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Helheim's Mist ~ Handmade Candle inspired by Hel
‘Helheim's Mist’: A Homemade Artisanal Candle Inspired by Hel, the Norse Goddess of the Underworld
She who lingers where breath fades and memory waits
Helheim’s Mist drifts like a spectral breath through the underworld, a fragrance caught between the realms of the living and the dead. The top carries the sharp, eerie bite of red currant and lemon peel, cutting through the veil like the last echo of something lost, while ozone swirls like the mist that clings to Helheim’s shadowed gates. At its heart, the cold green bite of juniper and the ghostly bloom of geranium whisper through the silence, evoking an untamed, windswept forest where souls linger unseen. As the base settles, black currant remains like a dark memory, rich yet haunting, while peppermint exhales an unearthly chill, a breath of frost and forgotten voices.
Neither warm nor wholly cold, neither welcoming nor forbidding, Helheim’s Mist is the scent of liminality itself, the hush of eternity wrapped in the spectral embrace of Hel.
Curious about how the layers of scent unfold? Learn more about scent profiles ~ top, heart, and base notes at this blog post: Scent Profiles, Top, Heart, and Base Notes.
Our candles are lovingly handcrafted in our home studio, Nimue’s Lair, nestled in Walnut Creek, CA. Each one begins with a luxurious blend of coconut-apricot wax, carefully infused with premium fragrance oils. Poured by hand into elegant glass vessels and amber jars, they’re finished with hand-cut labels and enchanted final touches. Every candle is a small ritual, infused with magick, intention, and the quiet glow of story.
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Scent Notes:
Top: Red Currant, Lemon Peel, Ozone
Heart: Geranium, Juniper
Base: Black Currant, Peppermint
Essential oils: lemongrass, fir needle, orange, geranium, and peppermint.
Seasonal Resonance: Winter’s Mist ❄️🌫️
A fragrance wrapped in the hush of a winter morning, where frost clings to evergreen branches, and mist drifts through the silent woods. Crisp and cooling, yet softly veiled in winter’s quiet beauty, this scent captures the essence of snowy air and frozen stillness.
🌿 Primary Category: Aromatic & Herbal
Juniper, geranium, and peppermint create a bracing herbal freshness, like a mist-laden breeze weaving through frost-covered pines.
🍋 Secondary Category: Citrus & Fruity
Red and black currants add a tart, wintry brightness, while lemon peel cuts through the chill like a breath of icy air at dawn.
A scent that mirrors the quiet mystique of winter’s mist: cool, ethereal, and laced with frozen beauty. ❄️✨
Please visit this blog post for more information on Scent Profiles, Top, Heart, and Base Notes.
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12 oz Deluxe – Wine Red Aura Glass · Coco Apricot Wax
Burn Time: 60+ hours
Bold and enduring, this candle fills your space with myth and memory. Crafted for spacious sanctuaries, this candle shines in wide-open living rooms, high-ceilinged studios, and sacred hearths ~ places where scent is free to roam and the flame becomes a luminous companion to stillness and story.8 oz Classic – Amber Jar · Coco Apricot Wax
Burn Time: 50–60 hours
A perfect size for quiet corners and thoughtful pauses. Let it warm your reading nook, home office, or bedside altar, where its flame flickers like a whisper of intention.4 oz Petite – Amber Jar · Coco Apricot Wax
Burn Time: 20–25 hours
Small in size, rich in presence. This candle is ideal for travel, gifting, or sanctifying intimate spaces - guest rooms, personal altars, or quiet corners where scent and flame are invited to linger with intention. -
For detailed information about our waxes, wicks, fragrance blends, and vessels, please see our Ingredients & Materials Guide.
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For guidance on how to tend your flame with care, ensuring the cleanest, safest, and most enchanting burn, please visit our Candle Care Guide.
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Please visit the Shipping and Returns Information page for details.
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© 2025 Hekate's Torch Apothecary, LLC. All rights reserved.
Content Warning:
This post explores ancient myths that include themes of violence, including assault and warfare, which may be sensitive for some readers. Please proceed with care and be mindful of your well-being while engaging with these stories.
