Helheim, the frigid underworld ruled by the goddess Hel in Norse mythology, isn’t a place of punishment but rather a continuation of life where the deceased eat, drink, sleep, and fight.
Public DomainThe Norse goddess Hel sits in Helheim with Garmr, the dog that guards the gates to the underworld.
Most people have heard of Valhalla, the Norse afterlife where Vikings feasted, drank, and fought to the death only to rise again each day. But there was another realm for the dead that isn’t as well-known: Helheim.
While there are some exceptions to the rule in Norse mythology, Valhalla was generally reserved for heroic warriors who perished in battle, and Helheim was the afterlife for people who died from old age, illness, or accidents. It was ruled by the goddess Hel, who lived in a great hall called Éljudnir, or “Sleet-Cold.”
As the name of Hel’s home suggests, Helheim was said to be an icy realm with dense mists. However, it wasn’t a negative place. Most Norse literature described it as a neutral or even positive location that was simply the next stage of being after life. As in Valhalla, the deceased ate, drank, slept, and fought just like they had during their lifetimes.
Read on to learn more about the Norse underworld and the gloomy goddess who ruled over it.
Meet Hel, The Norse Goddess Of Death
Hel, the Norse goddess of death, was so enmeshed with the world of the dead that she shared a name with it.
In Norse mythology, Hel was born to the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda along with her siblings, the monstrous wolf Fenrir and the sea serpent Jörmungandr.
Public DomainHel (center) with her siblings, Jörmungandr and Fenrir. Their mother, Angrboda, sits in the background.
According to the 13th-century Prose Edda, written by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson, Odin gave Hel domain over the underworld: “Hel he cast into Niflheim… that she should appoint abodes to them that are sent to her, namely, those who die from sickness or old age.”
Old Norse poetry doesn’t make the difference between Helheim and Niflheim particularly clear, but it’s believed that Niflheim was the general realm of ice and mist, while Helheim was the underworld located within Niflheim.
Sturluson noted that Hel lived in “a great mansion, and the walls around it are of strange height, and the gates are huge.” He also described her as half blue and half flesh-toned, with “very stern and grim” looks.
But despite Hel’s chilling appearance and demeanor, Helheim doesn’t seem to have been such a frightening place.
Life And Death In The Norse Underworld
In addition to Sturluson’s Prose Edda, Helheim is also mentioned in the Poetic Edda, a collection of anonymous Norse poems that were passed down orally throughout the centuries.
One of these poems states that the underworld was located beneath one of the roots of Yggdrasil, a massive ash tree said to support the entire universe. Its upper branches held Asgard, the realm of the gods.
Most mentions of Helheim in Norse literature are vague, but it didn’t seem to be a place of eternal torment or punishment. Rather, it was simply a continuation of life, where the deceased ate, drank, slept, and essentially existed as they did in the mortal realm.
Public DomainHelheim was described as dark, cold, and misty, but not necessarily evil.
In the Prose Edda, Sturluson does mention some more sinister aspects of the underworld — but that may be due to Christian influence in the region as the religion spread across the globe in the Middle Ages. Aside from both serving as afterlives, Helheim and Hell seemingly have nothing in common.
In the Bible, Matthew 13:42 describes Hell as a “blazing furnace” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Helheim, on the other hand, was a land of icy mists, and its inhabitants were never said to be in distress.
But while Helheim itself wasn’t fearsome, the journey there was harrowing.
The Daunting Road To Helheim
Much like the Greek underworld, Hades, living beings could travel to Helheim, either to gain knowledge or retrieve a deceased spirit.
One poem in the Poetic Edda, “Baldr’s Dreams,” describes a trip Odin took to the underworld to figure out why his son, Baldr, was having nightmares. He traveled to Helheim on his horse, Sleipnir, and had a vicious encounter with a dog upon his arrival: “The hound he met that came from Hel… Bloody he was on his breast before, at the father of magic, he howled from afar.”
C. E. Brock/MyNDIRGarmr rushes at Odin as the god rides his horse, Sleipnir, into Helheim.
This dog was likely Garmr, the hound said to guard the gates of Helheim — essentially the Norse equivalent of Cerberus.
Baldr later descended to the underworld himself after Loki tricked his brother, Hodr, into shooting him with a toxic mistletoe dart. After Baldr’s death, a messenger deity named Hermod was sent to Helheim to retrieve him.
The Prose Edda describes his journey as a perilous one filled with obstacles. First, he “rode nine nights through deep and dark valleys,” before coming to a bridge guarded by a giantess named Modgud.
After questioning Hermod about his motives, Modgud informed him that Helheim was “downward and northward,” so he “rode on till he came to Hel’s gate.” Upon his arrival at Hel’s hall, the goddess of the dead told Hermod that she would only release Baldr “if all things… both quick and dead, will weep for him.”
Louis Moe/MyNDIRModgud guarding the brige that leads to Helheim.
Hermod then rode back to Asgard, and the gods spread the news across the world. Men, animals, stones, and trees alike wept for Baldr — but one giantess named Thok refused. She said, “Thok will weep with dry tears for Baldr’s burial; neither in life nor in death gave he me gladness. Let Hel keep what she has!” Thus, Baldr remained in Helheim.
Another Norse text, the 12th-century Gesta Danorum, mentions a journey to what has been interpreted as Helheim. In this story, King Hadingus ventured to the underworld with a strange woman to discover where fresh herbs grew in the winter. They had to cross a “River of Blades” — perhaps the Slidr River described in the Poetic Edda as pouring “through poisoned vales with swords and daggers.”
The king and his companion then reached a high wall separating the living and the dead. The woman threw a dead rooster over this wall, and when it landed on the other side, it came back to life and began crowing.
These tales of Helheim are fairly obscure, but they paint a picture of a fascinating Norse underworld that contrasts sharply with the popular image of Valhalla.
After reading about the Norse underworld known as Helheim, discover the captivating stories of 13 famous Vikings. Then, learn about Mictlantecuhtli, the death god who ruled over the Aztec underworld.