Helheim- Realm of The Dead

This is also referred to as The Realm of Hel and is the underworld for many of the dead, ruled by the deity Hel; the daughter of Loki and sister to the Midgard Serpent Jörmungandr and the mighty wolf Fenrir. When these three children of Loki were born, Odin knew that they would cause trouble across the nine realms, so he placed each of them in a place where he thought that would do the least harm. For Hel, it was this realm beneath the roots of Yggdrasil. Helheim is a gloomy realm and is the land of the dead. It is devoid of all life and anything living that finds its way here gets drained of their lifeforce including deities and even the giants of Jötunheimr. Whatever dies here is unable to be retrieved by the Valkyries, thus being sentenced to an eternity of being incarcerated in Helheim. Any Viking that does not die in battle finds themselves here, not just the wicked. In order to trick Hel into believing that their loved ones died in battle instead of sickness or old age so that they can avoid the fate of Helheim and make it to Valhalla.

Once a being dies and is left behind by the Valkyries, it wakes up at the start of Helveg; a road that starts from the edge of the universe and leads to Hel’s kingdom which is located at the center of the universe and under this road is a raging river flowing with weapons that the dead may arm themselves with in order to defend themselves with. The dead reach the gates of Helheim via this road, constantly fighting or avoiding the soul devouring creatures that roam this realm in order to make their way to the center to meet with Hel who decides whether or not they receive a pleasant afterlife or one filled with never-ending torment. At the edge of the universe, the souls are watched by Hraesvelg The Corpse Swallower; a four-winged eagle like Jötunn who watches over Helheim and devours the souls of those who try to either escape Helheim or make a life for themselves without making their way to Helheim while Modgúd daughter of Hel guards Helveg and assesses the souls of those that enter, making sure that those who use the bridge are actually dead and not deities in disguise or the living who have found their way to this realm in order to free a loved one or to conquer the realm of the dead (as stupid as this seams, it has been attempted many times, mostly by the Gud Hrygnir). The gates of Helheim are guarded by Garmr; a giant dog like beast who makes sure that no soul tries to flee once they reach the gates. It is also responsible for hunting down souls that manage to escape both Hraesvelg and Modgúd and make it to any of the realms above.

Once in Helheim, it is impossible to leave without Hel’s permission. Even Odin could not pull his divine son Balder out of Helheim without her permission. Hel the goddess of death however is able to release the dead to rejoin the world of the living or to do her bidding. However, Hel herself can’t leave the realm of Helheim without the permission of Odin or his wife. This doesn’t mean that Hel is unable to leave Helheim, it just means she has to get creative in her methods of escape.

At Ragnarök, Hel will sail to out of Helheim to Asgard in a ship made from the bones of the damned in Helheim, which will be shaken free from its moorings by the earthquakes that herald the end of days. She will first sail to the mockery of her realm in Vanaheim called Folkvangr and tear it down, capturing the souls of those who have escaped her for so long and tear down all of Vanaheim as Freyja watches before finally killing her and binding her soul to the mast of her ship and sailing to Asgard leaving nothing but death and decay in her wake.