Deity Deep Dive: Hel

Today I want to share with you all the Goddess Hel. To anyone who isn’t familiar with the Norse mythos, this isn’t as bad as it may seem. Though she is the Goddess of the Dead, she, like Hades, is not actually bad or evil, she just is. 

Hel is the only daughter attributed to Loki in the myths. I’m not saying he does have more children than listed in mythology, but having worked with him more closely in the last few months, he’s not the most… celibate deity…  

But Hel, Goddess of the dead, caretaker of those who die of sickness, old age, or just don’t die “honorably” enough to go to Valhalla (Odin’s Hall) or Folkvangr(Freya’s Hall). There’s honestly not much about her in the stories we have today. She’s often described or depicted as being gloomy, half dead looking, and cruel. Many modern-day scholars even think she was a later on personification of the realm with the same name. The main myth she’s a part of is the attempted resurrection of Baldur, where she told Hermod that she would release Baldur only if everything in the universe cried for him (It is believed that the Giantess that refused was Loki in disguise, which is possible but not known for certain). Otherwise, there’s nothing concreate to find. Just that she was the sister of the wolf Fenrir, and the world serpent Jormungand, and that Odin threw her into Niflheim out of fear of what she and her brothers might be used for (Ragnarök). 

Now, what I know of her based off working with her is that she is very misunderstood. She was thrown into a realm she wanted nothing to do with at first, given a job that she didn’t know how to do, all while she was still a child. She was ripped away from her family and there’s a level of depression about her much of the time. She has learned to make the most of her situation, however. She takes pride in how she cares for the souls that come to her. She is quite kind, caring, and she tries to be as considerate as possible to anyone she comes into contact with. 

Her appearance is also widely debated. Some say she’s half black, half flesh colored. Some say she’s half blue, half flesh. Others say one half of her is a corpse (or skeleton) and the other half is living. They also can’t decide whether it’s left and right or top and bottom. I’ve seen her as her right half is like a stereotypical beautiful elf-like being (think Lord of the Rings elves), and her left half is mostly distorted, but is different somehow and she masks it with a glamor or something. She’s very self-conscious about her left side, always afraid of scaring people. Her hair is very long, thick, straight, and she uses it to help cover her left side a bit. 

She has power, she has claimed that Odin locked her away because he feared her power, not just her involvement in the prophecy of Ragnarök. I don’t know the full extent of her power, but I know she can create and manipulate ice (think Queen Elsa) and it’s believed that she had some power over life and death, sickness, and the like. I don’t know about all of it, but one of the telling signs that she’s with me is that I feel a cold shiver before I feel her presence. 

All in all, there’s not much I can share with you all that isn’t mostly lived experience from working with Hel. She’s very mysterious in the mythology to the point that many don’t really believe she was ever a relevant figure in the original belief. Some even refuse to call her a Goddess all together, her mother was a giantess and Loki is also at least half giant himself (some say he’s half Jotunn, others say he’s just a small Jotunn). 

Do any of you work with Hel? What’s your experience like? I know there’s a few details I left out, like her hellhound Garmr, or her supposed three-legged horse Helhest, but there’s only small mentions of both, and I don’t know anything about them from my workings with her. I’d love to see what you all know and can share!