{"id":4422,"date":"2026-04-27T07:07:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T07:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/hel\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T14:26:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:26:48","slug":"hel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/en\/hel\/","title":{"rendered":"Hel"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"4422\" class=\"elementor elementor-4422 elementor-1890 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10fdade e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"10fdade\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herohlft0 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herohlft0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c3ceb64 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"c3ceb64\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-96ae5e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"96ae5e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel, Goddess of the Germanic Tradition<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e45238a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e45238a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hel is a goddess of the Germanic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span>.<\/p><p>Mistress of the realm of the dead, daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, sister of the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard serpent Jormungandr. Hel receives the souls of all those who did not fall in battle, that is, those who do not enter Valhalla or Folkvang.<\/p><p>Her realm <em>Helheim<\/em> is not a place of torment but a neutral land of the dead for those who died of illness, old age, or ordinary causes. She is depicted as half alive and half decayed, a <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A sign that stands in for a concept or meaning.\" tabindex=\"0\">symbol<\/span> of the threshold between life and death.<\/p><p>Hel is the death goddess of Germania and the daughter of Loki.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klsbdg01 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"klsbdg01\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-klshtm01 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"klshtm01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"iwg-pill-row\"><span class=\"iwg-klasse-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"God \/ Goddess: Personified supreme power within the pantheon of a culture, with clear domains, forces of nature, fate, war, fertility. Venerated through cults, sacrifices, and temple institutions.\">Goddess<\/span><a href=\"\/en\/germanic\/\" class=\"iwg-kultur-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Pre-Christian world of gods and spirits of Northern and Central Europe.\">Germanic<\/a><a href=\"\/en\/death-deities\/\" class=\"iwg-tradition-badge\" tabindex=\"0\" data-tooltip=\"Gods of the underworld and of death, rulers of the afterlife, judges of the dead, guides of souls.\">Death Deity<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f74855 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3f74855\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1c30362 elementor-toc--minimized-on-tablet elementor-widget elementor-widget-table-of-contents\" data-id=\"1c30362\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;exclude_headings_by_selector&quot;:[],&quot;no_headings_message&quot;:&quot;Es wurden keine \\u00dcberschriften auf dieser Seite gefunden.&quot;,&quot;headings_by_tags&quot;:[&quot;h2&quot;,&quot;h3&quot;],&quot;marker_view&quot;:&quot;bullets&quot;,&quot;minimize_box&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;icon&quot;:{&quot;value&quot;:&quot;fas fa-circle&quot;,&quot;library&quot;:&quot;fa-solid&quot;,&quot;rendered_tag&quot;:&quot;&lt;svg class=\\&quot;e-font-icon-svg e-fas-circle\\&quot; viewBox=\\&quot;0 0 512 512\\&quot; xmlns=\\&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.w3.org\\\/2000\\\/svg\\&quot;&gt;&lt;path d=\\&quot;M256 8C119 8 8 119 8 256s111 248 248 248 248-111 248-248S393 8 256 8z\\&quot;&gt;&lt;\\\/path&gt;&lt;\\\/svg&gt;&quot;},&quot;minimized_on&quot;:&quot;tablet&quot;,&quot;hierarchical_view&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;,&quot;min_height&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_tablet&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]},&quot;min_height_mobile&quot;:{&quot;unit&quot;:&quot;px&quot;,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;sizes&quot;:[]}}\" data-widget_type=\"table-of-contents.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-toc__header-title\">\n\t\t\t\tTable of Contents\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--expand\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Open table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-down\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M207.029 381.476L12.686 187.132c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941l22.667-22.667c9.357-9.357 24.522-9.375 33.901-.04L224 284.505l154.745-154.021c9.379-9.335 24.544-9.317 33.901.04l22.667 22.667c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941L240.971 381.476c-9.373 9.372-24.569 9.372-33.942 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__toggle-button elementor-toc__toggle-button--collapse\" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-controls=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Close table of contents\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-chevron-up\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M240.971 130.524l194.343 194.343c9.373 9.373 9.373 24.569 0 33.941l-22.667 22.667c-9.357 9.357-24.522 9.375-33.901.04L224 227.495 69.255 381.516c-9.379 9.335-24.544 9.317-33.901-.04l-22.667-22.667c-9.373-9.373-9.373-24.569 0-33.941L207.03 130.525c9.372-9.373 24.568-9.373 33.941-.001z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"elementor-toc__1c30362\" class=\"elementor-toc__body\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-toc__spinner-container\">\n\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"elementor-toc__spinner