In Norse mythology, Hel rules the realm called Hel.
Hel is both the name of a giantess and the name commonly used for the underworld or land of the dead over which she presides. She is a daughter of Loki and the giantess Angrboða, and her siblings include the wolf Fenrir and the serpent Jörmungandr.
According to the Prose Edda, Odin sends Hel to govern the dead who do not die in battle. The sources do not present her realm as a simple equivalent of the Christian idea of hell. It is a destination for many kinds of dead people, including those who die from illness or old age.
Mythological descriptions portray Hel as partly living and partly corpse-like, a striking bodily image that signals her connection with death. The Old Norse name Hel is also the ancestor of the English word “hell,” although the later religious concept is not identical to the Norse realm.