Hel: The Duality of Life and Death in Norse Mythology
In the cold, misty depths beneath the roots of Yggdrasil lies Helheim, a realm shrouded in shadow and silence. Here, Hel, the Norse goddess and giantess, presides over the ordinary dead, those who do not perish in battle or at sea. She is the keeper of the souls of the departed, welcoming them into her domain without judgment or bias.
With one side of her body a beautiful maiden and the other a decaying corpse, Hel embodies the stark duality of life and death. Both feared and respected, she is a figure of immense power and mystery, forever guarding the boundary between the living and the dead.
Hel's story is one of transformation, exile, and sovereignty, intertwined with the grim realities of mortality and the inevitability of fate. To understand her fully, we will explore the myths that involve her and the realm over which she rules.
Hel's Origins: Daughter of Loki and Keeper of the Dead
Hel's lineage is one of turmoil and fate. She is the daughter of Loki, the trickster god known for his cunning and malice, and Angrboda (Old Norse Angrboða, "Anguish-boding"), a jötunn (giant) whose name means "bringer of anguish."
Her siblings are no less infamous: the wolf Fenrir, destined to devour Odin during Ragnarök, and Jörmungandr, the Midgard serpent that encircles the world. Together, this family of chaos was prophesied to bring about the gods' downfall. While Fenrir represents unbridled ferocity and is fated to end Odin's reign, Jörmungandr's venomous clash with Thor at Ragnarök signals the destruction of the cosmos itself, as their final battle will leave both adversaries dead. Meanwhile, Hel's dominion over death anchors the inevitability of their destruction, forming a trinity of apocalyptic forces.
The Aesir, forewarned of this destiny, sought to control the threat. Odin hurled Jörmungandr into the sea, bound Fenrir with enchanted fetters, and cast Hel into the depths of Niflheim. Though her banishment was meant to neutralize her potential threat, Hel found power in her exile, claiming the realm as her own and transforming it into a kingdom of the dead.
Niflheim, known as the World of Mist, was already a desolate and cold realm in Norse cosmology, existing at the outermost edges of the universe.
Helheim, the specific domain over which Hel presides, is often considered a section or extension of Niflheim, reserved for the souls of the dead who did not perish in battle. While Valhalla glorified warriors with feasts and eternal honor, Helheim offered a quiet and neutral resting place for the ordinary dead, reflecting the Norse belief in the multifaceted nature of the afterlife.
Though often referred to as a goddess, Hel is better understood as a jötunn or supernatural entity, a being tied to the chaotic and primal forces of the cosmos rather than the structured pantheon of the Aesir. This distinction reflects her liminal nature, standing apart from both gods and mortals as the ultimate arbiter of death. Though bleak and cold, her realm mirrors the impartiality of her rule that starkly contrasts the chaos often associated with her father, Loki; the dead come not to be judged for their deeds but to exist in a state of finality.
Helheim: The Cold and Misty Realm of the Dead
Unlike the fiery torment of Christian Hell, Helheim is a place of cold desolation. The very name 'Hell' in Christian theology is believed to derive from Hel, reflecting a cultural overlap during the spread of Christianity into Norse regions. The dead were welcomed at Helheim regardless of whether they were virtuous or dishonorable in life. While Helheim is a neutral resting place for the dead, Christian Hell evolved into a domain of eternal punishment, influenced by other cultural and theological traditions. In contrast, Helheim offers the dead quiet finality rather than torment.
The path to Helheim, known as Helvegr, is a treacherous descent, crossing the Gjallarbrú bridge over a river of spears guarded by the spectral maiden Modgud. The air is damp and heavy with mist, the ground barren and lifeless. At the gates of Helheim stands Garm, a monstrous wolf whose watchful presence ensures that no soul escapes. Adding to the foreboding atmosphere, Hel is said to roam her domain accompanied by a pack of spectral dogs, the original 'Hell Hounds,' and other creatures such as horses and wolves. Like their mistress, these animals serve as symbolic guardians of the boundary between life and death, their presence a constant reminder of mortality's reach.
