Aðrir: Hel: Hel
Associated with:
Yggdrasil (cosmic ash tree that lies at the center of the Norse universe and connects the nine homeworlds, including Hel, located under its roots), which is reachable via the Gjöll river. Móðguðr (a giantess who watches the bridge that crosses the river). Garm (a dog that guards the entrance the the castle of Hel where the souls of the dead are allowed to enter but never to leave). A rooster (paired with Garm and expected to wake all, including the dead, for Ragnarökr). Níðhöggr (the dragon that eats the corpses of criminals), together with Fenrir (giant wolf).
Origins:
Hel, can be greedy and un-restoring, or generous and reviving. She is the daughter of Loki and Angrboða (a Giantess, “the one who brings grief”). Half her body is beautiful and alive, and half is dead and rotting. Her siblings are Fenrir (the giant wolf that will eat Óðinn during Ragnarökr, and will then be killed by Óðinn’s son Viðarr), and Jörmungandr (the sea serpent that surrounds Miðgarðr, and whose archenemy is Þórr).
Background:
Hel, one of the nine homeworlds, is made up of Niflhel (which overlaps with Niflheimr) and Lundar. Most people end up in Lundar, a peaceful summer wilderness, where they only see the beautiful side of Hel. Níðingar, oath breakers, liars, and other criminals end up in Niflhel, a frozen swamp inhabited by evil spirits, náir (dead corpses), and snakes. They only see the rotten side of Hel.
