Hel

In Norse mythology, the underworld (sometimes called Niflheim) and the goddess who ruled there. Hel, the goddess, was the youngest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda. She's particularly nasty - her top half is that of a normal woman but her pelvis on down is corpse-style, rotting flesh.

Her hall in 'Helheim' is called Eljudnir - the home of the dead.

In early Germanic mythology, Hel was the goddess who ruled land of the dead. Later, particularly after the advent of Christianity, Hel became a place of punishment, similar to the Christian Hell.

• Malin Pettersson: Vocalist. Born in 1981, she likes to listen to Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Live, amongst others. She wants to learn how to play the harmonica.
• Ulrica Pettersson: Vocalist. Born in 1975. She and Esa has a daughter named Mikaela. She listens to bands like Iron Maiden and Saxon and she does not like pop and techno.
• Esa Rosenström: Guitarist. He's a carpenter and was one of the three Völund Smed members. He listens to Pearl Jam and Live, just like Malin.
• Stefan Johansson: Bassist. Born April '69. He's played the drums in a few other bands, but now plays exclusively bass. He likes old punk and oi and he's also the father of Malin's children (to whom he is also engaged). He was the second of the three Völund Smed members.
• Piere Göran Karlsson: Drummer. Born in 1971. He delivers mail to support his wife, two children and his two dogs. He was the third member of Völund Smed.

• Valkyriors Dom. Hel's first album, released in '99. It feels like this album is like an unpolished diamond; beautiful, yet not as good as it could be.
  
  Track listing:
  1. Valkyriors Dom
  2. Eldsjäl
  3. Förfall
  4. Själaro
  5. Gudars Lag
  6. Hels rike
  7. Mörker
  8. Den Feges Lögn
  9. Häxjakt
  10. Varg
  11. Mälare Strand
  12. Is


• Genom Eld och Aska. Their first and only single, featuring two songs.
  
  Track listing:
  1. Res Er Upp
  2. Gryning


• Blodspår. This album feels "mightier" than Valkyriors Dom, somehow. They have come closer to perfection with this, but still some details need refining.
  
  Track listing:
  1. Fjärran Öster
  2. Frälsare Svart
  3. Hjältars Kall
  4. Engelbrekt
  5. Bröders Blod
  6. Livsfärd i Blindo
  7. Ont Begär
  8. Vargars Sång
  9. Res Er Upp
  10. Tysta Tankar


• Bortglömda Tid. A clean and beautiful album, they have found their style with this one, and they have come yet another step closer to perfection. A new version of the song Valkyriors Dom is on this album and it sounds pretty much like the original, with the exception for the violin you sometimes pick up in the background. It does not sound bad, IMHO.
  
  Track listing:
  1. Fast Besluten
  2. Öde Värld
  3. I Det Dolda
  4. Tjockare än Blod
  5. Mitt All
  6. Segerfylld Hemkomst
  7. Bestarnas Sal
  8. Vi Sålde Våra Hemman
  9. Hämnaren
  10. Valkyriors Dom
  11. Eldsjäl
  12. Bortglömda Tid

Also Hell, Halja, Hella

"One which hides"
"One who covers up"

In Norse Mythology, Hel was the goddess who resided in the lowest of the nine worlds, Niflheim. There, she reigned over Helheim ("House of Hel") from her hall Eljudnir (the home of the dead). With her manservant Ganglati and her maidservant Ganglot (both translate as "tardy"), she presided over the dark, cold and misty place where those who did not die in battle or who were wicked came after dying (people who died heroically, of course, went to Valhalla). Though it seems to have begun as a place of forgetfulness, in later tales, once in Helheim, the dead were sentenced by Hel to remain in one of nine levels of the afterlife, some of which being very much like heaven and the lowest being dreary, cheerless places filled with constant hunger and pain.

Hel was the daughter of the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda and sister to Fenrir and Jormungand. Through no fault of her own, she was born so hideous and grotesque that the other gods shunned her. She is typically described as having been born with her skeleton on the outside of her body, both black and white or with the face and trunk of a hag and the mottled legs of a decomposing corpse. In one account, Odin, disturbed at her appearance and fearful of the children of Loki, banishes her to the underworld, but in another, Hel herself, saddened by the horror she inspires in the other deities, asks Odin for a realm of her own and is given Niflheim.

There, not even gods could escape the power of death, as is evidenced by Hel's refusal to give Balder, who was killed accidentally, back to Odin and life. From her throne, which represented the death bed, the goddess watched over her lands which were surrounded by the impassable river Gjoll that flowed from the spring Hvergelmir. Other safeguards protected Helheim and ensured that there could be no escape: the entrance was guarded by Garm, a monstrous hound, and the maiden Modgud, who stood on the golden path which led to the underworld. The giant Hraesvelg ("corpse eater") also sat at the edge of the world and watched over Helheim, making the wind blow.

Sometimes, the goddess would mount her three-legged horse and ride across Midgard, bringing with her pestilence, disease, famine and illness, all leading to death. But Hel was not always harsh, and would occasionally allow the dead to come back to life under conditions. It was she who told Hermod that if everyone is each of the nine worlds grieved for Balder, he would be let go (a plan sabotaged by Loki).

At Ragnarok, she will bring an army of the dead woken by the third cock's cry to join her father, Loki, and the giants on the final battlefield. Garn breaks free of his bonds and confronts Tyr. Helheim, like Asgard, disappears and the souls of the dead are moved to various heavens such as Andlang and Vidblain or halls like Gimle's hall, Sindri (which will house the souls of the virtuous) and Nastrand (which will house the souls of murderers and oath-breakers). Unlike her siblings, we do not know how Hel meets her fate on the field of Vigrid.

Sources:
www.pantheon.org
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/1417/88621