Hel (location)
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In Norse mythology, Hel, the location, shares a name with Hel, a female figure associated with the location. In late Icelandic sources, varying descriptions of Hel are given and various figures are described as being buried with items that will facilitate their journey to Hel after their death. In the Poetic Edda, Brynhildr's trip to Hel after her death is described and Odin, while alive, also visits Hel upon his horse Sleipnir. In the Prose Edda, Baldr goes to Hel upon death and subsequently Hermóðr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him. "Hel-shoes" are described in Gísla saga.
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[edit] Etymology
The old Old Norse word Hel derives from Proto-Germanic *khalija, which means "one who covers up or hides something", which itself derives from Proto-Indo-European *kel-, meaning "conceal". The term may have later spawned the English word Hell. Related terms are Old Frisian, helle, German Hölle and Gothic halja.
[edit] Poetic Edda
Hel is described or referred to a number of times in the Poetic Edda.
[edit] Völuspá
In reference to Hel, Völuspá states that Hel will play an important role in Ragnarök by emphasizing a crowing "sooty-red cock from the halls of Hel" in Hel as one of three that will signal one of the beginning events of Ragnarök. The other two are Fjalar in Jotunheim and Gullunkambi in Valhalla.[1]
[edit] Grímnismál
In Grímnismál stanza 31, Hel is listed as existing beneath one of three roots of the world tree Yggdrasil. One of the other two leads to the Frost Giants and the third to Mankind.
[edit] Guðrúnarkviða I
Hel is referenced as a location in Guðrúnarkviða I as Herborg tells of her grief in having prepared funeral arrangements for various members of her family, her children and her husbands, described it as "arranging their journey to Hel"[2].
[edit] Helreið Brynhildar
In the short poem Helreið Brynhildar, Hel is directly referenced as a location in the title, translating to "Brynhild's Hel-Ride". While riding along a road on the border of Hel in a lavish cart (the cart her corpse was burnt within), Brynhildr encounters a dead giantess at a burial mound belonging to her. This results in a heated exchange, during which Brynhildr tells of her life.
[edit] Baldrs draumar
In Baldrs draumar, Odin rides to the edge of Hel to investigate nightmares Baldr has had. He brings to life the corpse of a Völva with a spell. Odin introduces himself under a false name and pretense and asks for information from the Völva relating to Baldr's dreams. The Völva proceeds to give reluctantly produce prophecies regarding Ragnarök.
The poem gives some information regarding the geographic location of Hel in parallel to the Prose Edda, which may be related to the fact that it was not included in the Codex Regius but is instead a later addition.[2] Niflhel is mentioned as being just outside of Hel. The bloody Garmr makes an appearance, encountering Odin on Odin's ride to Hel. Odin continues down the road and approaches Hel, which is described as the "high hall of Hel".[2] There he proceeds to the grave of the Völva near the eastern doors where the descriptions of Hel end.
[edit] Prose Edda
In Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, more detailed information is given about the location, including a detailed account of a venture to the region after the death of the god Baldr. Snorri's descriptions of Hel in the Prose Edda are not corroborated outside of Baldrs draumar, which does not appear in the original Codex Regius but is a later addition often included with modern editions of the Poetic Edda.
[edit] Gylfaginning
In the book Gylfaginning, Hel is introduced in chapter 3 as a location where "evil men"[3] go upon death and from there into Niflhel. The chapter further details that Hel is in the ninth of the Nine Worlds.
In chapter 34, the Hel, the being is introduced. Snorri writes that Hel was cast down into Hel by Odin who "made her ruler over Nine Worlds"[3]. Snorri further writes that there Hel is located in Niflheim. Here it is related that she could give out lodging and items to those sent to her that have died of disease or old age. A very large dwelling is described as existing in Niflheim owned by Hel with huge walls and gates. The hall is called - or inside of this huge hall there is a hall belonging to Hel called - Éljúðnir. Within this hall Hel is described as having a servant, a slave and various possessions.
At the end of chapter 49, the death of Baldr and Nanna (according to Snorri) is described. Hermód, described as Baldr's brother in this source, sets out to Hel on horseback to retrieve the deceased Baldr. To enter Hel, Hermód rides for nine nights through "valleys so deep and dark that he saw nothing"[3] until he arrives at the river Gjöll ("Noisy"[3]) and the Gjöll bridge. The bridge is described as having a roof made of shining gold. Hermód then proceeds to cross it. The bridge is guarded by the maiden Móðguð ("Furious Battler"[3]), whom he there encounters.
Móðguð speaks to Hermód and comments that the bridge echoed beneath him more than the entire party of five people who had just passed. This is a reference to Baldr, Nanna and those that were burnt in their funeral pyre passing over the bridge upon death. She also reveals that the dead in Hel appear as a different color than the living and tells him that to get to Hel he must go "down and to the North"[3] where he would find the Road to Hel.
Continuing along the Road to Hel, Hermód encounters the Gates of Hel. He then remounts, spurs Sleipnir and the two bound far over it. He proceeds further beyond the gates for some distance before arriving at the hall, dismounting and entering. There he sees Baldr sitting in a "seat of honor"[3] and subsequently spends a night in Hel. The following day, Hermód presses Hel, the being, to allow Baldr to leave. Hel gives him an offer and then Baldr leads him out of the hall. Baldr then gives Hermód various gifts from Nanna and himself to bring from Hel to the living Æsir. Hermód then retraces his path back to the land of the living. Hel's offer fails and in chapter 50, Loki is blamed for Baldr remaining in Hel.
In chapter 53, Hel is mentioned a final time in the Prose Edda; Höðr and Baldr are mentioned as returning from Hel in a post-Ragnarök world:
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Því næst koma þar Baldr ok Höðr frá Heljar, setjask þá allir samt ok talask við ok minnask á rúnar sínar ok rœða of tíðindi þau er fyrrum höfðu verit, of Miðgarðsorm ok um Fenrisúlf. - Eysteinn Björnsson's edition |
"After that Baldr shall come thither, and Hödr, from Hel; then all shall sit down together and hold speech with one another, and call to mind their secret wisdom, and speak of those happenings which have been before: of the Midgard Serpent and of Fenris-Wolf." - Brodeur's translation |
[edit] Theories
H.R. Ellis Davidson, writing on Snorri's unique description of Hel in his Prose Edda, states that "it seems likely that Snorri's account of the underworld is chiefly his own work" and that the idea that the dead entering Hel who have died of sickness and old age may have been an attempt on Snorri's part to reconcile the tradition with his description of Valhalla, citing that "the one detailed account of Hel" that Snorri gives is that of Baldr entering Hel without dying of old age or sickness.
Davidson writes that Snorri was potentially using a "rich source" unknown to us for his description of Hel, though it may not have told him very much about the location outside of that it was a hall and that Snorri's description of Hel may at times be influenced by Christian teachings about the after-life.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The name of this rooster is nowhere stated. In Völuspá it is only referred to as a "sooty-red cock in the halls of Hel" that "crows down below the earth" (Larrington translation).
- ^ a b c Larrington, Carolyne. The Poetic Edda: A new translation by Carolyne Larrington (1996) ISBN 0192839462
- ^ a b c d e f g Byock, Jesse. Trans. The Prose Edda (2006) Penguin Classics ISBN 0140447555
- ^ Ellis, Hilda Roderick. The Road to Hel: A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature (1968) ISBN 0837100704
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