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Hel (mythological being)

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Hel(fromOld Norse:hel,lit. 'underworld') is a female being inNorse mythologywho is said to preside over an underworld realm of thesame name,where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in thePoetic Edda,compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and theProse Edda,written in the 13th century. In addition, she is mentioned in poems recorded inHeimskringlaandEgils sagathat date from the 9th and 10th centuries, respectively. An episode in the Latin workGesta Danorum,written in the 12th century bySaxo Grammaticus,is generally considered to refer to Hel, and Hel may appear on variousMigration Periodbracteates.

Hel(1889) byJohannes Gehrts,pictured here with her houndGarmr.

In thePoetic Edda,Prose Edda,andHeimskringla,Hel is referred to as a daughter ofLoki.In theProse EddabookGylfaginning,Hel is described as having been appointed by the godOdinas ruler of a realm of the same name, located inNiflheim.In the same source, her appearance is described as half blue and half flesh-coloured and further as having a gloomy, downcast appearance. TheProse Eddadetails that Hel rules over vast mansions with many servants in her underworld realm and plays a key role in the attempted resurrection of the godBaldr.

Scholarly theories have been proposed about Hel's potential connections to figures appearing in the 11th-centuryOld English Gospel of Nicodemusand Old NorseBartholomeus saga postola,that she may have been considered agoddesswith potentialIndo-Europeanparallels inBhavani,Kali,andMahakalior that Hel may have become a being only as a latepersonificationof the location of the same name.

Etymology

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TheOld NorsenameHelis identical to the name of thelocationover which she rules. It stems from theProto-Germanicfeminine noun*haljō-'concealed place, the underworld' (compare withGothichalja,Old Englishhelorhell,Old Frisianhelle,Old Saxonhellia,Old High Germanhella), itself aderivativeof*helan-'to cover > conceal, hide' (compare with OEhelan,OFhela,OShelan,OHGhelan).[1][2]It derives, ultimately, from theProto-Indo-Europeanverbal root*ḱel-'to conceal, cover, protect' (compare withLatincēlō,Old Irishceilid,Greekkalúptō).[2]The Old Irish masculine nouncel'dissolution, extinction, death' is also related.[3]

Other related early Germanic terms and concepts include thecompounds*halja-rūnō(n)and *halja-wītjan.[4]The feminine noun*halja-rūnō(n)is formed with*haljō-'hell' attached to*rūno'mystery, secret' >runes.It has descendantcognatesin the Old Englishhelle-rúne'possessed woman, sorceress, diviner',[5]the Old High Germanhelli-rūna'magic', and perhaps in the Latinized Gothic formhaliurunnae,[4]although its second element may derive instead fromrinnan'to run, go', leading to Gothic*haljurunnaas the 'one who travels to the netherworld'.[6][7]The neutral noun *halja-wītjanis composed of the same root*haljō-attached to *wītjan(compare with Goth.un-witi'foolishness, understanding', OEwitt'right mind, wits', OHGwizzi'understanding'), with descendant cognates in Old Norsehel-víti'hell', Old Englishhelle-wíte'hell-torment, hell', Old Saxon helli-wīti 'hell', orMiddle High Germanhelle-wīzi'hell'.[8]

Helis also etymologically related—although distantly in this case—to the Old Norse wordValhöll'Valhalla', literally 'hall of the slain', and to the English wordhall,both likewise deriving from Proto-Indo-European*ḱel-via the Proto-Germanic root *hallō-'covered place, hall'.[9]

Attestations

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Poetic Edda

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ThePoetic Edda,compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, features various poems that mention Hel. In thePoetic EddapoemVöluspá,Hel's realm is referred to as the "Halls of Hel".[10]In stanza 31 ofGrímnismál,Hel is listed as living beneath one of three roots growing from the world treeYggdrasil.[11]InFáfnismál,the heroSigurdstands before the mortally wounded body of the dragonFáfnir,and states that Fáfnir lies in pieces, where "Hel can take" him.[12]InAtlamál,the phrases "Hel has half of us" and "sent off to Hel" are used in reference to death, though it could be a reference to the location and not the being, if not both.[13]In stanza 4 ofBaldrs draumar,Odin rides towards the "high hall of Hel".[14]

Hel may also be alluded to inHamðismál.Death is paraphrased as "joy of the troll-woman"[15](or "ogress"[16]) and ostensibly it is Hel being referred to as the troll-woman or the ogre (flagð), although it may otherwise be some unspecifieddís.[15][16]

Prose Edda

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A depiction of a young Hel (center) being led to the assignment of her realm, while her brother Fenrir is led forward (left) and Jörmungandr (right) is about to be cast by Odin (1906) byLorenz Frølich.
"Hermodbefore Hela "(1909) byJohn Charles Dollman.
"The children of Loki" (1920) byWilly Pogany.
"Loki's Brood" (1905) byEmil Doepler.

