World of Myth

Hel

Hel Fast Facts

Domain: The unheroic dead (old age, sickness, famine, etc), the underworld, and all nine realms when pursuing souls

Powers: Hel had more power than Odin, once a soul was under her power, no one (not even Odin) could get them back.

Place: Niflheim, located under the roots of Yggdrasil and her hall Eljudner

Appearance: Hel was terrible to look at, one half of her body was greenish or bluish black, and the other was white with flesh like a corpse.

Primary Texts: The Prose Edda

A study for “Ragnarok”. Hel slays a valkyri at Ragnarok, Emil Hannover, 1906. (Creative Commons)

Hel Student Research

Hel is described as half alive and beautiful and half blue, as a corpse. She is stoic, focused, and deliberate. She resides in Eljudnir (“the damp place”) and is served by a maid and servant, Ganglot and Ganglati. Hel, true to her name, stays primarily hidden throughout the more notable tales in Norse mythology. Even in Ragnarok, which is caused by her brothers, her presence and contributions are implied at best. She is loyal to her brothers and father, but she is calculated and unemotional.

Claire Guthrie & Rachel Weintraub

Hel's Origin Story

Loke had yet more children. A giantess in Jotunheim, hight Angerboda. With her he begat three children. The first was the Fenris-wolf; the second, Jormungand, that is, the Midgard-serpent, and the third, Hel… Hel he [Alfather] cast into Niflheim, and gave her power over nine worlds, that she should appoint abodes to them that are sent to her, namely, those who die from sickness or old age. She has there a great mansion, and the walls around it are of strange height, and the gates are huge. Eljudner is the name of her hall. Her table hight famine; her knife, starvation. Her man-servant’s name is Ganglate; her maid-servant’s, Ganglot. Her threshold is called stumbling-block; her bed, care; the precious hangings of her bed, gleaming bale. One-half of her is blue, and the other half is of the hue of flesh; hence she is easily known. Her looks are very stern and grim.

-Sturluson, Snorri. The Younger Edda; Also Called Snorre’s Edda, or The Prose Edda

Hel, the personification of the Norse underworld. Johannes Gehrts, 1855–1921. (Creative Commons)

Select Hel Myth

Hermóðr riding to Baldr in Hel, from the 18th-century Icelandic manuscript SÁM 66. (Creative Commons)

The Death of Baldr

After Balder was killed by Hodur due to a trick of Loki’s, the gods were in anguish. The radiant Balder, embodiment of goodness and light, was extinguished like a flickering candle. Though the gods desired Hodur’s punishment, ancient laws barred bloodshed.

Frigg asked a god to journey to Hel in Niflheim and plead for Balder’s return from the realm of the dead. Hermod, son of Odin, volunteered for the perilous task. Riding Odin’s horse Sleipnir, they travelled for nine days and nights until he crossed Gjoll shud der and lept the gate of Helgrind.

To secure Balder’s release, Hel demanded tears from all beings in the world. Hermod visited Balder and his wife Nanna, before returning to Asgard. There Hermod conveyed Hel’s condition and messengers were sent to all the corners of the Earth.

From every corner, tears flowed – gods, mortals, plants, animals and even the stones wept for Balder’s return. Yet, in a desolate cave, the giantess Thokk remained unmoved. “Balder never aided me,” she declared, revealing a stony heart untouched by grief. Many suspected her true identity as the trickster Loki.

The messengers returned with grim news: Thokk’s refusal meant Balder would never return. The gods mourned anew, accepting the bitter truth of Balder’s eternal absence.

Resources

Norse Sources

Lindow, John. Old Norse Mythology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Snorri Sturluson, and Jesse L. Byock, eds. The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse Mythology. London: Penguin, 2005.

Pettit, Edward, ed. The Poetic Edda: A Dual-Language Edition. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2023.

General Sources

Daly, Kathleen N., and Marian Rengel. Norse Mythology A to Z. 3rd ed. Mythology A to Z. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2010.