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Hel (realm)
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In Norse mythology, Helheim, the location, shares a name with Hel, a female figure associated with the location. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death. In the Poetic Edda, Brynhildr's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin, while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir. In the Prose Edda, Baldr goes to Hel upon death and subsequently Hermóđr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him.
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In Norse mythology, Helheim, the location, shares a name with Hel, a female figure associated with the location. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death. In the Poetic Edda, Brynhildr's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin, while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir. In the Prose Edda, Baldr goes to Hel upon death and subsequently Hermóđr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him. "Hel-shoes" are described in Gísla saga.
Etymology
The old Old Norse word Hel derives from Proto-Germanic *khalija, which means "one who covers up or hides something", which itself derives from Proto-Indo-European *kel-, meaning "conceal". The term may have later influenced the English word Hell which is from the Old English forms hel and helle . Related terms are Old Frisian, helle, German Hölle and Gothic halja. Other words more distantly related include hole, hollow, hall, helmet and cell, all from the aforementioned Indo-European root *kel- .
Attestations
Poetic Edda
In reference to Hel, in the poem Völuspá, a völva states that Hel will play an important role in Ragnarök. The Völva states that a crowing "sooty-red cock from the halls of Hel" is one of three cocks that will signal one of the beginning events of Ragnarök. The other two are Fjalar in Jotunheim and Gullunkambi in Valhalla.
In Grímnismál stanza 31, Hel is listed as existing beneath one of three roots of the world tree Yggdrasil. One of the other two leads to the frost jötnar and the third to Mankind. In Guđrúnarkviđa I as Herborg tells of her grief in having prepared funeral arrangements for various members of her family, her children and her husbands, described it as "arranging their journey to Hel".
In the short poem Helreiđ Brynhildar, Hel is directly referenced as a location in the title, translating to "Brynhild's Hel-Ride". While riding along a road on the border of Hel in a lavish cart (the cart her corpse was burnt within), Brynhildr encounters a dead giantess at a burial mound belonging to her. This results in a heated exchange, during which Brynhildr tells of her life.
In Baldrs draumar, Odin rides to the edge of Hel to investigate nightmares Baldr has had. He brings to life the corpse of a Völva with a spell. Odin introduces himself under a false name and pretense and asks for information from the völva relating to Baldr's dreams. The völva proceeds to give reluctantly produce prophecies regarding the events of Ragnarök.
The poem gives some information regarding the geographic location of Hel in parallel to the description in the Prose Edda, which may be related to the fact that it was not included in the Codex Regius but is instead a later addition. Niflhel is mentioned as being just outside of Hel. The bloody Garmr makes an appearance, encountering Odin on Odin's ride to Hel. Odin continues down the road and approaches Hel, which is described as the "high hall of Hel". There he proceeds to the grave of the Völva near the eastern doors where the descriptions of Hel end.
Prose Edda
In the Prose Edda more detailed information is given about the location, including a detailed account of a venture to the region after the death of the god Baldr. Snorri's descriptions of Hel in the Prose Edda are not corroborated outside of Baldrs draumar, which does not appear in the original Codex Regius but is a later addition often included with modern editions of the Poetic Edda.
Gylfaginning
In the book Gylfaginning, Hel is introduced in chapter 3 as a location where "evil men" go upon death, and into Niflhel. The chapter further details that Hel is in the ninth of the Nine Worlds.
In chapter 34, Hel, the being is introduced. Snorri writes that Hel was cast down into Hel by Odin who "made her ruler over Nine Worlds". Snorri further writes that there Hel is located in Niflheim. Here it is related that she could give out lodging and items to those sent to her that have died of disease or old age. A very large dwelling is described as existing in Niflheim owned by Hel with huge walls and gates. The hall is called - or inside of this huge hall there is a hall belonging to Hel called - Éljúđnir. Within this hall Hel is described as having a servant, a slave and various possessions.