eicon-animation-spin e-font-icon-svg e-eicon-loading\" aria-hidden=\"true\" viewBox=\"0 0 1000 1000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M500 975V858C696 858 858 696 858 500S696 142 500 142 142 304 142 500H25C25 237 238 25 500 25S975 237 975 500 763 975 500 975Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-herorght0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"herorght0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-heroimg00 iwg-hero-image elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"heroimg00\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_germanisch_hel-683x1024.webp\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-4423\" alt=\"Hel - Gods from the Germanic tradition, historical-illustrative\" srcset=\"https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_germanisch_hel-683x1024.webp 683w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_germanisch_hel-200x300.webp 200w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_germanisch_hel-768x1152.webp 768w, https:\/\/iwell-guard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/goetter_germanisch_hel.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-32917199 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"32917199\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-26e916cb e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"26e916cb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-253a40d4 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"253a40d4\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1200c304 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1200c304\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-159dcf9a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"159dcf9a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48cee66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"48cee66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Quick Overview: Hel<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f50d82c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f50d82c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Type:<\/strong> Death <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span>, mistress of the underworld<br><span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the gods of a religion or culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">Pantheon<\/span>: Germanic (Norse)<br>Function: Mistress of the realm of the dead Helheim, receiver of the dead, keeper of the boundary between life and death<br>Main attributes: Halved face (alive and decayed), black robe, the hound Garm, the bridge Gjallarbru<br>Abode: Helheim (realm of the dead), the hall Eljudnir, the river Gjoll<br>Germanic parallel: (none, distinct within Norse <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-18613602 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"18613602\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-262b8a9f elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"262b8a9f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Historical Classification<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46dcb7d e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"46dcb7d\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61d3ab3 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"61d3ab3\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-117c166 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"117c166\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Period of the Texts<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-73997a0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"73997a0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> concerning Hel derives from the literary sources of the High Middle Ages, yet springs from older oral tradition of the Viking Age and the Migration Period.<\/p><p>The Prose Edda (earliest manuscripts from the thirteenth century) and the Poetic Edda (written down around 1270, but going back to poems from the ninth to eleventh centuries) are the main sources.<\/p><p>Saxo Grammaticus&#8217; <em>Gesta Danorum<\/em> (around 1200) offers parallel accounts with a Christian coloring. <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A small sacred place of keeping or site of devotion.\" tabindex=\"0\">Shrine<\/span> and grave finds from the sixth to tenth centuries suggest that Hel played no central role in <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> practice but was firmly anchored in eschatological awareness.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d47b156 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d47b156\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff38c2b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ff38c2b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Area of Distribution<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e49fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4e49fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hel was a concept of Scandinavian and Germanic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>, widespread in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), Iceland, and in territories under Danish and Norwegian control. The Edda <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> is Icelandic and Scandinavian.<\/p><p>Linguistic derivations of the name (English &#8220;Hell&#8221; for the Christian place of damnation) show that the name was also current in Anglo-Saxon settlement areas. With Christianization (from 1000 CE onward) Hel and Helheim were reinterpreted as a model for the Christian conception of Hell.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db03c39 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"db03c39\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-229a87b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"229a87b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1f471fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"1f471fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">State of the Sources<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36b1201 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36b1201\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The central sources are the Prose Edda, especially Gylfaginning (chapters 34 and 49), the Poetic Edda (especially <em>Voluspa<\/em> and <em>Vafthrudnismal<\/em>), as well as Saxo Grammaticus&#8217; <em>Gesta Danorum<\/em>. The prose preface to the Poetic Edda and the prose introductions provide genealogical contexts.