Eljudnir (Éljúðnir), Hel's great hall, is at the heart of this grim realm. Its name, meaning "Sprayed with Rain" or "Damp Dwelling," reflects the perpetual chill and gloom of Helheim. The furnishings within are a grim reflection of the realm itself: a plate named Hunger, a knife called Famine, a bed known as Illness, and bed curtains referred to as Bleak Misfortune.
Souls in Hel were met with care, as evidenced by the tale of Balder's arrival, where the floor was adorned with gold and the benches prepared with fresh straw in his honor. Scholar Rudolf Simek observes that "Hel is not a place of punishment, not a hell, but simply the residence of the dead." However, its somber atmosphere offered little solace. Indeed, this is not a place of joy or torment but of stark neutrality, a fitting domain for Hel, who presides over it with unflinching resolve.
Helheim's cold and desolate landscape parallels Skadi's icy mountains, where isolation and unforgiving elements prevail. While Skadi embodies the untamed wilderness, Hel personifies the inevitability of death, both of which are forces that cannot be ignored or escaped.
Adding to its mythic geography, Mount Hekla in Iceland was often theorized as one of the entrances to Hel's realm, its volcanic activity thought to mirror the desolation of Helheim. This connection extended beyond Scandinavia; some suggest even the Belgian city of Hal (Halle) carries Hel's name, underscoring her broad cultural influence.
Hel's Role in Norse Myths: From Balder's Death to Ragnarök
Hel's most prominent role in Norse mythology is in the tale of Balder's death. Balder, the beloved son of Odin and Frigg, was struck down by a mistletoe dart, a plot orchestrated by Loki. His death cast a shadow over the Aesir, plunging them into grief. Desperate to restore him to life, they sent Hermod, a god of swift travel, to Helheim to plead for his release.
Before Balder's passing, Hel is said to have appeared to him in a prophetic vision, her arms outstretched as though embracing him, foretelling his fate three days before his death. Whether this was a forewarning or an act of grim acceptance remains unknown. Her actions and her father Loki's involvement in the tragedy raise intriguing questions about how much Hel knew of the events to come. Did she share in Loki's cunning, or was she simply an impartial observer of the inevitable?
In her hall, Hel listened to Hermod's plea with the solemnity befitting her role. She agreed to release Balder on one condition: every being in the Nine Realms must weep for him. The gods traveled far and wide, gathering tears from all creatures. However, one giantess, possibly Loki in disguise as the cold-hearted Thokk, refused. When asked why she would not join in mourning, Thokk's answer was chillingly indifferent: "Let Hel hold what she has." This deceptive act sealed Balder's fate, ensuring he would remain in Hel's realm until after Ragnarök. True to her word, Hel kept Balder in her domain, a decision that emphasized her impartiality and loyalty to the natural order of death.
Ragnarök and Hel's Army: The Cycle of Chaos and Renewal
Hel's influence reaches beyond her cold and shadowed realm, intertwining with the prophecy of Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods. During this cataclysmic battle, she releases an army of the dead to join her father, Loki, and her siblings in rebellion against the Aesir.
During Ragnarök, Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent, breaks free from the sea, sending tidal waves across the realms, while Fenrir devours Odin in their fated confrontation. The ship Naglfar, made from the fingernails of the dead and steered by the giant Hrym, rises from the waves to carry the army of the dead while Hel assists Loki with a second ship to bring Surtr and the Fire Giants to the battlefield.
As the forces of chaos clash with the gods and the heroes of Valhalla, the Nine Realms sink into fiery destruction. Almost all the gods are killed, Odin, Thor, and Loki, and yet chaos is defeated, paving the way for the rebirth of the cosmos. Through these retellings, the story of Ragnarök and Hel's role within it conveyed doom and the hope of renewal, reflecting the existential balance central to Norse cosmology.
In a tradition passed down orally for centuries before being written, the tale of Ragnarök evolved through generations of storytellers, shaping Hel's role as a critical figure in this ultimate conflict. The fluidity of oral tradition allowed for a rich array of interpretations, reflecting the fears and hopes of the Norse people.
