Associated with death and the afterlife, ruler of Helheim, the underworld.

Name(s): The word hel is Old Norse/Old Icelandic for “death”; it is also both the name of the goddess Hel and the name of her realm (also known as Helheim).

Parents: Loki and the jotun/giant Angrboda.

Spouse: Unknown.

Children: Unknown.

Affiliations: Hel is a jotun/giant.

Tales: After Baldr’s death, Frigg sends Hermod to Hel’s realm to ask for her son’s release; Hel responds that if every being on earth would cry for Baldr, he could return to the gods. Only one being, a jotun named Þökk, refuses, and Baldr remains with Hel.

Hall: In Voluspa and in Baldr’s draumar Hel’s realm is simply called the “hall(s) of Hel” and is said to reside under a root of Yggdrasil the World Tree.

In Gylfaginning Hel is said to rule over Niflheim, where she has care of those who die of illness or age. Her hall there is known as Éljúðnir,

Other details: Hel’s siblings (the other children of Loki and Angrboda) are Fenrir the wolf and Jormundgandr the world serpent.

Hel is described in Gylfaginning as half blackened and half flesh (half dead and half alive).