<\/p><p>The mythical reference &#8220;Baldrs draumar&#8221; (Baldur&#8217;s Dream) describes Hel&#8217;s involvement in Baldur&#8217;s death. Archaeological finds from graves, runestones, and skaldic poetry round out the picture but are sparse regarding Hel&#8217;s specific person.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ae0637c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"3ae0637c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31d07739 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"31d07739\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Name<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7642947 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"b7642947\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a086266 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a086266\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Old Norse:<\/strong> Hel (nominative: Hel, genitive: Heljar), a female being, meaning &#8220;the concealing one&#8221; or &#8220;the hiding one&#8221; (related to <em>holen<\/em>, &#8220;to conceal,&#8221; &#8220;to veil&#8221;). Epithets: No independent epithets are preserved, but Old Norse literature refers to her as &#8220;mistress of the realm of the dead&#8221; (<em>Drottning hins dau\u00f0a rikes<\/em>).<\/p><p>Christian reception: In the Middle Ages the name Hel became the direct model for the Christian conception of &#8220;Hell&#8221; (English &#8220;Hell,&#8221; Middle High German &#8220;H\u00f6lle&#8221;), especially through Icelandic and Scandinavian Christians who had allegorized the heathen underworld.<\/p><p>Germanic kin: Scandinavian-Germanic, no direct name relatives in other cultures. Family: Daughter of the god Loki and the giantess Angrboda. Sister of the wolf Fenrir (<em>Fenrir<\/em>) and the Midgard serpent (<em>Jormungandr<\/em>). As mistress of Helheim, served by Ganglati and Ganglot.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-709a44a8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"709a44a8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f585873 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f585873\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Description<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70621c12 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"70621c12\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4296eb49 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4296eb49\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Appearance<\/strong><\/p><p>In Old Norse sources Hel is depicted as half and half: one side of her body is bright, alive, and of blooming flesh, the other side dark blue to black like a corpse. This iconic depiction symbolizes her position at the threshold between life and death.<\/p><p>She wears black or dark green robes. Her face, half beautiful and half decayed, shows neither malice nor mercy, only the inescapable nature of mortality. She sits on a throne in her hall <em>Eljudnir<\/em> (drizzling rain or place of dampness).<\/p><p><strong>Nature and Activity<\/strong><\/p><p>Hel is not evil in the Christian sense but neutral, a cosmic force. She administers the realm of the dead without passion. Whoever comes to her remains, unless the gods or others obtain a return (which happens extremely rarely, attempted only for Baldur).<\/p><p>She receives all the deceased who did not die in battle: women, children, the old, the sick. In this her realm differs fundamentally from Valhalla (for fallen warriors) and Folkvang (for the goddess Freya). Unlike Hades, Hel is not portrayed as a judge who decides upon merits, but as the administrator of an unavoidable fact.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-44e71476 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"44e71476\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3c1fc3f0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3c1fc3f0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Profile: Hel<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84f33b8e e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"84f33b8e\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hqkdc67p elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hqkdc67p\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important aspects of Hel at a glance. The table summarizes origin, function, appearance, veneration, symbols, and parallels.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c5 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c5\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c1 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qh9oavvu iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"qh9oavvu\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-awzx8k2k elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"awzx8k2k\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Cultural Context<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x6rowhv0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"x6rowhv0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Daughter of the god Loki and the giantess Angrboda, in Old Norse Angrbodhe. Loki is himself not a god in the higher sense but a giant who moves within the fellowship of the Aesir.<\/p><p>Angrboda is a mountain giantess; the genealogies place her among the powers of darkness. Hel&#8217;s siblings are the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard serpent.