Hel's participation, tied to Loki's cunning and her siblings' destructive power, embodies the inevitability of chaos and the cyclical nature of creation and destruction. Though Hel remains a shadowy presence in the myth, her participation in Ragnarök underscores her connection to the inexorable forces of fate and destruction. Whether she perishes in the World Fire unleashed by Surtr or retreats into the remnants of her realm, Hel's legacy as the guardian of the dead endures.
Hel's Symbolism: The Hidden Goddess of Mortality
Her name, derived from the Old Norse Hel or halja, meaning "hidden," reflects her association with the unseen and the deceased, those buried or cremated, whose souls remain invisible to the living. This etymology underscores her role as the keeper of the departed, a figure straddling the realms of the living and the dead with impartial authority.
Hel's appearance is both striking and symbolic. She is described as half-alive and half-dead, with one side of her body a fair, beautiful woman and the other a rotting corpse. This duality reflects the nature of death itself: a release from suffering and a confrontation with decay and loss.
Sif, often associated with beauty and fertility through her golden hair, offers an interesting counterpoint to Hel. Where Sif symbolizes life's vitality and renewal, Hel represents its inevitable end. Together, they reflect the natural cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
Hel's colors, black and white, vividly capture the duality of her nature and her role as a liminal figure. The stark contrast of these colors mirrors her existence at the intersection of life and death, black representing the void of mortality and white symbolizing the pale inevitability of death's approach. This dichotomy reinforces her impartiality, embodying the balance between endings and what remains beyond.
Her tools, a rake and broom, extend this symbolism into action, representing the sweeping inevitability of death's reach. During the Black Plague, these implements were said to mark her passage through villages, determining their fates. With the broom, she symbolically "cleansed" entire areas of life, leaving desolation in her wake, while the rake left a few survivors behind, gathering them as remnants of hope amidst the devastation. This imagery underlines her neutrality: Hel does not choose sides or acts out of malice. Instead, Hel fulfills the inescapable role of mortality's keeper.
Together, these elements, her colors and tools, depict Hel as a figure of unyielding yet unbiased judgment. They connect her deeply to the cyclical nature of existence, reminding us that death is an integral, impartial part of the balance of life. Hel's presence is a constant reminder of this truth, urging mortals to confront our impermanence with acceptance and courage.
Cultural Context: Helheim, Valhalla, and Norse Afterlife Beliefs
In the Norse cosmology, Helheim serves as a counterpoint to Valhalla, Odin's hall of warriors. While Valhalla is a place of glory and feasting for those who die heroically in battle, Helheim is a realm of quiet rest for those who pass away from illness, old age, or misfortune. The Valkyries, Odin's chosen, ferry souls to Valhalla, leaving the remainder to Hel's impartial care. Similarly, Freyja's Fólkvangr is a field of celebration and honor for the dead. In contrast, Ran, the sea goddess, claimed the souls of those who perished at sea, drawing them into her watery embrace.
This distinction reflects the Norse belief in death as a multifaceted journey, with Helheim as an inevitable destination for the majority. Hel herself is not portrayed as a punitive figure. Her realm is not one of torment but of separation, a place where souls find their final rest, removed from the vibrancy of life.
Hel in Modern Culture: Reinterpretations of the Norse Goddess of Death
In modern culture, Hel is often reimagined as a villain or anti-hero, her story adapted to fit contemporary narratives. In Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok, she is portrayed as a fierce warrior and sister to Thor and Loki, a far cry from her mythological origins. This reinterpretation speaks to her adaptability as a symbol, reflecting the timeless human struggle to understand death and the unknown.
While these interpretations often take liberties with her character, they highlight her enduring fascination as a symbol of death and mystery.
