HEL

hel, or _hela_, in scandinavian mythology, the goddess of the dead. she was a child of loki and the giantess angurboda, and dwelt beneath the roots of the sacred ash, yggdrasil. she was given dominion over the nine worlds of helheim. in early myth all the dead went to her: in later legend only those who died of old age or sickness, and she then became synonymous with suffering and horror. her dwelling was _elvidnir_ (dark clouds), her dish _hungr_ (hunger), her knife _sullt_ (starvation), her servants _ganglate_ (tardy feet), her bed _kor_ (sickness), and her bed-curtains _blikiandabol_ (splendid misery).