In my last post I talked about Loki, and I mentioned that he had a daughter named Hel. As you probably figured out, Hel is not the most wonderful person - but to understand her, you first need a bit of backstory.
Loki actually had a total of six children. Two were born by his Asgardian wife, Sigyn, but they both end up dead. The important four children are Sleipnir, Jormungand, Fenrir, and Hel. Sleipnir is an eight-legged horse borne by Loki after he turned himself into an attractive mare to distract a horse (don’t ask.) The fastest of all horses, Sleipnir became the mount of Odin, king of the gods. My favorite part from the first Thor movie is when Odin comes to save Thor and his friends from the frost giants. If you look closely, the horse he’s on has eight legs! I love it when Marvel gets it right!
Loki’s other three children come from worse parentage (than a horse. Seriously.) They were borne by the ogress Angrboda, whose name translates to “bringer of distress”. Given that all three of her children play a huge role in Ragnarok, I would say she was aptly named!
The gods apparently agree with me on that point. Having received a prophecy saying that the three kids spell disaster, the gods lock them all away. Jormungand, a GIANT serpent, is forced to bite his own tail and is thrown into the ocean or river that surrounds the world. Fenrir, a less big but still giant wolf, is chained to a rock - which leaves Loki's final child, Hel.
Loki’s other two children by Angrboda each had a monstrous quality to them, and Hel is no different. Possessing the body of a woman, half of her is said to be beautiful, the other half dead. Depictions of her in artwork often show half her face as missing skin, or being full out skeletal. Odin’s punishment of her differs from that of her brothers in that she is banished to a portion of one of the realms we haven't discussed, Niflheim...and made its Queen. The area later becomes known as the Kingdom of Hel, or simply Hel.
There were two regions to the Norse afterlife. To counter the depressing-ness of Hel, which I’ll cover in a moment, was Valhalla. Valhalla was located in Asgard, and it translates to the “hall of the slain”. Warriors who were slain in battle were carried there by beautiful warrior women called Valkyries. These women would then don dresses and serve the men food and drink until Ragnarok. Rough life...er, death, right?
Hel was for those who did not die valiantly. Accounts list it as being the afterlife for those who die of sickness or of old age, and for those who are evil or oath-breakers. The Kingdom of Hel is said to be guarded by a fearsome hound named Garm, which presents an interesting parallel to the Greek Cerberus. A river within Hel is said to be full of not water, but swords, knives and daggers that the dead must wade through. Murderers, oath-breakers, adulterers, and people who talk in movie theaters are imprisoned in a building whose walls and roof are made of woven snakes who constantly drip poisonous venom....
You get the idea, right? Hel is not a fun place.
Interestingly enough, Hel the person is not depicted as outright evil. Last post I talked about how she offered to bring Balder back to life if everything wept for him, rather than refusing to offer even that slim chance. However, regardless of whether Hel is an evil person, she and her kingdom will play an important part in Ragnarok.
There you have a brief introduction to Hel!...and to Hel. Comments? Questions? Feel free to post below, or to email me! Want to know more? I’ve got some great books listed on my first post. Stay tuned for more stories from Norse mythology, including a look at Thor!
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