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e3o4kxs iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"8e3o4kxs\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-08rkdgov elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"08rkdgov\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel's Function<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-uwjelx8s elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"uwjelx8s\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Mistress of the realm of the dead Helheim. She receives and administers the souls of those who did not die in battle. She is not a judge but an administrator of the cosmic order. She keeps the boundaries of Helheim and permits no return unless the gods or other powers expressly grant it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jm2n74ec iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"jm2n74ec\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8vufse4c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"8vufse4c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Appearance<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-mwb9u015 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"mwb9u015\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Half alive, half decayed. One side of the body blooms and is rosy, the other is swollen blue and black like flesh long after death. Black or dark green robes. Eyes without warmth, but also without malice, inexhaustibly neutral. She often wears a crown or diadem of bone.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-pemmx7c2 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"pemmx7c2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37ss2yr6 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"37ss2yr6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3v0wp3wx elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3v0wp3wx\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel's Veneration<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-w3247g2m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"w3247g2m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hel was not a popular <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the religious acts of veneration for a deity or sacred figure.\" tabindex=\"0\">cult<\/span> <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A being venerated as divine within a religion.\" tabindex=\"0\">deity<\/span> in the sense of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A structure that serves the veneration of one or more deities.\" tabindex=\"0\">temples<\/span> or regular festivals. She was, however, <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The petitioning or invoking address to a deity or power.\" tabindex=\"0\">invoked<\/span> in burial rituals and mentioned in sagas and oaths.<\/p><p>In premonitions of death or in mourning, women and priestesses could direct prayers to Hel to entreat a peaceful passage into the realm of the dead. In skaldic poetry Hel was used metaphorically for the fear of death and for the past. No <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"An offering to a deity to express gratitude, petition, or veneration.\" tabindex=\"0\">offerings<\/span> are specifically recorded.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0qpjal9w iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"0qpjal9w\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ndoih0o elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6ndoih0o\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel's Symbols<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6684tyh9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6684tyh9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The half-and-half divided face, black robes, the hound Garm (guardian before Helheim), the bridge <em>Gjallarbru<\/em> (resonance bridge over the river <em>Gjoll<\/em>), the hall <em>Eljudnir<\/em>, the table <em>Hunger<\/em>, the spoon <em>Slaegr<\/em> (sloth).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3lfi7x32 iwg-steckbrief-card e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-child\" data-id=\"3lfi7x32\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0kg99ga1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"0kg99ga1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Counterparts<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-n0fum6kp elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"n0fum6kp\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hades (Greece, functionally similar but male), Ereshkigal (Mesopotamia, likewise a female mistress of the underworld), Yamaraja (Hinduism, neutral administration of the realm of the dead), Persephone (Greece, an ambivalent aspect of life and death), Hekate (Greece, threshold function), Mictecacihuatl (Aztec, mistress of the realm of the dead, female).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7533bc7a e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"7533bc7a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2447d18d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2447d18d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Mythical Roles and Stories<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5d0260c e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d5d0260c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-341be2ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"341be2ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>The Abduction of Baldur and Hel&#8217;s Promise<\/strong><\/p><p>The best-known story in which Hel figures centrally is the death of Baldur, the fairest of all gods.<\/p><p>Loki tricks the blind god Hodur into casting a sprig of mistletoe at Baldur, the only substance that could harm him (because all other beings and things had promised to do him no injury). Baldur dies and falls into Hel&#8217;s realm.<\/p><p>The gods send Hermod, Odin&#8217;s messenger, down on Sleipnir (Odin&#8217;s eight-legged horse) to ask Hel for Baldur&#8217;s return. Hel promises: Baldur may return if all living things weep for him. Almost everything weeps, gods, humans, animals, stones.<\/p><p>Only the old giantess <em>Thokk<\/em> (or Loki in disguise) refuses to weep. Therefore Hel keeps Baldur with her. This <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted tale about gods, origins, and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> shows Hel as incorruptible and immovable: her power over death is greater than the power of the gods themselves.