Hel, in Norse mythology, is both the name of the realm of the dead and the goddess who presides over it. Located in the icy reaches of Niflheim, Hel is where souls of those who did not die a heroic or notable death reside in the afterlife. The goddess Hel, daughter of the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboda, is often depicted as half-living and half-corpse, symbolizing her dominion over both life and death. Her rule over this underworld is marked by indifference, neither punishing the w