Norse PantheonUnderworld
Helheim
The realm of the dead ruled by Hel, daughter of Loki. Those who died of illness or old age dwell here in cold monotony.
About Helheim
Hel's place, not a Christian hell
The Eddas send those who die of sickness and old age to Hel, a being and a location. Snorri gives her a hall, a high threshold, and a dish called Hunger. Baldr rides the Hel-way after Loki's trick. Helheim as a set name is rarer than Hel or Niflhel. It is cold and continuing, not a moral furnace. No cult of Helheim is recorded. Hermod's ride in Gylfaginning is the fullest itinerary.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda, Gylfaginning
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Coordinates mark where the myths place a site, or where the tradition locates it today. Mythic realms are left off the map or marked as symbolic placements.
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