At the end of chapter 49, the death of Baldr and Nanna is described. Hermóđr, described as Baldr's brother in this source, sets out to Hel on horseback to retrieve the deceased Baldr. To enter Hel, Hermóđr rides for nine nights through "valleys so deep and dark that he saw nothing" until he arrives at the river Gjöll ("Noisy") and the Gjöll bridge. The bridge is described as having a roof made of shining gold. Hermóđr then proceeds to cross it. Hermóđr encounters Móđguđ, who is the guard of the bridge ("Furious Battler").
Móđguđ speaks to Hermóđr and comments that the bridge echoes beneath him more than the entire party of five people who had just passed. This is a reference to Baldr, Nanna and those that were burnt in their funeral pyre passing over the bridge upon death. Móđguđ also says that the dead in Hel appear as a different color than the living and tells him that to get to Hel he must go "down and to the North" where he would find the Road to Hel.
Continuing along the Road to Hel, Hermóđr encounters the Gates of Hel. Hermóđr remounts, spurs Sleipnir, and the two bound far over it. Hermóđr proceeds further beyond the gates for some distance before arriving at the hall, dismounting and entering. There Hermóđr sees Baldr sitting in a "seat of honor" and Hermóđr spends a night in Hel. The following day, Hermóđr presses Hel, the being, to allow Baldr to leave. Hel gives him an offer and then Baldr leads him out of the hall. Baldr then gives Hermóđr various gifts from Nanna and himself to bring from Hel to the living Ćsir. Hermóđr then retraces his path back to the land of the living. Hel's offer fails and in chapter 50, Loki is blamed for Baldr remaining in Hel.
In chapter 53, Hel is mentioned a final time in the Prose Edda. Here, Höđr and Baldr are mentioned as returning from Hel in a post-Ragnarök world:
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Ţví nćst koma ţar Baldr ok Höđr frá Heljar, setjask ţá allir samt ok talask viđ ok minnask á rúnar sínar ok rđa of tíđindi ţau er fyrrum höfđu verit, of Miđgarđsorm ok um Fenrisúlf. - |
"After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit down together
and hold speech with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those
happenings which have been before: of the Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf." - | |
Gesta Danorum
Book I of Gesta Danorum contains an account of what has often been interpreted as a trip to Hel. While having dinner, King Hadingus is visited by a woman bearing stalks of hemlock who asks him if he knows where such fresh herbs grow in winter. Hadingus wants to know; so the woman muffles him with her cloak, pulls him into the ground, and they vanish. Saxo reasons that the gods wished for Hadingus to visit in the flesh where he will go when he dies.
The two penetrate a dark and misty cloud, and then continue along a path worn from heavy use over the ages. The two see men wearing rich-looking robes, and nobles wearing purple. Passing them, they finally reach sunny regions where the herbs the woman presented Hadingus grow.
Hadingus and the woman continue until they arrived at a river of blue-black water that is fast-moving, full of rapids, and filled with various weapons. They cross the bridge, and see two "strongly-matched" armies meeting. Hadingus asks the woman about their identity, and she responds that they are men that have met their death by sword, and that they present an everlasting display of their destruction while attempting to equal the activity of their past lives.
Moving forward, the two encounter a wall that they cannot find a way over. The woman attempts to leap over it, but despite her slender and wrinkled body, cannot. The woman removes the head of a cock that she was carrying and throws it over the wall. The bird immediately crows; it has returned to life. Hadingus returns to his wife, and foils a threat by pirates.
Theories
Hilda Ellis Davidson, writing on Snorri's unique description of Hel in his Prose Edda, states that "it seems likely that Snorri's account of the underworld is chiefly his own work" and that the idea that the dead entering Hel who have died of sickness and old age may have been an attempt on Snorri's part to reconcile the tradition with his description of Valhalla, citing that "the one detailed account of Hel" that Snorri gives is that of Baldr entering Hel without dying of old age or sickness.
Davidson writes that Snorri was potentially using a "rich source" unknown to us for his description of Hel, though it may not have told him very much about the location outside of that it was a hall and that Snorri's description of Hel may at times be influenced by Christian teachings about the after-life.
See also
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