Hel receives notable mention in theProse Edda.In chapter 34 of the bookGylfaginning,Hel is listed byHighas one of the three children ofLokiandAngrboða;the wolfFenrir,the serpentJörmungandr,and Hel. High continues that, once the gods found that these three children are being brought up in the land ofJötunheimr,and when the gods "traced prophecies that from these siblings great mischief and disaster would arise for them" then the gods expected a lot of trouble from the three children, partially due to the nature of the mother of the children, yet worse so due to the nature of their father.[17]

High says that Odin sent the gods to gather the children and bring them to him. Upon their arrival, Odin threw Jörmungandr into "that deep sea that lies round all lands", Odin threw Hel intoNiflheim,and bestowed upon her authority overnine worlds,in that she must "administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that is those who die of sickness or old age". High details that in this realm Hel has "great Mansions" with extremely high walls and immense gates, a hall calledÉljúðnir,a dish called "Hunger", a knife called "Famine", the servant Ganglati (Old Norse "lazy walker"[18]), the serving-maid Ganglöt (also "lazy walker"[18]), the entrance threshold "Stumbling-block", the bed "Sick-bed", and the curtains "Gleaming-bale". High describes Hel as "half black and half flesh-coloured", adding that this makes her easily recognizable, and furthermore that Hel is "rather downcast and fierce-looking".[19]

In chapter 49, High describes the events surrounding the death of the godBaldr.The goddessFriggasks who among theÆsirwill earn "all her love and favour" by riding to Hel, the location, to try to find Baldr, and offer Hel herself a ransom. The godHermóðrvolunteers and sets off upon the eight-legged horseSleipnirto Hel. Hermóðr arrives in Hel's hall, finds his brother Baldr there, and stays the night. The next morning, Hermóðr begs Hel to allow Baldr to ride home with him, and tells her about the great weeping the Æsir have done upon Baldr's death.[20]Hel says the love people have for Baldr that Hermóðr has claimed must be tested, stating:

If all things in the world, alive or dead, weep for him, then he will be allowed to return to the Æsir. If anyone speaks against him or refuses to cry, then he will remain with Hel.[21]

Later in the chapter, after the femalejötunnÞökkrefuses to weep for the dead Baldr, she responds in verse, ending with "let Hel hold what she has".[22]In chapter 51, High describes the events ofRagnarök,and details that when Loki arrives at the fieldVígríðr"all of Hel's people" will arrive with him.[23]

In chapter 12 of theProse EddabookSkáldskaparmál,Hel is mentioned in akenningfor Baldr ( "Hel's companion" ).[24]In chapter 23, "Hel's [...] relative or father" is given as a kenning for Loki.[25]In chapter 50, Hel is referenced ( "to join the company of the quite monstrous wolf's sister" ) in theskaldicpoemRagnarsdrápa.[26]

Heimskringla

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In theHeimskringlabookYnglinga saga,written in the 13th century bySnorri Sturluson,Hel is referred to, though never by name. In chapter 17, the kingDyggvidies of sickness. A poem from the 9th-centuryYnglingatalthat forms the basis ofYnglinga sagais then quoted that describes Hel's taking of Dyggvi:

I doubt not
but Dyggvi's corpse
Hel does hold
to whore with him;
for Ulf's sib
a scion of kings
by right should
caress in death:
to love lured
Loki's sister
Yngvi's heir
o'er all Sweden.[27]

In chapter 45, a section fromYnglingatalis given which refers to Hel as "howes'-warder "(meaning" guardian of the graves ") and as taking KingHalfdan Hvitbeinnfrom life.[28]In chapter 46, KingEystein Halfdanssondies by being knocked overboard by a sail yard. A section fromYnglingatalfollows, describing that Eystein "fared to" Hel (referred to as "Býleistr's-brother's-daughter ").[29]In chapter 47, the deceased Eystein's son KingHalfdandies of an illness, and the excerpt provided in the chapter describes his fate thereafter, a portion of which references Hel:

