Hel, Angrboda and Loki - HEL (front centre) is the Norse goddess of death and ruler of the underworld Nifilheim, a frozen, desolate wasteland. The souls of the damned who are deemed unworthy and without honour are banished to this realm for all eter

Hel, Angrboda and Loki - HEL (front centre) is the Norse goddess of death and ruler of the underworld Nifilheim, a frozen, desolate wasteland. The souls of the damned who are deemed unworthy and without honour are banished to this realm for all eternity. Hel is a misunderstood and often misinterpreted deity. For example the Christian concept of hell, where hell is a place and is ruled by a male deity is derived from the Norse mythology of Hel which predates Christianity. Hel is a descendant of the Jotunn (giants) and the Iarnvidia (she of iron-wood.) She is the daughter of Angrboda and Loki, sister to Jormungandr the Midgaard serpent and Fenrir Sulfr the Grey Wolf who watches Valhalla. Hel can appear in different forms, half dead with rotting flesh or as a fierce and formidable force to be reckoned with. ANGRBODA (top left) The name Angrboda means " One who brings grief or "she who offers Sorrow" She is a Jotunn (giantess) and an Ianvidia (she of Iron Wood) Iarnvidr is the Iron Woods where the troll wives dwell on Jotunheim. Angrboda is the wife of Loki the Trickster and god of mischief. She is also the mother of Fenrir Sulfr the dreaded grey Wolf that watches Vallhalla, consumes the sky and slays Odin at Ragnorok. Jormungandr the Midgaard serpent that circles circles all of Midgaard and Hel goddess of Nifilheim. LOKI ( top right) also known as Utgard-Loki the personification of mischief and evil. In the beginning Loki was the personification of the hearth fire and spirit of life. Eventually he becomes both god and devil, a counterpart to the Christian Lucifer or Satan. Loki belonged to a race of pre-Odinic race of Jotunn (giant) deities. He first married Glut (glow) who bore him two daughters Eisa ( embers) and Einmyria ( ashes ) Loki also wedded Angrboda who bore him Fenrir Sulfur, Jormungandr and Hel. Loki's third wife was Sigyn a loving and devoted wife who bore him two sons Narve and Vali. Even Sleipnir Odin's eight-legged steed is the offspring of Loki and Svadilfari. Loki had performed so many evil deeds in his career he earned the title "arch deceiver". Loki's last crime and probably his worst was to trick Balder into throwing the fatal mistletoe at Balder. For this misdeed he was eventually caught by Odin, Kvasir and Thor. After chasing Loki out from the bottom of a river in which he was hiding, Loki began leaping up stream until Thor caught him mid air and held him so fast he could not escape. Loki's punishment was terrible, he was dragged down into a cave where he was starved and bound by the entrails of his son Narve who was torn to pieces by his brother Vali that the gods turned into a wolf for this very purpose. After the gods bound Loki hand and foot to ensure the bonds would not give way they were changed from entrails into iron. Skadi, a giantess and foe of Loki now placed a serpent over his head so it's venom would drip, drop by drop onto his face tormenting him to no end. Sigyn, Loki's wife then rushed to his side and with a cup she would catch the drops until the last day ( Ragnarok ) never leaving Loki's side except to empty the cup when full. Finally at Ragnarok his bonds were loosened and took part in the final battle and was slain by Heimdall on the battlefield of Vigrid who was also slain at the same time. In this illustration Hel is sitting on her throne listening silently to Hermod (bottom centre) plead for Baldur's release. Manifesting in the clouds is Angrboda and Loki.

Mythology and Artwork

MUNINN HUGINN GINNUNGA-GAP

YGGDRASIL ODIN SLEIPNIR

THOR and JORMUNGANDR MJOLLNIR

VIDAR BALDER and HEIMDALL

NJORD FREYJR FREYJA

TYR FENRIR RAGNAROK

RAN EIR HULDA

VALKYRIE DISIR RUNES

 

About

Welcome to Muninn’s Eyes my name is Eric Nordkvist a.k.a. Muninn. I’m a Digital Multimedia Artist located in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada.