|
When we think of Hell we usually
think of the Christian concept of the place of eternal torment for all big sinners. But
the name is derived from the Norse goddess Hel,
who ruled over the Underworld realm named after her. Unlike the Christian counterpart,
Norse Hel was not a place of eternal torture, but similar to Purgatory; there, souls
were judged and sent on to a variety of afterlives. Hel was the daughter of the Norse god
Loki who also ruled over the dead. Everyone who died, no matter how good or bad, passed
into Hel to be judged by the goddess, who would then decide where they might spend eternity.
Similar to the Greek goddess Hecate, who also governed the Underworld and traveled with
a menagerie of hell hounds and wolves, she is sometimes depicted riding a back
mare, horses also being sacred to her. And, like Hecate, Hel sometimes led a wild hunt. She
is described as being divided vertically, with one side a beautiful woman and the other
half a zombie-like corpse. Hel is more of a dichotomy of good and bad, unlike the Christian
devil who is completely evil. Thus, we see the difference between the Northern pagan realm of Hel and the
Christian concept of Hell. Also interesting was that those who died in battle or at sea
usually didn’t make it there like everyone else. The name may be derived from
the Old German halja meaning “covering”. She
so angered the Norse god Odin that he tossed her into the realm of the dead where she became
a queen to rule over all manner of spirits. She was said to carry a rake and a broom, and,
during plague times, to sweep away whole villages, using her rake to rake up the survivors
later. Her abode was believed to be Mount Helka, a volcano in Iceland. A nearby town
is named Hella.
Speaking
of hellish things, like most of you earthlings I am sincerely
glad 2020 is finally over with. Keeping my fingers crossed that
2021 is a better and happier New Year.
Chris
Friend, mars_art_13@yahoo.com, of Parkersberg, W.Va ,
who wrote BP #91 Poems, “Land of Big Teeth” & “Possessed”
(+ BP’s fall 2018 poems, “Demons Play Flutes” &
“Purdy Picture”; BP #84’s poems, “The Sentinel”
and “Psalm of Mithra”; the BP #81 poem set, “Angel of the Bereft,
“Beauty’s Sleep,” & “Dark Trinity”; the BP #80
poem, “The Temple of Colors”; BP #79 poems, “The Marquis” and “My
Bloody Valentine”; the BP #78 poem, “The Old Yule Goat”;
BP #77’s 4-poem set: “At 50,” “Owls,” “Vintage
Halloween,” & “Xmas in the Doll Asylum”; BP #76’s 4-poem
set: “Hag Fairy Communion,” “Love’s Sepulcher,”
“Night Wanderer,” & “St. Andrew’s Feast”; 2
poems for BP #75, “Angel of the Pagan Dead” and “Churchyard Watcher”;
BP #72’s 2-poem set, “Ed Gein” & “Sour Puss”;
and the 2008 poem “All Hallows’ Eve”), writes and illustrates
our “MARS News” column. He did a cover for Black Petals back
in 2000 for the fall issue, and has been around ever since. BP keeps up
two websites for him and prints his column in the issue quarterly. Chris
has a gallery at http://chris.michaelherring.net/ and was featured artist in Kurt Newton’s Ultimate PerVersities (Naked Snake) [Jan. 2011].
|
