NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Hel (realm)

In Norse mythology, the realm Hel shares a name with its ruler, Hel. As described in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda it is a place thronged with the shivering and shadowy spectres of those who have died ingloriously of disease or in old age. Hel is also home to dishonourable people who have broken oaths. Hel is cold and low in the overall order of the universe. It lies beneath Yggdrasil's third root, near Hvergelmir and Náströnd. It is uncertain if Hel and Niflheim are completely different places, if one is part of the other, or if both are names for the same place. Fire and brimstone is a motif in Christian preaching that uses vivid descriptions of hell and damnation to encourage the listeners to fear divine wrath and punishment. ... Christs Descent into Limbo by studio of Andrea Mantegna, c. ... The problem of Hell is a variant of the problem of evil, applying specifically to religions which hold both that: An omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnibenevolent (all-loving) God exists. ... The Devil is a title given to a supernatural entity, who, in most interpretations of the Abrahamic faiths, is the central embodiment of evil. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Niflheim (Land of Mists) is the realm of ice and cold in Norse Mythology. ... Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... In Norse mythology, Hel (sometimes Anglicized or Latinized as Hela) is the queen of Hel, the Norse underworld. ... Snorri Sturluson (1178 â€“ September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. ... The Younger Edda, known also as the Prose Edda or Snorris Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. ... This illustration shows a 19th century attempt to visualize the world view of the Prose Edda. ... Hvergelmir is the wellspring of cold in Niflheim in Norse mythology. ... In Norse mythology, NÃ¡strÃ¶nd (Dead Body Shore) is a hall and region in Hel. ... Niflheim (Land of Mists) is the realm of ice and cold in Norse Mythology. ...

Hel is said to be a hall with a roof woven from the spines of serpents which drip poison down onto those who wade in the rivers of blood below. The people who dwell in the halls are given nothing but goat's urine to quench their thirst. The doors of the hall are said to be set in the south, away from Asgard which lies to the north. The Poetic Edda describes doors as facing north. In Norse mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ÃsgarÃ°ur) is the realm of the gods, the Ã†sir, thought to be separate from the realm of the mortals, Midgard. ... The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. ...

The hall is surrounded by a river called Gjoll, which is freezing cold and has knives flowing in it.

The only way across the river is over a bridge guarded by the giantess Móðguð (Modgud). If a living person steps on the bridge, it rings out as if a thousand men walk across it, yet the dead pass without a sound. In Norse mythology, MÃ³Ã°guÃ°r (Modgud) was the giantess guardian of the GjallarbrÃº. She allowed the newly dead to cross from one side of the river GjÃ¶ll to the other if the soul stated his or her name and business. ...

It is similar to Hades and the River Styx from Greek mythology, and inspired (and gave its name to) the Christian concept of Hell. Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. Hades (from Greek , HaidÄ“s, originally , HaidÄ“s or , AÃ¯dÄ“s; of uncertain origin[1], although it has been ascribed to Greek unseen[2]) refers... In Greek mythology, Styx (Î£Ï„Ï…Î¾) is the name of a river which formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld, Hades. ... The Oricoli bust of Zeus, King of the Gods, in the collection of the Vatican Museum. ... Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180) Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is a place or a state of pain and suffering. ...

In fiction, the Norse Hel inspired the Halls of Mandos in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. Mandos is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkiens universe, Middle-earth. ... J. R. R. Tolkien in 1916. ... A legendarium is a book or series of books consisting of a collection of legends. ...