Scholars debate whether Hel was a figure of pre-Christian Norse belief or a literary invention crafted by Snorri Sturluson, the Icelandic writer and historian who compiled much of what is now known of Norse mythology. Snorri, writing in the 13th century, was deeply influenced by the Christian worldview of his time. He was documenting Norse traditions for an audience that had already undergone centuries of Christianization, and his work was likely intended to make these myths more comprehensible, or palatable, to his Christian contemporaries. In this context, Snorri may have consciously or unconsciously reshaped Hel's story to align with the Christian concept of Hell, mainly its association with punishment and moral judgment, which differed from the more neutral and impersonal view of death in earlier Norse beliefs.
This blending of older oral traditions with Snorri's interpretations introduces the possibility that Hel's character, as presented in his works, might not reflect a deity worshipped in pre-Christian Norse religion. Instead, she may represent a literary personification of death, developed to add thematic depth and coherence to the mythology. By embodying concepts of mortality, the afterlife, and cosmic order, Hel serves as a compelling figure to bridge the stark realities of death with the more dramatized narratives of the gods. Some scholars argue that Hel's duality, her impartiality as a ruler of the dead yet her associations with the chaos of Ragnarök, mirrors the narrative complexity Snorri sought to construct. This interpretation suggests that Hel's prominence in Norse mythology may owe more to Snorri's literary and theological creativity than pre-Christian religious practices.
Ultimately, this perspective positions Hel not as a historical deity actively worshipped but as a symbolic construct shaped to fit Snorri's broader vision of Norse cosmology. In crafting his accounts, Snorri may have amplified the narrative cohesion of Norse mythology, intertwining its pagan roots with the emerging Christian worldview of his time. This blending of traditions preserved the myths and recontextualized them to resonate with a diverse audience, ensuring their survival across centuries. Thus, Snorri's writings, while invaluable, represent a snapshot of these myths rather than a definitive account of pre-Christian belief.
Hel's Legacy: Lessons of Death, Transformation, and Acceptance
The enduring presence of Hel's mythology in modern narratives underscores her universal appeal, rooted in themes of impartiality, mortality, and transformation. Bridging ancient understandings of life and death with contemporary reflections on the human condition, Hel embodies an intimate connection to the inevitable.
Her dual nature, half-beautiful, half-decaying, captures society's contrasting views of death: both as a feared finality and a natural, transformative transition. This balance between decay and renewal, destruction and creation, reflects the forces that have shaped not just the Norse cosmos but human understanding of mortality across cultures.
Hel's legacy as the keeper of life's final mystery intertwines elements of oral tradition and literary reinterpretation, forming a figure who straddles ancient pagan beliefs and later Christianized worldviews. As the guardian of the invisible and the hidden, she invites reflection on the inevitability of the journey all souls must undertake. Her story offers a lens through which we might view death not solely as an end but as a necessary part of life's cycle, urging us to embrace its mysteries with courage and acceptance.
In a world often marked by fear of the unknown, Hel reminds us that confronting and embracing mortality can bring clarity and wisdom, reshaping how we live in the face of the inevitable. She is not a goddess to be feared but one to be respected and a symbol of the inevitable journey that awaits us all.
References:
Cavendish, R. (1970). Man, myth and magic: an illustrated encyclopedia of the supernatural. Marshall Cavendish Corporation.
Illes, J. (2010). Encyclopedia of spirits: The ultimate guide to the magic of fairies, genies, demons, ghosts, gods & goddesses. Harper Collins.
Littleton, C. S. (2002). Mythology: the illustrated anthology of world myth & storytelling. Duncan Baird.
Mark, J. J. (2021, September 6). Hel. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Hel/
McCoy, D. (n.d.). Hel. Norse Mythology for Smart People. https://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/giants/hel/
McCoy, D. (2016). The Viking spirit: An introduction to Norse mythology and religion. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
“Hel he (Odin) cast into Niflheim, and gave to her power over nine worlds, to apportion all abodes among those that were sent to her: that is, men dead of sickness or of old age. She has great possessions there; her walls are exceeding high and her gates great. Her hall is called Sleet-Cold; her dish, Hunger; Famine is her knife; Idler, her thrall; Sloven, her maidservant; Pit of Stumbling, her threshold, by which one enters; Disease, her bed; Gleaming Bale, her bed-hangings.”