Loki's child
from life summoned
to herthing
the third liege-lord,
when Halfdan
of Holtar farm
left the life
allotted to him.[30]

In a stanza fromYnglingatalrecorded in chapter 72 of theHeimskringlabookSaga of Harald Sigurdsson,"given to Hel" is again used as a phrase to referring to death.[31]

Egils saga

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TheIcelanders' sagaEgils sagacontains the poemSonatorrek.The saga attributes the poem to 10th-century skaldEgill Skallagrímsson,and writes that it was composed by Egill after the death of his son Gunnar. The final stanza of the poem contains a mention of Hel, though not by name:

Now my course is tough:
Death, close sister
of Odin's enemy
stands on the ness:
with resolution
and without remorse
I will gladly
await my own.[32]

Gesta Danorum

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In the account of Baldr's death inSaxo Grammaticus' early 13th century workGesta Danorum,the dying Baldr has a dream visitation fromProserpina(here translated as "the goddess of death" ):

The following night the goddess of death appeared to him in a dream standing at his side, and declared that in three days time she would clasp him in her arms. It was no idle vision, for after three days the acute pain of his injury brought his end.[33]

Scholars have assumed that Saxo used Proserpina as a goddess equivalent to the Norse Hel.[34]

Archaeological record

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It has been suggested that severalimitation medallions and bracteatesof theMigration Period(ca. first centuries AD) feature depictions of Hel. In particular the bracteates IK 14 and IK 124 depict a rider traveling down a slope and coming upon a female being holding a scepter or a staff. The downward slope may indicate that the rider is traveling towards the realm of the dead and the woman with the scepter may be a female ruler of that realm, corresponding to Hel.[35]

Some B-class bracteates showing three godly figures have been interpreted as depicting Baldr's death, the best known of these is the Fakse bracteate. Two of the figures are understood to be Baldr and Odin while both Loki and Hel have been proposed as candidates for the third figure. If it is Hel she is presumably greeting the dying Baldr as he comes to her realm.[36]

Scholarly reception

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An 18th-centuryProse Eddamanuscript illustration featuring Hermóðr uponSleipnir(left),Baldr(upper right), and Hel (lower right). Details include but are not limited to Hel's dish "hunger"and the knife"famine".
"HeimdallrdesiresIðunn's return from the Underworld "(1881) byCarl Emil Doepler.

Seo Hell

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TheOld English Gospel of Nicodemus,preserved in two manuscripts from the 11th century, contains a female figure referred to asSeo hellwho engages inflytingwithSatanand tells him to leave her dwelling (Old Englishut of mynre onwununge). Regarding Seo Hell in theOld English Gospel of Nicodemus,Michael Bell states that "her vivid personification in a dramatically excellent scene suggests that her gender is more than grammatical, and invites comparison with the Old Norse underworld goddess Hel and theFrau Holleof German folklore, to say nothing of underworld goddesses in other cultures "yet adds that" the possibility that these gendersaremerely grammatical is strengthened by the fact that an Old Norse version of Nicodemus, possibly translated under English influence, personifies Hell in the neutral (Old Norseþat helvíti) ".[37]

Bartholomeus saga postola

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TheOld NorseBartholomeus saga postola,an account of the life ofSaint Bartholomewdating from the 13th century, mentions a "Queen Hel". In the story, a devil is hiding within a pagan idol, and bound by Bartholomew's spiritual powers to acknowledge himself and confess, the devil refers toJesusas the one which "made war on Hel our queen" (Old Norseheriaði a Hel drottning vara). "Queen Hel" is not mentioned elsewhere in the saga.[38]

Michael Bell says that while Hel "might at first appear to be identical with the well-known pagan goddess of the Norse underworld" as described in chapter 34 ofGylfaginning,"in the combined light of the Old English and Old Norse versions ofNicodemusshe casts quite a different a shadow ", and that inBartholomeus saga postola"she is clearly the queen of the Christian, not pagan, underworld".[39]

Origins and development

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Jacob Grimmdescribed Hel as an example of a "half-goddess": "one who cannot be shown to be either wife or daughter of a god, and who stands in a dependent relation to higher divinities", and argued that "half-goddesses" stand higher than "half-gods" in Germanic mythology.[40]Grimm regarded Hel (whom he refers to here asHalja,the theorizedProto-Germanicform of the term) as essentially an "image of a greedy, unrestoring, female deity" and theorized that "the higher we are allowed to penetrate into our antiquities, the less hellish and more godlike mayHaljaappear ". He compared her role, her black color, and her name to" theIndianBhavani,who travels about and bathes likeNerthusandHolda,but is likewise calledKaliorMahakali,the greatblackgoddess "and concluded that"Haljais one of the oldest and commonest conceptions of our heathenism ".[41]He theorized that theHelhest,a three-legged horse that in Danish folklore roams the countryside "as a harbinger of plague and pestilence", was originally the steed of the goddess Hel, and that on this steed Hel roamed the land "picking up the dead that were her due". He also says that a wagon was once ascribed to Hel.[42]

In her 1948 work on death in Norse mythology and religion,The Road to Hel,Hilda Ellis Davidsonargued that the description of Hel as a goddess in surviving sources appeared to be literary personification, the wordhelgenerally being "used simply to signify death or the grave", which she states "naturally lends itself to personification by poets". While noting that "whether this personification has originally been based on a belief in a goddess of death called Hel [was] another question", she stated that she did not believe the surviving sources gave any reason to believe so, while they included various other examples of "supernatural women" who "seem to have been closely connected with the world of death, and were pictured as welcoming dead warriors". She suggested that the depiction of Hel "as a goddess" inGylfaginning"might well owe something to these".[43]

In a later work (1998), Davidson wrote that the description of Hel found in chapter 33 ofGylfaginning"hardly suggests a goddess", but that "in the account of Hermod's ride to Hel later inGylfaginning(49) ", Hel" [speaks] with authority as ruler of the underworld "and that from her realm" gifts are sent back toFriggandFullaby Balder's wifeNannaas from a friendly kingdom ". She posited that Snorri may have" earlier turned the goddess of death into an allegorical figure, just as he made Hel, the underworld ofshades,a place 'where wicked men go,' like the Christian Hell (Gylfaginning3) ". She then, like Grimm, compared Hel toKali:

On the other hand, a goddess of death who represents the horrors of slaughter and decay is something well known elsewhere; the figure of Kali in India is an outstanding example. Like Snorri's Hel, she is terrifying to in appearance, black or dark in colour, usually naked, adorned with severed heads or arms or the corpses of children, her lips smeared with blood. She haunts the battlefield or cremation ground and squats on corpses. Yet for all this she is "the recipient of ardent devotion from countless devotees who approach her as their mother" [...].[44]

Davidson further compared Hel to early attestations of theIrishgoddessesBadb(described inThe Destruction of Da Choca's Hostelas dark in color, with a large mouth, wearing a dusky mantle, and with gray hair falling over her shoulders, or, alternatively, "as a red figure on the edge of the ford, washing the chariot of a king doomed to die" ) andthe Morrígan.She concluded that, in these examples, "here we have the fierce destructive side of death, with a strong emphasis on its physical horrors, so perhaps we should not assume that the gruesome figure of Hel is wholly Snorri's literary invention".[45]

John Lindowstated that most details about Hel, as a figure, are not found outside of Snorri's writing inGylfaginning,and that when older skaldic poetry "says that people are 'in' rather than 'with' Hel, we are clearly dealing with a place rather than a person, and this is assumed to be the older conception". He theorizes that the noun and placeHellikely originally simply meant "grave", and that "the personification came later".[46]Lindow also drew a parallel between the personified Hel's banishment to the underworld and the binding of Fenrir as part of a recurring theme of thebound monster,where an enemy of the gods is bound but destined to break free at Ragnarok.[47]Rudolf Simeksimilarly stated that the figure of Hel is "probably a very late personification of the underworld Hel", that "on the whole nothing speaks in favour of there being a belief in Hel in pre-Christian times", and noted that "the first scriptures using the goddess Hel are found at the end of the 10th and in the 11th centuries". He characterized the allegorical description of Hel's house inGylfaginningas "clearly... in the Christian tradition".[48]However, elsewhere in the same work, Simek cites an argument made byKarl Hauck[de]that one of three figures appearing together on Migration PeriodB-bracteatesis to be interpreted as Hel.[49]

As a given name

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In January 2017, theIcelandic Naming Committeeruled that parents could not name their childHel"on the grounds that the name would cause the child significant distress and trouble as it grows up".[50][51]

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Hel is one of the playable gods in thethird-personmultiplayer online battle arenagameSmiteand was one of the original 17 gods.[52]Hel is also featured inEnsemble Studios' 2002real-time strategygameAge of Mythology,where she is one of 12 gods Norse players can choose to worship.[53][54]

Hela

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Hel was the inspiration for theMarvelcomic book characterHela,created byStan LeeandJack Kirby;Hela first appeared inJourney into Mystery#102 (March 1964).[55]In the widely popularThor: Ragnarok(2017),[56]Hela is portrayed as "violent, vicious, brutal and cruel".[57]In Norse mythology, "Hela" is not a recognized spelling variant.[58]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Orel 2003,pp. 156, 168.
  2. ^abKroonen 2013,pp. 204, 218.
  3. ^Kroonen 2013,p. 204.
  4. ^abOrel 2003,pp. 155–156.
  5. ^"Dictionary of Old English".University of Toronto.Archivedfrom the original on 25 February 2021.Retrieved26 May2020.
  6. ^Scardigli, Piergiuseppe, Die Goten: Sprache und Kultur (1973) pp. 70–71.
  7. ^Lehmann, Winfred, A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
  8. ^Orel 2003,pp. 156, 464.
  9. ^This is highlighted in Watkins (2000:38).
  10. ^Larrington (1999:9).
  11. ^Larrington (1999:56).
  12. ^Larrington (1999:61).
  13. ^Larrington (1999:225 and 232).
  14. ^Larrington (1999:243).
  15. ^abLarrington (1999:240 and notes).
  16. ^abDronke (1969:164).
  17. ^Faulkes (1995:26–27).
  18. ^abOrchard (1997:79).
  19. ^Faulkes (1995:27).
  20. ^Faulkes (1995:49–50).
  21. ^Byock (2005:68).
  22. ^Byock (2005:69).
  23. ^Faulkes (1995:54).
  24. ^Faulkes (1995:74).
  25. ^Faulkes (1995:76).
  26. ^Faulkes (1995:123).
  27. ^Hollander (2007:20).
  28. ^Hollander (2007:46).
  29. ^Hollander (2007:47).
  30. ^Hollander (2007:20–21).
  31. ^Hollander (2007:638).
  32. ^Scudder (2001:159).
  33. ^Fisher (1999:I 75).
  34. ^Davidson (1999:II 356); Grimm (2004:314).
  35. ^Pesch (2002:67).
  36. ^Simek (2007:44); Pesch (2002:70); Bonnetain (2006:327).
  37. ^Bell (1983:263).
  38. ^Bell (1983:263–264).
  39. ^Bell (1983:265).
  40. ^Grimm (1882:397).
  41. ^Grimm (1882:315).
  42. ^Grimm (1882:314).
  43. ^Ellis (1968:84).
  44. ^Davidson (1998:178) quoting 'the recipient...' from Kinsley (1989:116).
  45. ^Davidson (1998:179).
  46. ^Lindow (1997:172).
  47. ^Lindow (2001:82–83).
  48. ^Simek (2007:138).
  49. ^Simek (2007:44).
  50. ^"Naming committee stops parents from naming daughter after goddess of the underworld".Iceland Magazine.10 January 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 27 November 2019.Retrieved11 January2017.Cf."Not allowed to name after Nordic goddess Hel".Iceland Monitor.9 January 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 18 December 2018.Retrieved10 January2017.
  51. ^"Mál nr. 98/2016 Úrskurður 6. janúar 2017"Archived5 July 2018 at theWayback Machine,Mannanafnanefnd,6 January 2017
  52. ^"Archived copy".Archivedfrom the original on 31 July 2021.Retrieved1 August2021.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  53. ^"The Minor Gods: Norse – Age of Mythology Wiki Guide – IGN".27 March 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 1 August 2021.Retrieved1 August2021.
  54. ^"Age of Mythology".
  55. ^Rovin, Jeff(1987).The Encyclopedia of Super-Villains.New York: Facts on File. p. 155.ISBN0-8160-1356-X.[1]
  56. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (20 March 2018)."No. 8 'Thor: Ragnarok' Box Office Profits – 2017 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament".Deadline Hollywood.Archivedfrom the original on 22 March 2018.Retrieved23 November2024.
  57. ^Marin, Gabiann (January 2020)."The Hidden Goddess: The Erasure and Pseudo-Empowerment Narrative of the Goddess in Wonder Woman 2017".Hecate.46(1/2): 210 – via ProQuest.
  58. ^Kabir, Syed Rafid (12 January 2023)."Hel: Norse Goddess of Death and the Underworld".History Cooperative.Retrieved23 November2024.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: url-status (link)

References

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