Niflheim
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In Norse cosmology, Niflheim or Niflheimr is a location which sometimes overlaps with the notions of Niflhel and Hel. The name Niflheimr appears only in two extant sources: Gylfaginning and the much-d
An attempt to illustrate Norse cosmology by Henry Wheaton (1831)
John Martin 002
Buddhist hell
The Wolves Pursuing Sol and Mani
Hel (mythological being)
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Hel is a female being in Norse mythology who is said to preside over an underworld realm of the same name, where she receives a portion of the dead. Hel is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the
Niflheim
…two realms of cold and heat, creation began when its waters mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to form a "creating steam". Later, it became the abode of Hel, a goddess daughter of Loki, and the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. Nifl ("mist"; whence the Icelandic…
Hel (1889) by Johannes Gehrts, pictured here with her hound Garmr
A depiction of a young Hel (center) being led to the assignment of her realm, while her brother Fenrir is led forward (left) and Jörmungandr (right) is about to be cast by Odin (1906) by Lorenz Frølich.
"Hermod before Hela" (1909) by John Charles Dollman.
"Loki's Brood" (1905) by Emil Doepler.