Question: Of Loki's three children, why is Hel the only one granted "god" status, albeit goddess of death with a realm that is as much prison as kingdom? Is it because she is more "human" than her brothers? Also, can she leave Helheim at all, but chooses not to, or is she truly sealed there as much as the souls she oversees?
Poor Hel gets such a raw deal (but then, I guess she gets hers back by getting to hang onto Baldur for a while and thumbing her nose at Odin).
Hel is most often mentioned in the same breath with her monstrous brothers, which definitely suggests that she was considered scary on a similar level; since most of history features mankind being scared to death of death, that stands to reason. I agree, however, that there is a real sense of Hel as a more "human" or at least accessible figure; she is invoked a few times in sagas by people who are dying or declaring that they're going to die, turns up in Christianized texts as having spats with the Devil, and has semi-cordial conversations and dealings with the gods. The most notable clues that Hel is considered on a somewhat even footing with the gods of Asgard are the fact that the gods send tribute down to her with Hermod, paying her their respects, and that Odin himself actively gives her sovereignty over the realm of the dead, effectively endorsing her as necessary. Add those to the fact that Scion pantheons tend to function best with a death-god, and it's not hard to see why she makes the cut while her brothers, who are merely monsters rather than creatures playing specific roles in the divine community, do not.
As far as leaving Helheim/Niflheim goes, though, that's a thornier question. The fact that Odin tosses her down there in order to keep her the hell away from Asgard implies strongly that she can't get out; the underworld is her "prison" just as much as the ribbon and oceans act as jails for her brothers. She never leaves in the Norse sagas, not even at Ragnarok when her father is running around blowing everything up; from a purely mythological point of view, I'd say that she can't.
But for Scion's premise to work for her, she actually has to be able to leave Helheim; if she can't go to the World, she can't have Scions, pretty short and simple (in fact, Hero discusses what she looks like and does when she's in the World, so clearly the original writers assumed that she could go there). If you want to stick with the idea that Hel can't leave, however, there are a few clever workarounds you could try; the easiest is just that she chooses a likely mortal who enters her domain and resurrects him for what are probably some cold and terrifying sexytimes (which might lead to interesting questions regarding what happens to those poor guys afterward; does she kill them again? Keep them somewhere in her house?). You could also rule that she can only leave in Avatar form (which is how most gods visit the World anyway), or that Odin has granted her special dispensation to visit Midgard only in order to help create Scions for the pantheon. Maybe she never gives birth her own Scions, and only adopts the children of other gods.
I'd keep her in Hel and let her get creative about how to have children as a result; Scions of Hel are most likely rare creatures no matter how you slice it.
I fell kind of sorry for Loki's children. They were imprisoned for nothing other than being born. It's also another example of the Aiser putting the nails in there own coffin. I like the section of the ragnarok book where Fenris goes to live in the ironwood and becomes a wolf god.
ReplyDeleteEvery religion has some gods who are punished just for being born. It helps humanity reflect on its own problem of those born with disabilities, or social or genetic problems etc. You can feel bad for them, but remember thats how an ancient culture figured out how to view their own difficulties in the world. Its a sad state, but norse probably didnt handle their down syndrome children as humanely as we do, and that goes for almost all ancient cultures as well.
ReplyDeleteThey are putting the nails in their own coffin, which is powerful story-fuel to work with. That's the nice thing about so many prophecies. They create tragedy by preventing characters from knowing themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou get characters cursing cruel Fate for their misfortunes, because that's easier than facing the reality that those misfortunes are really self-inflicted. A bunch of wonderfully flawed people shaking one fist at the heavens while they use the other hand to shoot themselves in the foot.