Hel (location)

Hel
Type	Afterlife, queendom
Location	The nether
Inhabitants	Hel

Hel was one of the realms of life after death, where the souls of those who committed sins in life go. It was governed by the goddess Hel. It appeared in the first two episodes of Twilight of the Gods, "The Bride-Price" and "Heretic Spear."

Events

Sigrid and Leif's wedding: Immediately after her wedding was crashed by Thor Odinson, Sigrid was pulled down into Hel via Hel's red door. She met Hel and her father, Loki Laufeyson, who invited her to become their ally. With both Loki and Sigrid seeking Thor's death, he would support her along her way.

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Residents

Hel

Hervor

Locales

Hel's red door: The entrance to Hel was through Hel's red door. A gateway of blood, the red door could be opened by Hel to invite visitors through the blood and into her realm or to pull the dead down for their afterlife.

Norse origins

As in Twilight of the Gods, Hel from Norse mythology was one of the afterlives. Hel or Niflheimr was one of the Nine Worlds, the others being Miðgarðr (the realm of man), Ásgarðr, Vanaheimr, Jötunheimr, Álfheimr, Svartálfar, Múspellsheimr, and Niðavellir. While there isn't a conclusive list of the Nine Worlds, this list is generally accepted. Álfheimr, Svartálfar, and Múspellsheimr were not directly referenced in Twilight.

Niflheimr was a world of darkness and mist, ambiguously used synonymously with Hel, but perhaps they were intended to be two separate locations. It was said to be the second realm to be created. Odin cast Hel into Niflheimr and gave her the power to bring the dead of the other realms into Niflheimr, specifically those who died of sickness or age, over which she became their mistress, similar to Hel's queendom mentioned in Twilight. The jötun who built the great wall of Asgard was sent to Niflheimr by Thor when it was discovered that he was a jötun.

Meanwhile, Hel was where evil men would go after death, similar to how it was described in Twilight. This may or may not have been influenced by Christianity and added to the mythology later. Baldr and Höðr went to Hel after their deaths, later returning to life after Ragnarök. It can't be said that Baldr is necessarily in Hel in Twilight, but Hödr is currently still alive. Like Sigrid did in Twilight, it was possible for the living to enter Hel and return to the lands of the living.