Hel

See also: Appendix:Variations of "hel"

English

A depiction of Hel by Johannes Gehrts, 1889

Etymology 1

From Old Norse hel. Cognate with Old English hell (“hell”).

Proper noun

Hel

1. (religion, Norse mythology) The goddess of the realm of the unheroic dead, a daughter of Loki by the jotun Angrboða.
2. (religion, Norse mythology) The realm of the dead who did not die in combat, ruled by the goddess and located in Niflheim (one of the Nine Realms).

   Synonym: Helheim

Alternative forms

• Hela, Hell

Translations

goddess of the realm of the dead

• Danish: Hel
• French: Hel (fr) f
• Italian: Hel f, Hela f
• Marathi: हेल f (hel)
• Old English: hell (ang)
• Russian: Хель (ru) f (Xelʹ)
• Spanish: Hela f
• Swedish: Hel (sv)
• Turkish: Hel

realm of the dead

• Danish: Hel
• Marathi: हेल n (hel)
• Old English: hell (ang)
• Russian: Хель (ru) (Xelʹ)
• Swedish: Hel (sv) n, Helhem (sv) n

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Hel

1. A diminutive of the female given name Helen.
   • 2007, Jules De Martino, Katie White, “That's Not My Name”, performed by The Ting Tings:

     They call me Hel, they call me Stacey / They call me "her", they call me Jane

Further reading

• Hel (being) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Hel (location) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Fólkvangr on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Valhalla on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• LHE, LHe, Leh

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse hel (“hell”), from Proto-Germanic *haljō. More at Hel.

Proper noun

Hel (Genitive Hels)

1. (Norse mythology) Hel (goddess)
2. (Norse mythology) Hel (realm)

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse hel (“death, death realm”), whence also hel (“death”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [hɛ̝ːl], [hɛ̝ːɽ]
• Homophone: hel

Proper noun

Hel f

1. (Norse mythology) Hel, the goddess of the realm of the unheroic dead

   Hypernyms: daudedis, daudenorne, daudemøy

Related terms

• helheim(en)

Polish

Hel

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɛl/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl
• Syllabification: Hel
• Homophone: hel

Etymology 1

From hyl or perhaps from Germanic.

Proper noun

Hel m inan (related adjective helski, demonym helanin, female demonym helanka)

1. Hel (a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland)
2. (colloquial) Hel Peninsula (a peninsula in Poland)

   Synonyms: Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski

Declension

Declension of Hel

	singular
nominative	Hel
genitive	Helu
dative	Helowi
accusative	Hel
instrumental	Helem
locative	Helu
vocative	Helu

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Old Norse Hel.

Proper noun

Hel f (indeclinable)

1. (Norse mythology) Hel (goddess of the realm of the dead)
2. (Norse mythology) Hel (realm of the dead)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Proper noun

Hel f

1. genitive plural of Hela

Further reading

• “Hel”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “Hel”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[2] (in Polish)
• Hel in PWN's encyclopedia

Swedish

Etymology

From Icelandic hel, from Old Norse hel, from Proto-Germanic *haljō

Proper noun

Hel

1. (Norse mythology) Hel (the underworld)
2. (Norse mythology) Hel (the goddess who rules the underworld)

References

• “Hel”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• 2. Hel in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)