Norse mythology is full of epic tales, heroic deeds and even bigger gods, today we start our series on the famous children of the trickster god Loki and their connection to the end of the universe, Ragnarök.
Loki was the brother of the All-Father Odin, ruler of the Aesir and Asgard, it is not known when Loki came to Asgard or how. His mother was Laufey, also known as Nal or needle, as she was known for being beautiful, slim and sharp while his father is said to be Farbauti (his name means "he who strikes dangerous blows"), a giant from Jotenheim who was as dangerous as his name. Loki takes after his mother in his handsome looks, intelligence and cunning, he is behind many of the gods woes and is a friend to Odin's son Thor, god of thunder, but also his betrayer, it was from Loki's schemes that Thor's mighty hammer, Mjollnir was created. Thanks to his giant blood Loki is also able to shapeshift and create illusions but his arrogance in his intelligence and charm regularly gets him into trouble.
Loki had a wife called Sigyn, who had been beautiful and happy at the beginning of their relationship but now she always had an expression of expecting bad news as she knew the cunning nature of her husband. She and Loki had two sons, Narfi and Vali. Loki took to disappearing for long stretches of time before turning up again with no explanation of where he had been apart from a guilty expression and an air of being proud of himself.
After the third time of this happening he was summoned by Odin, who told Loki he had foreseen his three children with the Jotun witch Angrboda and that they would be the greatest threat to the gods in the times to come, to this Loki only smirked and tried not to look too pleased with himself. After seeing the signs that these children would bring disaster, the fact their mother was a powerful witch and that their father was the cunning Loki, the gods worried as to what power these children would wield (and if they would wield it against them) so Odin sent Thor and the god of war, Tyr, to Angrboda's hall in Jotenheim to retrieve these children and bring them to Asgard. Thor noticed that they had faced heavy resistance journeying into Jotenheim but had had no resistance on their way back to Asgard with not even Angrboda coming after her children.
The children were brought before Odin who was shocked as Thor and Tyr had been to see these were not normal children, Fenrir was a wolf and Jormungundr was a serpent. After dealing with her brothers, Odin finally got to Loki's daughter. While she was human in appearance unlike her brothers, she still was unique, one half of her face was a beautiful girl while the other was a rotted corpse. Her body was split down the middle, one half a girl the other a skeleton and corpse, a grim reminder Hel was, that death is what awaits us all.
"... her cheek was pink and white, her eye was the green of Loki's eyes, her lips were full and carmine; on the left side of her face the skin was blotched and striated, swollen in the bruises of death, her sightless eye rotted and pale, her lipless mouth wizened and stretched over skull-brown teeth." - Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman
When asked what her name was the girl replied Hel (whose name means "one that hides") and did so very politely, and when asked if she was alive or dead she replied that she was only herself, the daughter of Angrboda and Loki and that she liked the dead most of all as they are simple and treat her with respect as opposed to the living who only treated her with revulsion. It was then that Odin decided that Hel would become the ruler of Helheim, a place where those who have failed to die an honourable death go. This pleased Hel and she was taken to her realm where she proclaimed that her plate would be called "Hunger", her knife "Famine", her bed curtains "Misfortune" and her bed "Disease". Her hall is named Eljudnir, Home of the Dead. Hel was known to be greedy, harsh, cruel and indifferent to the concerns of the living and the dead.
There are some sources that state Hel living in the realm of Niflheim, it was divided into sections including one called the Shore of Corpses, there was a castle filled with venomous serpents and it was here that people who were dishonourable were kept and who had the dragon Nidhogg feeding on their blood. Niflheim was said to be a place full of ice and cold. There's confusion over Niflheim and Helheim as it isn't stated 100% clear the difference between the two, we have come to understand that Niflheim and Helheim are two levels of the underworld, with Helheim being the place where the truly wicked people dwell after their deaths. Not unlike Greek mythology with the Underworld and Tartarus.
