Helheim is the cold realm beneath Yggdrasil's roots where the goddess Hel receives those who die of sickness or old age.
At a glance
- Old Norse
- Helheimr (the realm), Hel (its ruler)
- Meaning
- Possibly "the hidden place," from a root meaning to conceal
- Type
- Cold realm of the dead beneath a root of Yggdrasil
- Ruler
- Hel, daughter of Loki and Angrboda
- Inhabitants
- Those who die of sickness or old age
- Guardian
- The hound Garm, chained at the cave Gnipahellir
- Connects
- Niflheim, Valhalla, Nine Realms, Yggdrasil
- Sources
- Poetic Edda, Prose Edda
Helheim is the cold, quiet realm of the dead in Norse cosmology, set beneath one of Yggdrasil's three roots. Ruled entirely by the goddess Hel, it receives those who die of sickness or old age, and once a soul belongs to her, not even Odin can claim it back.
What it is
Helheim takes its name from its ruler, Hel, and the two are barely separable in the sources. It is described as a distant, downward realm, reached by a long, dark ride, cold and half-lit rather than fiery, a place defined by absence and want rather than torment. It is not a place of punishment for wrongdoing. It is simply where most of the dead go.
Hel, ruler of the dead
Hel is the daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboda, sister to the wolf Fenrir and the serpent Jormungandr. Odin cast her down and gave her dominion over her own realm and those who die there. The Prose Edda describes her as half living flesh and half corpse-blue, a body that mirrors her realm's place between the world of the living and the truly gone.
The hall Eljudnir
Snorri Sturluson names Hel's possessions one by one, and every one of them is a small, bitter joke: a household built entirely out of hunger, sickness, and delay.
| Possession | Old Norse name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Her hall | Eljudnir | "Sprayed with storms" |
| Her dish | Hungr | "Hunger" |
| Her knife | Sultr | "Famine" |
| Her bed | Kor | "Sick-bed" |
| Her threshold | Fallandaforad | "Stumbling block" |
The road to Helheim
The journey to Helheim follows a fixed geography of its own, crossed by every soul and, once, by a living god riding to beg for another's return.
| Landmark | Description |
|---|---|
| Gjoll | The river that marks the border of Helheim |
| Gjallarbru | The gold-roofed bridge across the Gjoll, guarded by the giantess Modgud |
| Gnipahellir | The cave-mouth where the hound Garm is chained, howling at those who pass |
Baldr's journey to Helheim
When Baldr was killed, his death was not a death in battle, so he went to Helheim rather than to Valhalla. Odin's son Hermod rode Sleipnir there to plead for his return. Hel set one condition: if every single thing in the world, living and dead, wept for Baldr, she would release him. Nearly everything did, except one giantess, widely believed to be Loki in disguise, who refused, and so Baldr remained in Helheim until after Ragnarok.