<\/p><p><strong>Hel in the Voluspa (The Doom)<\/strong><\/p><p>In the apocalyptic vision <em>Voluspa<\/em> Hel comes forth in the final days, when order breaks apart. The hall Eljudnir dissolves, the dead surge toward Ragnarok. She herself is not described as a warrior but as a force that flows along with the powers of chaos.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a584676 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5a584676\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d0757bf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"6d0757bf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel, Parallels in Other Cultures<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-60563f68 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"60563f68\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a93fdd6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a93fdd6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Greek tradition:<\/strong> Hades (male ruler of the underworld) shares with Hel the function of administrator and neutral force. Unlike Hel, however, Hades also involves moral judgments and hierarchies (the Furies, Elysium vs. Tartarus). Helheim has no such distinction; it is for all the dead without a judgment of the soul.<\/p><p><strong>Mesopotamian tradition:<\/strong> Ereshkigal (mistress of the underworld Irkalla, female, like Hel) shows a similar neutrality. The story of Inanna&#8217;s descent to Ereshkigal has structural parallels to the Baldur story: a powerful figure is brought down to a female ruler of the underworld and returns (in part), but the conditions are inexorable.<\/p><p><strong>Egyptian tradition:<\/strong> Osiris is a just judge rather than a mere administrator; Anubis is a guide. Hel combines both functions, without the moral-juridical layer.<\/p><p><strong>Hindu tradition:<\/strong> Yamaraja (ruler of the realm of the dead Yamaloka) shares with Hel neutrality and inevitability. Unlike Hel, however, Yamaraja is not bound to a place but regularly visits the world.<\/p><p><strong>Celtic tradition:<\/strong> The banshee and other otherworldly figures are companions rather than rulers. Gwydion and the Celtic underworld Annwn are less personified than Hel&#8217;s quite concrete figure.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-x7christ e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"x7christ\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-xh7chris elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"xh7chris\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Christian Reception and Etymology<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-xc7chris e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"xc7chris\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bw-xt7chris-3ec7bf9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"bw-xt7chris-3ec7bf9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-xt7chris elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"xt7chris\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>With the Christianization of Scandinavia and Germany (from around 1000 CE) the heathen Hel and her realm Helheim became a metaphor for the Christian Hell. Icelandic homiletic texts and sermons of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries speak of &#8220;Helheim&#8221; as Hell, of Hel&#8217;s messengers or <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A spiritual being to which harmful or ambivalent effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">demons<\/span> as fighters of Hell.<\/p><p>The Old Norse name Hel (the concealing one, the veiling one) was reinterpreted into the English &#8220;Hell&#8221; and the Middle High German &#8220;H\u00f6lle&#8221;; the etymological connections are disputed, but the semantic equation is attested in the sources. The name Hel thus underwent a transformation from a cosmic force into a symbol of damnation.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp0b073d2 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp0b073d2\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf67e00b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpf67e00b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The State of the Sources: Snorri Sturluson and the Problem of Systematization<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp0693fe8 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp0693fe8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp416dfe3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp416dfe3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Almost everything that counts as a coherent picture of the death goddess Hel derives from a single source: the <em>Prose Edda<\/em> of the Icelandic scholar and politician <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Icelandic scholar (1179-1241); author of the Prose Edda and the Heimskringla.\" tabindex=\"0\">Snorri Sturluson<\/span>, composed in the early thirteenth century.<\/p><p>In the <em>Gylfaginning<\/em> Snorri describes Hel as the daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrbo\u00f0a, as the sister of the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard serpent, half dark and half of ordinary skin color, and he recounts how Odin cast her into the underworld and gave her power over all who die of illness and old age.<\/p><p>This self-contained portrayal must be read with caution. Snorri wrote more than two centuries after the Christianization of Iceland. He was a Christian-educated author who sought to order, explain, and shape the heathen material in literary form.<\/p><p>Scholarship has long debated how much of Snorri&#8217;s Hel goes back to old <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The passing on of knowledge and narratives across generations.\" tabindex=\"0\">tradition<\/span> and how much is his own systematization, possibly influenced by the Christian conception of Hell that already resonated in the Old Norse word <em>hel<\/em>.