Hel, Norse Goddess of the Dead
Hel represents endings and beginnings, and also the darker aspects of life and of ourselves. She teaches us that after death is the opportunity for rebirth, in anything in our lives. The ending of one thing becomes the beginning of another.
Light and darkness/life and death are part of the same and cannot be taken apart from each other. Hel represents the unity of both and bind them together. There is no light without darkness, no life without death, no children without ancestors, no summer without winter.
In magic, in Norse religion, through the practice of Seidr, a Norse form of prophetic and shamanistic witchcraft, practitioners would call on Hel for astral travel, to travel to the world of the spirits and communicate with them. You can call of her today for such magical acts as well as divination. She is usually honored at Samhain and Yule, and on the dark/waning moon.
On your altar for Hel, have colors of black and white, crystals of moonstone, black onyx and hematite, white flowers, representation of a raven and a picture of her in her half dead, half live form to represent the duality in nature and in ourselves.
Hel is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted Goddess aspects in history. She has been greatly perverted through the years by patriarchal domination and ultimately used by the early Christian church as a scare tactic to frighten the masses into “righteous” acts. To get the real story, we have to go back to the early Nordic people and look this death Goddess in the face.
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 cognate in English is the word Hell which is from the Old English forms hel and helle.
Related terms are Old Frisian, helle, German Hölle and Gothic halja. Other words more distantly related include hole, hollow, hall, helmet and cell, all from the aforementioned Indo-European root *kel-.
It seems that Hel actually represents a very old mother earth cult. The word Hel is found in Norse words and phrases related to death such as Helför (“Hel-journey,” a funeral) and Helsótt (“Hel-sickness,” a fatal illness). The norwegian word “heilag/hellig” which means “sacred” is directly related etymologicaly to the name “Hel”, and the same goes for the english word “holy”.
Hel seems to be connected to other germanic goddesses: Frau Holde or Holle for instance. In German legends, Frau Holda was the protectoress of agriculture and women’s crafts. Her name and the names Huld and Hulda may be cognate with that of the Scandinavian being known as the huldra.
Many attempts have been made to interpret this name. The most steadfast connections are with Frau Holle and Hulda on one hand, and the Old Norse Hlóðyn, a byname for the Earth, Thor’s mother, on the other. She is usually thought to be identical with Hludana, to whom Roman votive tablets have been found on the Lower Rhine.
In Norse mythology, Jörð (Icelandic “earth”, and from Old Norse jǫrð, sometimes Anglicized as Jord or Jorth; also called Jarð, as in Old East Norse), is a female jötunn. She is the mother of Thor and the personification of the Earth.
Fjörgyn and Hlóðyn are considered to be other names for Jörð. Jörð is reckoned a goddess, like other jötnar who coupled with the gods. Jörð’s name appears in skaldic poetry both as a poetic term for the land and in kennings for Thor.
In Lokasenna, Thor is called Jarðar burr (“son of Jörð”). In the same verse in Völuspá, he is referred to as mǫgr Hlóðyniar and Fjǫrgyniar burr (child of Hlóðyn, Fjörgyn’s child). The otherwise unknown Hlóðyn was therefore another name of Jörð.
She is also frequently equated with Nerthus, who also rides in a wagon, and Odin’s wife, Frigg, from her alternate names Frau Guaden [Wodan], Frau Goden, and Frau Frekke as well as her position as mistress of the Wild Hunt.
The similarity of meaning and etymology between German “Holl(d)a” and Old English “Hella,” as well as both being described as leading the dead, could point to a link between them. Hel could be the supreme mother nature while the other goddesses/giantess Freyja, Idunn, Skadi…etc represent specific aspect of life and nature, Hel represent the full cycle of life and death.
Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In addition, she is mentioned in poems recorded in Heimskringla and Egils saga that date from the 9th and 10th centuries, respectively.
In the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and Heimskringla, Hel is referred to as a daughter of Loki and Angrboða, along with the wolf Fenrir and the serpent Jörmungandr. In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, her appearance is described as half black and half white flesh-coloured and further as having a gloomy, downcast appearance.
Once the gods found that these three children are being brought up in the land of Jötunheimr, 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.
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,”, then threw Hel into Niflheim and bestowed upon her authority over nine 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.
In Niflheim Hel has “great Mansions” with extremely high walls and immense gates, a hall called Éljúðnir, a dish called “Hunger,” a knife called “Famine,” the servant Ganglati (Old Norse “lazy walker”), the serving-maid Ganglöt (also “lazy walker”), the entrance threshold “Stumbling-block,” the bed “Sick-bed,” and the curtains “Gleaming-bale.
