Helheimr
|
Patience, brothers. Soon we will reveal the secrets of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Discovery Tour: Viking Age and The Forgotten Saga. This article has been identified as being out of date. Please update the article to reflect recent releases and then remove this template once done. |
Helheimr, also known as Hel, was the castle of the Isu Hel, daughter of Loki and Aletheia, in the realm of Niflheimr and one of the Nine Realms in Norse mythology.
Mythology[edit | edit source]
Helheimr fell into human folklore as one of the aspects of the afterlife in Norse mythology,[1] though its location in the Norse cosmos varied by author; the anonymously-written Poetic Edda placed Helheimr outside Niflheimr, while the Gylfaginning poems in Snorri Sturluson's 13th century text Prose Edda had Helheimr as the center of Niflheimr. However, both texts agreed that it later was ruled by Hel,[2] Loki's child through Aletheia,[3] and was the final resting place for all souls who did not have heroic deaths, particularly those faithless in life[4] or who died without a weapon in hand,[5] as well the sick, old, and criminals.[6]
History[edit | edit source]
During the Isu Era, the Æsir leader Odin conceeded authority to Hel over the territory of Niflheim, trapping her inside in the process.[7][8] Eventually, Hel constructed her personal residence with the help of dishonored engineers, who installed a portal system for her to travel within the palace and her domain.[9]
Following that, Loki considered Helheimr as a possible alternative sanctuary for Hel's brother Fenrir, whose existence was seen as an ill omen for an impending disaster, as a means to escape Odin's notice while the child hid in the Well of Urðr. However, she informed their father that Fenrir would not be safe there, forcing Loki to cast the idea aside.[10]
Years later, Baldr was captured by the war-lord Surtr and the Muspels during their invasion of Svartálfaheimr,[11] and Loki told them the secret he had learned[12] of how mistletoe could be used to harm the apparently invulnerable Asgardian.[13] When the Muspel scientist Calder and Surtr's wife Sinmara tortured and killed Baldr, they absorbed a part of his consciousness into the Salakar, an ancient elven artifact per Surtr's bidding and sent the other half to Helheimr into Hel's possession.[14]
Due to this, a grieving Odin embarked on a journey to infiltrate the region in order to confront its queen and retrieve Baldr's consciousness from her,[15] planning to find a way to revive him afterwards.[16]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first mentioned)
- The Siege of Paris (mentioned only)
- Dawn of Ragnarök (mentioned only)
- The Forgotten Saga (first appearance)
- Discovery Tour: Viking Age (mentioned only)
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
- The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Concept art of Helheim -
Concept art
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
- ↑
Hel (location) on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Mistress of the Iron Wood
- ↑ Niflheim on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – King Killer
- ↑ Discovery Tour: Viking Age – Learnings: Lands of the Dead II
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Forgotten Saga – A Gift from the Otherworld: Descent into Kaldstad
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Forgotten Saga – Database: Hel (Niflheim)
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Forgotten Saga – Database: Helheim
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Well-Traveled
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths – Issue #3
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Forgotten Myths – Issue #2
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Dawn of Ragnarök – The Rescue
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Dawn of Ragnarök – Pride of the Aesir
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – The Forgotten Saga – A Gift from the Otherworld: A Manifold Path
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Animus Anomalies: Aqueduct
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||