on her three-legged white horse; when only some inhabitants escaped pestilence she was said to use a rake, but when entire villages perished she had used a broom.

  "Hel herself was supposed occasionally to leave her dismal abode to range the earth upon her three-legged white horse, and in times of pestilence or famine, if a part of the inhabitants of a district escaped, she was said to use a rake, and when whole villages and provinces were depopulated, as in the case of the historical epidemic of the Black Death, it was said that she had ridden with a broom."

Contents > Chapter Xxi: Balder

• attestation: Hel agreed to release Balder on condition that all animate and inanimate things in the world shed tears for him; if even one thing failed to weep, Balder would stay.

  "she would allow her victim to depart provided that all things animate and inanimate would show their sorrow for his loss by shedding tears... Fails but one thing to grieve, here Balder stops!"