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Hel




Place of birth: Jötunheim, Midgard


Distinguishing features: Half blue-black and half flesh-color skin
Race: Æsir/giant hybrid


Known relatives: Angrboda (mother)
Loki (father)
Fenris-wolf (brother)
Jörmungandr (brother)
Base of operations: Niflheim


Story: Hel is the youngest of the three children Loki had with the giantess Angrboda. When the Æsir discovered the children, Hel was cast into Niflheim by Odin. Here she was given power over the ninth world, and was to house those that were sent to her: men dead of sickness or of old age. She is easily recognized by her half blue-black and half flesh-color, and very lowering and fierce temper [1].


Equipment: Hel has a house with exceeding high walls and great gates. Her hall is called Sleet-Cold, her threshold, by which one enters, Pit of Stumbling; Disease, her bed; and her bed-hangings, Gleaming Bale. Her dish is called, Hunger; Famine is her knife; Idler, her thrall, and her maidservant: Sloven.


Continuity: Norse Mythology
First app.: Folk tales: Viking age (800-1100 CE)
Written form: The Poetic Edda (around 1250 CE)
Country of origin: Scandinavia/Iceland


Related links/characters:
- Fenris Wolf/Monster of Ván
- Jörmungandr/Midgard Serpent/Vast Monster
- Loki
- Odin


References: 1: The Prose Edda