Categories: Articles to be merged since November 2006 | Norse mythology stubs | Locations in Norse mythology | Life after death Image File history File links Mjollnir_icon. ... Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... Divided between the Ã†sir and the Vanir, and sometimes including the jÃ¶tnar (giants), the dividing line between these groups is less than clear. ... In Old Norse, the Ã†sir (singular Ãss, feminine Ãsynja, feminine plural Ãsynjur, Anglo-Saxon Ã“s, from Proto-Germanic *Ansuz) are the principal gods of the pantheon of Norse mythology. ... Vanir is the name of one of the two groups of gods in Norse mythology, the other and more well known being the Ã†sir. ... The giants Fafner and Fasolt seize Freyja in Arthur Rackhams illustration to Richard Wagners version of the Norse myths. ... A small forest elf (Ã¤lva) rescuing an egg, from SolÃ¤gget (1932), by Elsa Beskow An elf is a mythical creature of Germanic mythology/paganism which still survives in northern European folklore. ... In Norse mythology, the dwarves (Old Norse: dvergar, sing. ... The Valkyries Vigil, by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Robert Hughes. ... In Norse religion the einherjar or einheriar, were spirits of warriors who had died bravely in battle. ... The Norns spin the threads of fate at the foot of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world. ... Odin (Old Norse Ã“Ã°inn) is considered the chief god in Norse mythology and Norse paganism, like the Anglo-Saxon Woden it is decended from Proto-Germanic *WÅdinaz or *WÅÄ‘anaz. ... Thors battle against the giants, by MÃ¥rten Eskil Winge, 1872 Thor (Proto-Germanic: *Ãžunraz, Old Norse: ÃžÃ³rr, Old English: Ãžunor, Old Dutch and Old High German: Donar) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic mythology. ... This 19th century representation of Freyr shows him with his boar Gullinbursti and his sword. ... Freyja, in an illustration to Wagners operas by Arthur Rackham. ... This picture, from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript, shows Loki with his invention - the fishing net. ... Balders death is portrayed in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... TÃ½r, depicted here with both hands intact, is identified with Mars in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... This illustration shows a 19th century attempt to visualize the world view of the Prose Edda. ... In Norse mythology, Ginnungagap (seeming emptiness or gaping gap) was a vast chasm that existed before the ordering of the world. ... In Norse mythology, RagnarÃ¶k (fate of the gods[1]) is the battle at the end of the world. ... The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. ... The Younger Edda, known also as the Prose Edda or Snorris Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. ... Excerpt NjÃ¥ls saga in the MÃ¶Ã°ruvallabÃ³k (AM 132 folio 13r) circia 1350. ... The Volsung Cycle is the name of a series of Germanic legends based on the same matter as Niebelungenlied, and which were recorded in medieval Iceland. ... The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of legends united by the magic sword Tyrfing. ... A rune stone in Lund Rune stones are stones with runic inscriptions dating from the early Middle Ages but are found to have been used most prominently during the Iron Age (Viking Age). ... Old Norse is the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. ... The orthography of the Old Norse language since the introduction of the Latin alphabet in Iceland is a thorny subject. ... Norse mythology provides a rich and diverse source which many later writers have borrowed from or built upon. ... The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). ... The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ... In literature, a kenning is a compound poetic phrase, a figure of speech, substituted for the usual name of a person or thing. ... The BlÃ³t was the pagan Germanic sacrifice to Norse gods and Elves. ... Seid (Old Norse: seiÃ°r, sometimes anglicized as seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr or seith) was a form of shamanism practised by pre-Christian Norse and arguably other Germanic cultures and continued in modern times by people who practice the reconstructionist beliefs of ÃsatrÃº or heathenry. ... Numbers are significant in Norse mythology although not to the extent which they are in some traditions e. ... Norse cosmology, as it is given us in the source material for Norse mythology recognizes the existence of nine worlds, assigned the ending -heimr (home, realm, or world) or in some cases -garÃ°r (homestead, yard or earth). ... // Places Asgard BifrÃ¶st Bilskirnir Breidablik Elivagar Fyris Wolds Gandvik Ginnungagap Helgardh Hlidskjalf Hvergelmir JÃ¶tunheimr Leipter River Kormet Midgard Muspelheim Nastrond Nidavellir Niflheim Ormet Reidgotaland Slidr River Svartalfheim Utgard Valhalla Vanaheim Vimur Yggdrasil Events Fimbulwinter RagnarÃ¶k Artifacts Balmung Brisingamen Draupnir Dromi Eitr Mjolnir SkÃÃ°blaÃ°nir Gram Gungnir...