<\/p><p>The older sources, the lays of the <em>Poetic Edda<\/em> and skaldic poetry, certainly know <em>hel<\/em>, but mostly as a place name for the realm of the dead rather than as an elaborated figure of a goddess.<\/p><p>The phrase &#8220;to journey to Hel&#8221; first of all simply means &#8220;to die.&#8221; Whether a personified mistress stood behind the place from the beginning, or whether the personification was only secondarily developed, cannot be decided with certainty. Anyone speaking about Hel should always note this uncertainty of the sources.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpf6b53aa e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpf6b53aa\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpc38a2ff elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cpc38a2ff\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The Death of Baldur and Hel's Condition<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpe54e75f e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cpe54e75f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp9254066 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp9254066\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The most important coherent narrative in which Hel appears as an acting figure is the <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted tale about gods, origins, and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span> of the death of the god Baldur, transmitted in Snorri&#8217;s <em>Gylfaginning<\/em>.<\/p><p>Baldur, the fair and beloved son of Odin, is killed through a ruse of Loki: the blind god H\u00f6\u00f0r, guided by Loki, casts a sprig of mistletoe at him, the only thing that had not sworn to Baldur to spare him. Baldur dies and journeys down into Hel&#8217;s realm.<\/p><p>The gods wish to bring him back. The messenger Herm\u00f3\u00f0r rides on Odin&#8217;s horse Sleipnir nine nights through dark valleys to the gate of Hel&#8217;s world. He finds Baldur seated there in a place of honor and asks Hel to release him.<\/p><p>Hel sets a condition: if truly all things in the world, living and dead, weep for Baldur, he may return; if even one does not weep, he remains with her.<\/p><p>The gods send messengers throughout the world, and everything weeps, humans, animals, stones, and trees. Only a giantess named \u00de\u00f6kk, behind whom the tale suspects Loki, refuses. Thus Baldur remains in Hel&#8217;s realm until the end of the world.<\/p><p>In this episode Hel&#8217;s character becomes visible. She is neither cruel nor deceitful; she negotiates, she abides by conditions, she treats Baldur honorably. But she gives nothing without something in return, and her condition is so framed that a single resistance suffices to make it fail.<\/p><p>Hel embodies the non-negotiability of death in the form of a negotiation that almost succeeds. The narrative also belongs within the great arc of Norse <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>, because Baldur&#8217;s death is regarded as the first sign of the approaching <a href=\"\/en\/ragnaroek-the-end-of-the-world-in-norse-mythology\/\">Ragnarok<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp3ad9077 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cp3ad9077\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp023632b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp023632b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Etymology and the Meaning of Concealing<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp80f1a99 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp80f1a99\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpfa52f44 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cpfa52f44\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The name <em>Hel<\/em> belongs to a Germanic root meaning &#8220;to conceal,&#8221; &#8220;to veil,&#8221; &#8220;to cover.&#8221; The same root lies in words for the hidden and the veiling; in German &#8220;hehlen&#8221; and &#8220;verhehlen&#8221; are related, as is &#8220;H\u00f6hle&#8221; (cave).<\/p><p>Hel is accordingly originally &#8220;the concealing one&#8221; or &#8220;the hidden,&#8221; and the realm of the dead that bears her name is the hidden, covered place to which the dead go.<\/p><p>This etymology is illuminating from the standpoint of religious history, because it shows that the name primarily designates a place and a state, not a person.<\/p><p>The concealing, the being-under-the-earth, the being-withdrawn-from-sight is the core. The personification as the goddess Hel would then be a second step: the hidden place receives a mistress who bears its name.<\/p><p>By way of the Old Norse <em>hel<\/em> the word migrated into the Christian conceptual world. When the Germanic languages were Christianized, it was natural to transfer the existing word for the realm of the dead to the Christian place of punishment.<\/p><p>Thus the Germanic <em>hel<\/em> became the German &#8220;H\u00f6lle&#8221; and the English <em>hell<\/em>. This transfer, however, distorted the original conception. The Old Norse Hel is not a place of punishment and torment.<\/p><p>It is the abode of those who die of illness and old age, in contrast to those fallen in battle, who go to Valhalla.<\/p><p>The moral separation into a good place and a place of punishment, which the Christian word carries with it, was foreign to the original Hel concept. Here lies one of the most persistent misinterpretations of Norse <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">mythology<\/span>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cpfa40877 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cpfa40877\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp10ba399 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cp10ba399\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hel's Realm in the Topography of the Other World<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp13c57a0 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"cp13c57a0\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cp2eea4bc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"cp2eea4bc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hel&#8217;s realm is part of a complex otherworldly geography that the Old Norse sources, above all Snorri again, sketch out. It lies in the north and below, reachable by the long, dark road that Herm\u00f3\u00f0r travels in the Baldur <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A transmitted tale about gods, origins, and the order of the world.