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One of my favorite gods is the Norse Goddess of Death, Lady Hel!

Fun fact: According to Norse myth, she is the daughter of Loki, and rules in the land of the dead, called Helheim. But Helheim is not like the Christian hell, a place of torture, but instead the place one goes when they did not die in battle (so they died in old age, from sickness etc). The interesting thing about this is how the Viking culture understood the afterlife.

Many of what we now have that remains was compiled by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic historian, who wrote down the myths after Christianity had been in Iceland for a couple of centuries. His work remains important in our understanding of the Viking myths and their gods.

Here is a trailer I created about Lady Hel for my series, The Hell Chronicles.

Lady Hel is one of my favorite goddess in Norse mythology, and I can’t wait to jump back to that world and create more!

Who is your favorite Norse god or goddess?

When many think of death, one might think of only that of Valhallah, the place where the valiant warriors, who died during battle would go, but Odin was not the only death god in Norse myth.

Instead, Freyja would take her pick of those warriors first, and Odin would receive the other half. Even more, those who did not die in battle would be taken to the land of the dead, called Helheim and ruled by the Lady of Death, Hel (also called Hela, or Lady Hel).

I appearance she was half living, a beautiful woman, and on the other half either skeletal, blue or black and decomposing.

Helheim or Hel (the place) is not like the Christian hell, a place of punishment, as can be seen by the fact that both the gods Baldur and his wife Nanna, a goddess, end up in Helheim at a feast. They are not tortured, but biding their time.

The records of what we have from Norse myth is information created from Christians after Christianity replaced the religion of the area (sometime substituting and/or replacing certain traditions, and keeping others — think of Christmas — or the Germanic holiday of Yule).

Just as the traditions and literature, legends and myths were influenced by the new religion, much of what we have is not from first generation believers in the Norse gods, but documents written by those who were living in a Christian society. As such, the influence on certain poems cannot be overlooked.

It is believed that Lady Hel was also very much supported as a diety, as even places still exist that contact the prefix of her name. Think of Helsinki, for example.

The Norse belief of the afterlife, specifically in Hel or Helheim, differed much with what we might now know in our western society and thought. But that of eternal torture was not part of their belief system.

When writing my books with the Norse gods, I enjoy researching and looking at the original texts and reading that from scholars to create these dynamic tales that I can influence with the essence of the gods.

Good versus evil? It’s time to get LOKI!

Another interesting part of Norse myth is that of the idea of good versus evil. It simply doesn’t exist. There are the essences of chaos versus order, but neither is inherently good or evil.

Now this is an interesting line to walk while writing Fantasy. Everyone has the capacity for great good or extreme evil.

A great example of this is with Loki (not Marvel’s version, but that of myth). He is a god of chaos, and truly like fire – able to do great good, or make a complete mess of things.

Did you know that most of the great artifacts, weapons and tools that the gods have, Loki procured for them? Not bad for a bad guy, right?

Could you imagine Thor without his hammer? Thank Loki for it. Odin without his spear? Yep, Loki. Even Sif without her golden hair? What???? Yep, Loki is the one the cut it all off and then had to get her some new hair before Thor beat his arse.

Imagine having to wear dwarf made extensions or weave? Hairy so shiny…Maybe is Pantene or maybe its Loki?

Who is your favorite Norse god?