Hel - The Goddess of the Underworld - Figure / Statue, bronzed

In Norse mythology, Hel is the goddess of death and ruler of the underworld “Helheim”.

Her siblings are the Fenris wolf and the Midgard serpent "Jörmungandr". They are the children of Loki and the giantess Angrboda.

The upper body of the goddess Hel appears very lively and beautiful, with a light, normal skin color; the lower body, however, often appears dark blue to black, and is half-rotted and decayed.

Just as her face is described as half white and half black, so too is her nature. Just as her outward appearance is characterized by apparent contradictions, ranging from very just and lovable to relentless and cruel tendencies.

Helheim is one of the worlds of Utgard, located beneath the roots of the world tree Yggdrasil. Helheim can only be reached via the bridge of the dead, Gjallarbru, which spans the river Gjöll. The bridge is guarded by Modgud and the hellhound Garm.

The abode of the goddess Hel is called Eljudnir (Misery), her hall Eljudni (Plague), the threshold Fallandaforad (Falling Danger). The table is called Hungr (Hunger) and her knife Sultr (Starvation). Her bed is called Kor (Coffin), and the bed curtain Blikjandabol (Blinking Doom).

Hel's horse is the grey, three-legged death horse "Helhesten": It has blue-black eyes with a haunting, bright luminosity. On her horse, Hel retrieves the dead and takes them to Niflheim (the Mist World).

The brightest is the bringer of death: wherever his gaze turns, someone will soon die.

Hel feeds on dead bodies. She breaks the bones and devours the marrow. Beneath Yggdrasil also lives the serpentine death dragon Níðhogg. He torments the dead, subjecting them to the most horrific agony. Níðhoggr (German: "the hatefully striking one") feeds on the flesh of the dead, just like Hel. Criminals such as murderers and thieves, adulterers, perjurers, and even liars are banished to a special part of Helheim—Náströnd—to experience, as punishment, the true meaning of cold, heat, pain, and hunger. Náströnd is the most terrible place imaginable, where the dragon Níðhogg wreaks havoc on the dead.

The realm of Hel was described by Christianity as the place of eternal damnation, "hell".

Hel should by no means be regarded as a creature of hell, but rather as a just, yet also relentless goddess.

Before Odin gained increasing importance here in the north, our Norse-Germanic ancestors also venerated the war god Tyr and the goddess of death Hel in a special way.

Hel has been increasingly demonized in recent times - she deserves much more respect, just as she once received in "prehistoric times".

Hel, Holle, Frigga - their commonalities in the Proto-Indo-European language

The Indo-European roots of the goddess of death:

The partial conflation of the goddesses Hel and Holle dates back to ancient times. The Indo-European root "kel" means "hell" (underworld/lower world), to hide, conceal, protect.

Here we find a connection to Frau Holle (Frigga)! - The Germanic root "hel" or "hal" thus means "to hide" or "to conceal"; also called Helja or Helanan in more recent Nordic/Germanic times. The Proto-Germanic syllable "haljō" means hell/underground underworld in a cave (compare also Hel/Cybele (Greek) as well as Holle/Hulle/Hulda)!

As a goddess of death, Hella is also a goddess of rebirth.

It is said that in her underground realm there is a well from which she lifts all unborn children and places them in the wombs of their mothers, while all the deceased return to this well to be born again.

Since her realm is subterranean, Hella also has power over everything that sprouts from the earth, which is why in this aspect she is comparable to a fertility goddess, such as the Greek Demeter. Hel is the patroness of farmers, fields, and their crops. In her honor, a sheaf of grain was left standing in the field at the end of the harvest season (see parallels to the earth and all-mother Frigga).

Even after the advent of Christianity in Europe, the belief persisted that all unbaptized children went to the goddess Hella / Hel / Holda / Holle and thus to hell, while baptized children went to the Christian God in heaven.

Further reading on this topic: “Goddess Holle: In Search of an Ancient Goddess”

Frigga is synonymous with Frau Holle – she is the Earth Mother/All-Mother. Frigga is often depicted with a spinning wheel – she spins the thread of life for humans and gods, which she gives to the three Fates.

The eldest of these three is called Urd (the one who has come to be / past), the middle one Verdandi (the one who is becoming / present), and the youngest is called Skuld (future / that which is to be). - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nornen

Together they determine the fate and the time of death.

The Valkyries, or Hel, then brought the dead to their respective worlds and mortuaries.

Now the three of us are walking to the consecrated place,

from which the world tree rises!

We wet the branches so that none wither,

with fog surrounding him.

We repel Nidhöggr with holy wrath,

and watered the roots from Urdas Spring,

that the ash tree is green and alive."

Excerpt from the book "Odin - Norse Mythology"

(A. Kayser - Langerhannss, Munich 1881)

The Hagalaz rune, which expresses destruction and rebirth, is attributed to the goddess of death, Hel.

The rune Hagalaz or Hagall embodies everything, as does the all-mother Holle (Frigga) or Hel - love and justice, birth, but also the cruelty of destruction and banishment.

Elderberry is considered a protective tree for house and farm. Excellent further information and video: https://wiki.yoga-vidya.de/Holunder

The elderberry bush provided access to the ancestors and court spirits.

(See also further literature by Wolf-Dieter Storl: “Elderberry - A Tree with Two Faces”, “Plants of the Shadow Realm & Funeral Rituals of Our Celtic Ancestors”, as well as the video “The Elderberry in Mythology”).

It was a custom to use a cut elder branch to take measurements for making a coffin.

Frau Holle (Perchta), who was particularly revered in southern Germany, was defamed as a witch with increasing Christianization.

(Further reading: “Mythos Baum” by Doris Laudert)

Elderberry spirit, which is particularly popular in Scandinavia, is associated with the fairytale figure “Frau Holle” – who embodies the underworld and death goddess Hel.

(Further reading: “The Spirit of Trees” by Fred Hageneder).

In ancient times, the black elderberry was sacred to people; it was considered a tree or shrub representing life and kinship. It was known as the seat of the good house spirit and was dedicated to the goddess Holda/Holle (from hold/huld = to heal).

(Further reading: “Medicinal Plants in Pediatrics - The Practical Textbook” – Haug Verlag).

Whether Frigga, Holle and Hel were once one and the same deity cannot be definitively answered.

The pantheon of the "Indo-European proto-religion" became increasingly tangible over the centuries and was divided into more and more gods, just as Tyr gradually lost importance as the supreme deity. People increasingly turned to Odin.

Similarities and overlaps – depending on regions, tribes, different languages ​​and modified customs – led to different appreciations of the gods in different eras, as well as differences in their names and meanings.

The theses presented are not intended as a definitive statement, but rather as examples for further possible work studies.

Hel - even though she is a daughter of Loki - deserves anything but to be "demonized" and "badly made out to be", because she receives not only criminals, adulterers and envious people, but also the straw-dead humans, Aesir and Elves in her halls and divides them fairly into her worlds.

We should accept the goddess of death with her apparent contradictions, because ultimately her decisions and inclinations are shaped by extraordinary justice, reflecting her lovable yet also relentless and cruel nature.

Ultimately, it is through our actions and omissions that we ourselves decide in which of the worlds and halls of the dead we will one day appear. The gods, with their particular sense of justice, admit us to the halls we have "earned"...

Hel, goddess of the underworld - bronzed figure/sculpture. Made and cast from polyresin (artificial stone).