\" tabindex=\"0\">myth<\/span>.<\/p><p>A bridge over the river Gj\u00f6ll, guarded by a watcher named M\u00f3\u00f0gu\u00f0r, leads across; a gate closes off the realm. Snorri gives Hel&#8217;s dwelling and implements dark, telling names that denote hunger, sickness, and decay.<\/p><p>The place of this realm within the overall system is not transmitted entirely free of contradiction. Besides Hel, the sources know Valhalla, the hall of those fallen in battle, and the realm of the goddess Freyja, which likewise receives a portion of the dead.<\/p><p>How these regions relate to one another and by what criteria a dead person reaches which one is not systematically clarified in the sources. The notion that the manner of death decides the otherworldly fate is the most common, but it does not cover all the evidence.<\/p><p>In addition there is the place N\u00e1str\u00f6nd, the &#8220;corpse strand,&#8221; which the <em>V\u00f6lusp\u00e1<\/em> describes, a hall of woven serpents in which oath-breakers and murderers suffer. Whether this place of punishment belongs to Hel&#8217;s realm or is a separate region is debated in scholarship; some see in it already a Christian influence.<\/p><p>The Old Norse conception of the otherworld is thus not a closed system but a juxtaposition of images from various times and regions, which the medieval compilers harmonized only incompletely. Hel&#8217;s realm is within it the largest and most general region, the place of ordinary, unspectacular death.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36dd7469 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"36dd7469\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-13760ab4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"13760ab4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Further Links<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-28c87796 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"28c87796\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-grl4kl40 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"grl4kl40\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bzsbfrmh elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"bzsbfrmh\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Literature (Selection)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c13224a e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"2c13224a\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eymh9ub elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eymh9ub\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<footer class=\"iwg-literatur\" data-nosnippet=\"true\"><ul><li><span data-nosnippet>Sturluson, Snorri: <em>Die Snorra-Edda<\/em> (Gylfaginning, chaps. 34 and 49). Trans. Felix Niedner. Diederichs, 1912 (many reprints).<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet><em>Die Lieder-Edda<\/em> (Voluspa, Vafthrudnismal, Baldrs draumar). Trans. Felix Niedner. Diederichs, 1912.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Saxo Grammaticus: <em>Gesta Danorum<\/em> (Books 1-9). Transl. Peter Fisher. Brewer, 1979.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Turville-Petre, E.O.G.: <em>Myth and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The academic discipline that studies religions comparatively and without confessional commitment.\" tabindex=\"0\">Religion<\/span> of the North: The Religion of <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Epoch of Greek and Roman culture, roughly 800 BC to 600 AD.\" tabindex=\"0\">Ancient<\/span> Scandinavia<\/em>. Greenwood Press, 1975.<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>Simek, Rudolf: <em>W\u00f6rterbuch der Klassischen Altnordischen <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"The totality of the transmitted tales of the gods of a culture.\" tabindex=\"0\">Mythologie<\/span><\/em>. Kr\u00f6ner, 1984 (entry &#8220;Hel&#8221;).<\/span><\/li><li><span data-nosnippet>MacLeod, Mindy and Mees, Bernard: <em>Runic <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"A worn object to which a protective, misfortune-averting effect is attributed.\" tabindex=\"0\">Amulets<\/span> and <span class=\"iwg-fachbegriff\" data-tooltip=\"Practices that seek to intervene in the course of events through special actions or formulas.\" tabindex=\"0\">Magic<\/span> Objects<\/em>. Boydell Press, 2006.<\/span><\/li><li>Schrader, Lutz und Geuenich, Dieter (eds.): <em>Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde<\/em>, vol. 14 (entry &#8220;Unterwelt&#8221;).<\/li><\/ul><\/footer>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hel, Goddess of the Germanic Tradition Hel is a goddess of the Germanic tradition. Mistress of the realm of the dead, daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, sister of the wolf Fenrir and the Midgard serpent Jormungandr. Hel receives the souls of all those who did not fall in battle, that is, those who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4423,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"Hel","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Hel: Mistress of the Underworld, Death Goddess of Germania","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Half alive, half decayed. Baldur's grief, mythology, Christianization: Germanic eschatology reconsidered.","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_angie_page":false,"gefaehrdungsstufe":"","wesen_kultur":"","wesen_klasse":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,89,86],"class_list":["post-4422","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultures","category-germanic","category-gods"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hel: Mistress of the Underworld, Death Goddess of Germania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Half alive, half decayed. 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