Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video,
we’re going to discuss the goddess Hel, one of Loki’s three monstrous children.
Let’s get into it.
Hel was the youngest of three monstrous children born to Loki and the ogress Angrboda,
the older two being Fenrir, a ravenous wolf of colossal size, and Jormungandr,
a serpent of such prodigious length that it encircled the world.
The words of prophecy foretold of profound evil that would be worked by these three monstrous
children, and when Odin learnt of this, he sent the gods to find and bring the offspring of Loki
and Angrboda before him. Fenrir was raised in Asgard, kept under close watch. Jormungandr
was cast down to the seas of Midgard, and Hel was exiled to Niflheim, a decision that
inadvertently gave her a considerable amount of power over all nine realms; for all those who
failed to die in glorious battle - all those who succumbed to old age or were claimed by
sickness - eventually became denizens of the realm overwhich she ruled - even gods, as we’ll see.
Here’s a passage from the Prose Edda that describes both her dwelling and appearance:
“Hel he threw down into Niflheim and made her ruler over nine worlds. She has the power to
dole out lodgings and provisions to those who are sent to her, and they are the people who have died
of disease or old age. She has there an enormous dwelling, with walls of immense height and huge
gates. Her hall is called Eljudnir (Sprayed with Snowstorms), her dish is Hunger, her knife is
Famine, her slave is Lazy, and Slothful is her woman servant. The threshold over which people
enter is a pitfall called Fallandaforad (Falling to Peril), her bed is named Kor (sick Bed),
and her bed curtains are named Blikjandabol (Gleaming Disaster). She is half black and
half a lighter flesh colour and is easily recognized. Mostly she is gloomy and cruel.”
Hel’s most important contribution to Norse mythology comes in the build up to Ragnarok,
the events of which were precipitated when Loki tricked the blind god Hodr into killing Baldr.
Of this death, Odin was left most distraught, for beyond Baldr being his son, it was Odin alone who
knew of what this death truly meant, as it was known only to him that Baldr’s death was one of
the main events that would herald Ragnarok, a great war so fraught with chaos and cataclysm,
with death and destruction, that it would end the current age of the universe, serving as a sort of
reboot of nearly all-consuming proportions, the old world consumed in fire and flood,
then a new world rising up from the ash and rubble, thus beginning a new age.
Another of Odin’s sons, Hermod, called Hermod the Bold, was dispatched along the road to Hel.
Astride Sleipnir, Odin’s eight-legged horse, the superlative of steeds in Norse mythology,
Hermod rode for nine days and nine nights, until he came to the very Gates of Hel.
He supplicated the goddess, asking her on behalf of Asgard to relinquish her hold over Baldr and
allow him to return to the land of the living. Hel agreed to this, but only under one condition:
that everything in the universe, whether dead or alive, weep for Baldr.
Hermod returned to Asgard and relayed the bargain he struck with Hel. The gods sent
out countless messages, even to the far corners of creations, and everything and everyone - that is,
almost everything and everyone - did indeed weep, from the inanimate, earth, rock and metal,
to anything alive, people, birds, beasts, and plants of every kind. Unfortunately, there was
one creature, an odious and obdurate giantess, who would not weep. Thokk was her name, and her
heart was as hard and cold as the stone hollow that was her cave. She simply would not weep,
no matter how the gods begged, regardless of what was offered. Thokk is generally thought to have
been Loki is disguise, and though the gods came tantalizingly close, Thokk - really Loki - not
weeping meant that Hel’s terms weren’t met, which, in turn, meat Baldr would not be released to walk
in the sun once more, which ultimately meant Ragnarok could not be forestalled.
And that’s it for this video. If you like the content,
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