Indeed, it was frequented so regularly that the Norse created the term Helvegr, or “Hel road,” to refer to a route leading directly to the subterranean world. Hel was often visited by gods and mortals. Three roots there are that three ways run ’Neath the ash-tree Yggdrasil ’Neath the first lives Hel, ’neath the second the frost-giants, ’Neath the last are the lands of men. Though later traditions described Odin’s Hall Valhalla and Freya’s field of Fólkvangr as the resting places of fallen warriors, Hel was consistently presented as the final destination for the vast majority of souls, including those who died violently.Īccording to the Grímnismál of the Poetic Edda, the 13th century Norse anthology compiled by Snorri Sturluson, Hel was believed to rest below the roots of Yggdrasil: MythologyĮarly on in Norse tradition, Hel was described as both the underworld and the final destination of the dead.

The word stuck in the vocabularies of most Germanic peoples (including the Anglo-Saxons), and would eventually make its way into the English language. Lacking the vocabulary to properly explain the idea, the missionaries used the local term “Hel” to get their point across. The word was incorporated into the Christian lexicon after missionaries tried to describe the concept to the Germanic people. The word “Hel” was derived from the proto-Germanic root, haljo-, meaning “concealed place.” This same root was the basis for the word “Hell,” the Christian place of suffering for the wicked and the damned. The realm was sometimes referred to as “Helheim,” meaning “place of Hel,” or perhaps “hidden place.” Hel’s name was taken directly from the Old Norse “Hel,” meaning “hidden.” Its name may have been a reference to its remote, subterranean location.

All nine norse realms