Invisioning Hell: The Norse and Helheim

The ideas of death and the afterlife have disturbed and fascinated mankind from the very dawn of civilization. This is evident through their representations in art and literature. The underworld depicted in ancient Norse mythology present in the Eddas, mentions Helheim and Valhalla in the poems of the Völuspá, in the Beguilings of Gylfi, and in the Sayings of Grimnir.

It is worth mentioning translations of Norse mythology come to us through the compendium of the Codex Regius and manuscripts of Sturluson Snorri, which implies that the sources have been aligned with the Christian ideals due to the process of Christianization of Iceland and the Scandinavian region. 

Helheim and Valhalla

The mentions of the Helheim that are relevant to us belong to the poems of the Völuspá and Gylfi’s Hallucination. The first mentions the “nine worlds” that make up the Yggdrasil, the tree representing the ancient Norse cosmogony.

These nine worlds are part of a harmonic whole embodied in the branches, trunk, and roots of the Yggdrasil. Each of them is organized into a form of opposing pairs, having an “other”, both for the element that governs it and for the location within the axes that make up the cosmic map. Muspelheim – Niflheim (fire, magma / ice, mist), Vanaheim – Jötunheim (opposite races of creator / destroyer giants), Álfheim – Svártalfaheim (light / dark), Asgard -Helheim (Valhalla, fallen dead battle / world of the forgotten dead). 

The only one of the worlds that is out of this order is Midgard, which precisely means “the settlement of the middle” according to the etymology. It is precisely the Midgard that is in the center of the tree, and in turn, it is the land where men live.

The Helheim is located at the roots of the Yggdrasil next to the Niflheim and is accessible through the Gjallarbrú bridge. In Gylfaginning, it is described as a “closed bridge covered in glittering gold.” It is mentioned mainly in the story of Balder when Hermod is sent to retrieve the slain god from the land of the dead. 

“As for Hermod, it must be said that he rode nine nights through dark and deep valleys, so that he saw nothing until he reached the river Gjoll”

When Hermód reaches the bridge, he is interrogated by the maiden Modgud through the following line :

“But the bridge does not resonate less when you pass it alone, and you do not have the color of the dead, why are you going on the road to Hel? (…) And the road to Hel now continues downward and northward. ”

Various features of the Helheim can be extracted from the Hermod fragment. The first allows us to infer the geography of Helheim, close to the Niflheim: darkness, fog, cold, a valley predisposed to the north. Added to this, in the cosmogonic space of the Yggdrassil, the Helheim is found in the deepest and opposite to the Asgard, land of the gods, which flourishes in the branches of the tree. 

A parallel can also be noted between the Byfröst and the Gjallarbrú bridge, both guarded by figures. In the first, the god Heimdall, while in the second, the maiden Modgud.

Another interesting feature is the possibility of the gods to die, as in the case of Balder, and in turn to leave under Hel’s consent. The divinity of the gods in the world of life and death is limited by the permissions and rules of that world (inconceivable fact in Christian mythology, where the devil has no power over the creator god, and death is not an impediment to the Trinity). 

There is an interesting passage in the Völuspá where the fortune teller describes Ragnarök, prophesying the death of various gods. 

“From the south comes Surtr.
the sword
shines, cliffs clap,
They all go to Hel (…) ”

When the end of time comes, Surtr will attack and defeat all the gods. The idea of ​​mortal gods and the destruction and rebirth of the world reveals a persistent cyclical notion that marked the conception of the world and time for the Norse.

Snorri’s compilation introduces us to the character of Hel, daughter of Loki and Angrboda, who is thrown into the Niflheim by Odin. Prophecies have marked her as the cause of misfortune, only evil could come from her and her monstrous brothers. Hel was in turn placed as sovereign of the realm of death where those who die of disease (disease) or old age will lie down unlike those killed in battle, for whom Valhalla is intended.

Hel’s domain is also described: extensive, surrounded by a very high fence and large gates. 

“His mansion is called La Aguanosa, Hunger his plate, Penury his knife, Remolón his servant and Remolona the servant, Stumbling the threshold of his entrance, Moridero his bed and Bright Misfortune the curtain of his bed. Her body is half dark, half flesh-colored, it is, therefore, easy to recognize her, and she has a gloomy and evil face.”

This representation of the sovereign that Snorri reveals is interesting to us because of the female, powerful and fearsome figure that Hel embodies. In the other mythologies from beyond the grave that we will review, there is no female presence as significant as that of Loki’s daughter. The closest, it can be considered Persephone, but her role is merely conjugal with Hades. Hel also has a companion, Hod, the blind man, the slayer of Balder, the thrower of the mistletoe stem, the enemy of Vali.

You must also remember the image of the maiden Modgud who interrogates Hérmod, another female figure associated with death, and in direct contrast to Heimdall (male) in the Byfröst.

Another figure that is considered relevant is the presence of the “Garm”, the one who howls. The image of a monstrous canid is repeated in Greek mythology, as we will see later. 

The domain of Odin and the gods, Asgard, also contains a place reserved for the dead. In Gylfaginning, Odin is defined as “Universal Father” (Allföðr), for being the father of all the gods, and also of all the fallen, since he welcomes all those who die in battle as sons. He has them in Valhalla and Vingolf, and then they are called einhérjar.  Although it should be noted that according to The Sayings of Grimnir, half of those who fell in battle are claimed by Freya.  

“It’s called Folkvang where Freya in her living room
The positions she assigns;
She and Odin -their half each-
The dead are chosen by weapons ”

We are struck by the idea that in Valhalla there is no concept of “peace ” or eternal rest. The Einhérjar inhabit this great abode awaiting the day of Ragnarök. In the Sayings of Grimnir it is mentioned every day, warriors take up their weapons and fight outside Valhalla, killing each other, then returning to eat and drink divine and restorative mead that is collected from the Heidrun goat.

It is remarkable this absence of “rest” and peace that is present in the Norse mythology of the afterlife attributed to those who fell in battle. The ultimate destiny of the einherjar like the gods is to die in Ragnarök. 

The Scandinavian and Greek mythologies also contemplate the possibility of a paradise for warriors and blessed, although the difference lies in the state of war and banquets of the einherjar of Valhalla as opposed to the idyll of the Elysian Fields. 

Sources:

• Longenecker, RichardN. (2003). “Cosmology”.
• Gowan, Donald E. The Westminster Theological Wordbook of the Bible. Westminster John Knox Press.
• Roderick Ellis Hilda The Road to Hel. A Study of the Conception of the Dead in Old Norse Literature Greenwood Press, New York. 1968. P. 84
• Stúrluson Snorri’s Eddas’
  • The Deluding of Gylfi’s
  • The Völuspá 
• West, M.L., European Poetry and Myth, OUP Oxford, 2007