Hel: The Goddess of the Underworld

Artwork created by Robin M. Weare, 1996.  

In Norse Mythology, Hel is featured as the goddess of the underworld.

She is the youngest child of the evil god Loki and the giantess Angrboda. Hel had quite a disturbing appearance. She was born with her bones exposed on the outside of her body. It was also said that she was both black and white. She is usually described as a horrible hag, half alive and half dead, with a gloomy and grim expression. Her face and body are those of a living woman, but her thighs and legs are those of a corpse.

The gods abducted Hel and her brothers from Angroboda's hall. They cast her in the underworld, where she was the judge of those who are sent to her; both the wicked and those who died of sickness and old age. Those who were evil in life go to a realm of icy cold death, where souls would be damned for eternity. The others entering her realm who died of natural causes and disease were watched over by Hel and given a chance at rebirth.

Hel is the ruler of Helheim the realm of the dead. Early Christians borrowed the term from ancient Norsemen, thus Christians call the underworld "hell".

Works Cited

"Hel." Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia (1996): 459. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

"Hel." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2011): 1. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

"Hel." Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia Of Literature (1995): N.PAG. Literary Reference Center Plus. Web. 30 Nov. 2012.

"Love of the Goddess: Hel, Norse Queen of the Underworld." N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. <http://loveofthegoddess.blogspot.com/2011/12/hel-norse-queen-of-underworld.html>.