After the death of Odin's son, the beloved Baldur, of which was the fault of Loki who found out Baldur's only weakness was mistletoe after his mother Frigg made everything and everyone promise not to hurt her son after having visions of his death, mistletoe was the only thing not to make the promise as it was so small and unimportant. Loki tricked Baldur's brother, the blind god, Hodr, into throwing a spear made of mistletoe at his brother during a feast to honour him to prove how invincible he was. This act terrified the gods as this was foretold as the coming of Ragnarök, it was then that an emissary named Hermod (Baldur's brother) riding the eight legged horse Sleipnir (also a child of Loki) was sent to bargain with Hel for the return of Baldur; who had of course not died an honourable death so had gone to Hel's domain when he died.
Hermod pleaded with Hel telling her that every living being was in sorrow over Baldur's death but Hel was not so easily moved. She would only agree to release Baldur on the condition that every being in the universe would weep for him to prove their grief and sorrow over his death. Hermod and the other gods of course told the universe to weep for their beloved Baldur and the universe did, apart from one, a giantess refused (this was Loki in disguise) stating "...let Hel hold what she had" and with that one refusal it was all Hel needed to deny the gods Baldur. Loki was later imprisoned for this trick.
Hel is associated with the hellhound named Garmr (he is said to be the greatest among canines), we have very little information about him but we do know this, Garmr is shown to bark at Odin when he and the other gods ride into Helheim, there are those that believe that not unlike the Greek god of the dead, Hades, who had his loyal hound Cerberus defending the entrance to the underworld that Garmr may have played a similar role, there is also debate of Garmr being a wolf not a dog. There is also the theory that Garmr and Fenrir are in fact the same figure as the god Tyr engages Garmr in single combat during Ragnarök as the god and Fenrir have a long standing hatred for each other it would make sense. Garmr is killed by Tyr during Ragnarök. Hel is also associated with crows who of course have been long associated with the dead.
Ragnarök of course was coming ever closer for the gods. For those that don't know, Ragnarök (which means fate of the gods) is the destruction of the cosmos and death of the gods. A harsh and devastating winter will come plunging the world into darkness, in desperation man will forgo all laws and morals. The wolves, Skoll and Hati, who have hunted the sun and moon will finally at last catch their prey, the stars will disappear leaving a black void in the heavens, Yggdrasil, the tree of life that holds the cosmos together will tremble setting free the great wolf Fenrir, Jormungundr will finally rise from the depths and flood the lands and the betrayer Loki will storm the land with an army of the dead who will be raised from Helheim to fight alongside their ruler Hel. The army will arrive at Vigridr, the place of final battle.
We will of course get further into the events of Ragnarök but we will for now leave the details of the great battle for the tales of Fenrir and Jormungundr, who have larger roles in the event than their sister who isn't really mentioned in having a role in Ragnarök and her ultimate fate is unknown, Baldur and Hodr who had being living in Helheim since their deaths return to earth after Ragnarök, Hel was unwilling to release Baldur earlier so it's odd that both would be allowed to leave Helheim. Whether Hel's role has been lost to history or if she kept a smaller role on purpose as she seems to have inherited her fathers cunning intellect is another theory and there is of course the theory that she didn't care about the ultimate fate of the gods, her father and her brothers is another explanation why that out of the three children of Loki, Hel is only one to not really have much impact during Ragnarök.
The children of Loki were separated when they were young and there is no record of them seeing each other since they're first taken from their mothers hall where they were playing happily together, there doesn't seem to be much interaction from Loki with his daughter either. She may have simply waited out the carnage and seen what was left as death will always endure.
The children of Loki are fascinating mythological subjects who have gone down in history as legends. While sources on Hel are scarce, the ones we do have paint a picture of a powerful woman (and at least half goddess and giantess) who had dominion over the dead who didn't show much compassion, it is a shame we don't have more on her as she makes a big impact for someone we don't know much about. Most people now recognise Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thor's mischievous brother and son of Odin and more recently from Thor: Ragnarok we saw the appearance of the goddess of death, Hela, who of course is based on Hel, who was the first born daughter of Odin and sister to Thor and Loki, Hela also rode the great wolf Fenrir in the movie and was the first wielder of Mjolnir. The siblings have seen their stories put into mainstream culture and their sagas have been retold time and time again. We shall continue the saga of the children of Loki with Jormungundr, until then, Skål!
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