Traditional interpretation
Hel queen of the dead
Hel (meaning Hidden) was one of the children of the trickster god Loki, and her kingdom was said to lie downward and northward.
Hel is generally presented as being rather greedy, harsh, and cruel, or at least indifferent to the concerns of both the living and the dead.
In Norse mythology, Hel is the queen of the realm of the dead. Every single person who dies from an illness, age, or is considered a coward or dishonorable by the Gods and Goddesses will end up in her realm called Helheim. This in relation to the Viking Age, meant if you didn’t die in battle you would simply just go to Hel.
Hel is a jötunn, and she is the daughter of the trickster Loki and the giantess Angrboda. She has two siblings, the world serpent also known as Jörmungandr, and the Fenrir Wolf. They have no relationship with each other and roam in separate places in the world.
Hel is definitely not a goddess, and it is a misconception when people assume that she is the goddess of death. She is not mentioned once as a goddess in any of the Edda’s which are considered the prime sources of Norse mythology.
While her father Loki could be considered a demi-god, because he is a half jötunn (jötunn is singular for jötnar) and half áss (áss is singular for Aesir), she has no status among the gods and is not recognized by anyone as such.
Her appearance is described as being half flesh-colored, just like a living human being and half blue. Her personality traits are described as threatening, harsh, and cruel.
The Old Norse word Hel, which in Old English is Hell, derives from the Indo-European word Kel. Therefore, both of the words can be translated into “hide” or “cover” in modern English.
It was Odin the chief of the Aesir who threw Hel down from the sky into the depths of the underworld. Hel then made the underworld into her own realm and crowned herself Queen of Helheim.
the dog, named Garmr which means Hellhound, is howling every time new people arrive.
How neuromythography uses
Hel Archetype represents the trigeminal ganglion [gV].
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