The Prose Edda details that Hel rules over vast mansions with many servants in her underworld realm and plays a key role in the attempted resurrection of the god Baldr. The goddess Frigg asks who among the Æsir will earn “all her love and favour” by riding to Hel, the location, to try to find Baldr, and offer Hel herself a ransom.
The god Hermóðr volunteers and sets off upon the eight-legged horse Sleipnir to 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.
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.”
Later in the chapter, after the female jötunn Þökk refuses to weep for the dead Baldr, she responds in verse, ending with “let Hel hold what she has.”
Most details about Hel, as a figure, are not found outside of Snorri’s writing in Gylfaginning. 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.
The word hel is generally used simply to signify death or the grave, and the word often appears as the equivalent to the English ‘death’. The noun and place Hel likely originally simply meant “grave”. The personification came later.”
Scholarly theories have been proposed about Hel’s potential connections to figures appearing in the 11th century Old English Gospel of Nicodemus and Old Norse Bartholomeus saga postola, potential Indo-European parallels to Bhavani, Kali, and Mahakali, and her origins.
Jacob Grimm theorized that Hel (whom he refers to here as Halja, the theorized Proto-Germanic form of the term) is essentially an “image of a greedy, unrestoring, female deity” and that “the higher we are allowed to penetrate into our antiquities, the less hellish and more godlike may Halja appear. Of this we have a particularly strong guarantee in her affinity to the Indian Bhavani, who travels about and bathes like Nerthus and Holda, but is likewise called Kali or Mahakali, the great black goddess. In the underworld she is supposed to sit in judgment on souls. This office, the similar name and the black hue [...] make her exceedingly like Halja. And Halja is one of the oldest and commonest conceptions of our heathenism.”
In Norse mythology, Hel (also called Hela or Hell) is a being who presides over a realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead, and to “go to Hel” is to die. To avoid confusion between the two, a number of academic studies in Teutonic literature have often referred to this underworld as Helheim (from Old Norse heimr, heima — “abode”, “region”, “world”, Hel’s domain) or Helvíti (from Old Icel. víti, deriv. of O.E. wite — “fine”, “sconce”, “penalty”, Hel’s place of punishment).
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 Snorri Sturluson’s Prose Edda, Baldr goes to Hel upon death and subsequently Hermóðr uses Sleipnir to attempt to retrieve him. The “Hel-shoes” are described in Gísla saga as shoes placed upon the feet of a corpse so that the soul of the recently deceased can enter Valhalla (from Old Norse Valhöll ” the hall of the slain”), in Norse mythology, a majestic, enormous hall located in Asgard, ruled over by the god Odin.
As Hel was home to the dishonorable dead, Norse tradition usually referred to the departed souls that were sent there as the Náir (sing. nár — “cadaver”, “deceased spirit”, corpses of the damned).
In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Hel is described as having been appointed by the god Odin as ruler of a realm of the same name, located in Niflheim (“Mist Home”, the “Abode of Mist” or “Mist World”), one of the Nine Worlds and is a location in Norse mythology which overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name Niflheimr only appears in two extant sources, Gylfaginning and the much debated Hrafnagaldr Óðins.
Niflhel (“Misty Hel”; Nifel being cognate with Nebel, a German and Latin root meaning cloud) is the name of a location in Norse mythology which appears in the eddic poems Vafþrúðnismál and Baldrs draumar, and also in Snorri Sturluson’s Gylfaginning. Niflhel overlaps with the notions of Niflheimr and Hel.
In Gylfaginning by Snorri Sturluson, Gylfi, the old king of Scandinavia, receives an education in Norse mythology from Odin himself in the guise of three men. Gylfi learns from Odin (as Þriði) that Odin gave the first man his spirit, and that the spirits of just men will live forever in Gimlé, whereas those of evil men will live forever in Niflhel.
Niflheim was primarily a realm of primordial ice and cold, with nine frozen rivers. According to Gylfaginning, Niflheim was one of the two primordial realms, the other one being Muspelheim, the realm of fire.
Between these two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a “creating steam”. Later, it became the abode of Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death.
Althought there is no evidence of a cult of Hel, she must have meant something very special that the christians used her name to say that all the people who have something to do with heathensim and all of them they chose to define as evil would go to hell.
Maybe people didn’t have anymore/ never had a cult because there were other goddesses who all inherited some specific aspect of Hel and people would rather make a ceremony for different goddesses depending the time of the year or the occasion.
Hela
- another version of the name Hel. Also Helle.
Hecate
- Guardian of the crossroads and patron of witches.
Holle
- Frau Holle is the kindly mistress who guards those who do not die in battle. She holds them in preparation for reincarnation.
Holda
- Dame Holda is a precursor to Mother Goose. She is guardian of children who die. She shakes her feather matress to make it snow.
Idunna
- Goddess aspect whose apples feed the gods and give them immortality (much like the Greek ambrosia).
Isis
- Special protector and caregiver for the dead. Sits with Osiris in judgment of souls.
Kali
- Death Goddess aspect. Destroyer and bringer of life. Kali enables reincarnation and life by destroying the old. Hel represents this harsh Goddess aspect.
Hagalaz
Hagalaz Rune
Hagall Rune
Heimdallr brings forth the gift of the gods to mankind (1907) by Nils Asplund
Hel is strongly connected to the rune Hagalaz, a rune also connected to Heimdallr, a god who possesses the resounding horn Gjallarhorn, owns the golden-maned horse Gulltoppr, has gold teeth, and is the son of Nine Mothers.
Heimdallr is attested as possessing foreknowledge, keen eyesight and hearing, is described as “the whitest of the gods”, and keeps watch for the onset of Ragnarök while drinking fine mead in his dwelling Himinbjörg, located where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets heaven.
Heimdallr is said to be the originator of social classes among humanity and once regained Freyja’s treasured possession Brísingamen while doing battle in the shape of a seal with Loki. Heimdallr and Loki are foretold to kill one another during the events of Ragnarök. Heimdallr is additionally referred to as Rig, Hallinskiði, Gullintanni, and Vindlér or Vindhlér.
Heimdallr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material; in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, both written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; in the poetry of skalds; and on an Old Norse runic inscription found in England. Two lines of an otherwise lost poem about the god, Heimdalargaldr, survive.
Due to the problematic and enigmatic nature of these attestations, scholars have produced various theories about the nature of the god, including his apparent relation to rams, that he may be a personification of or connected to the world tree Yggdrasil, and potential Indo-European cognates.
Heimdallr is the watchman of the gods, and he sits on the edge of heaven to guard the Bifröst bridge from the berg jötnar. Heimdallr requires less sleep than a bird, can see at night just as well as if it were day, and for over a hundred leagues.
Heimdallr’s hearing is also quite keen; he can hear grass as it grows on the earth, wool as it grows on sheep, and anything louder. Heimdallr possesses a trumpet, Gjallarhorn, that, when blown, can be heard in all worlds, and “the head is referred to as Heimdall’s sword”.
A figure holding a large horn to his lips and clasping a sword on his hip appears on a stone cross from the Isle of Man. Some scholars have theorized that this figure is a depiction of Heimdallr with Gjallarhorn. A 9th or 10th century Gosforth Cross in Cumbria, England depicts a figure holding a horn and a sword standing defiantly before two open-mouthed beasts. This figure has been often theorized as depicting Heimdallr with Gjallarhorn.
Hagalaz literally means “heil” when it has a protection aspect, as heil/heilag comes from Hel, and the word “heil” was also found in the “Heil og Sæl” (an old norse way to greet which means “to good health and happiness”).
One of the form of the rune has actually the form of a snow flake, the shape of the pure water molecule while the second form of the rune seems to symbolize a passage on the way down between 2 dimensions.
The rune Hagalaz is the rune that connects to the underworld, to the past and to the spirit of the ancestors, but just like Hel it has been darkened by a christian spirit. This rune is mostly described as destructive today, and that is indeed one of the energy of the rune, but the other part of the rune energy is often forgotten, or least too under rated, and that is renewed energy, creation from destruction, life after death, water from melting ice that will fertilize the earth.
All of this represents very well Hel’s spirit and energy. Hagalaz is also called as mother of all the other runes, life indeed emerge from the dark realm of Niflheim where Hel dwells.
The rune Hagalaz could very well have been the guiding rune used by women practising Seidr or by Shamans in order to travel to the underworld or other dimensions to seek wisdom. A shamanic journey is usually not experienced like a peaceful walk in the forest. Your mind, your spirit has to travel through other dimensions, it has to cross borders, to leave your body in order to fly free.
The transition from one dimension to the other is a harsh experience that is often described as a storm, everything gets wild first and this is like the hail violently falling on you in the strong winds, this is like the hail destroying the world as you know it in order to welcome you in another one. It is the darkness until you meet the light of your guiding ancestors and the light of all the other runes leading you to the underworld. And from this wild experience you died to reborn stronger and wiser.
But one doesn’t have to practise shamanism to experience this light in the darkness, this destruction that leads to greater ways. Some life experiences can really take us to the deepest darkness, and there we find the light to rise up again and once we are up we know nothing we would have in life would be if not because of these darkness we need to face.
Hard times in life aren’t punishment, they are our challenges to get better, to gain wisdom and to learn. And I can at least say for myself that I have never doubted my ancestors were with me through all.
Meaning of the rune Hagalaz or Hoegl
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