Loki and the giantess Angrboða produced three monstrous offspring — Fenrir, Jörmungandr, and Hel — whom the gods scattered across the worlds after learning they were fated to destroy them at Ragnarök.
Hel rules Helheim as queen of the dead, receiving all who die of sickness, old age, or any death not in battle. Her hall Éljúðnir and its grim furnishings reflect her cold dominion.
Odin cast Hel into Niflheim and gave her authority over all who die of sickness and old age. She established her hall Éljúðnir in the darkest depths of the primordial mist-realm.
Hel agreed to release Baldur from her realm only if all things in the world wept for him. When the giantess Þökk (Loki in disguise) refused, Baldur remained in Helheim.
Frigg sent Hermóðr to plead with Hel for Baldur's release. When Hel's condition that all things weep was nearly met, Loki's refusal as Þökk thwarted Frigg's desperate effort to reclaim her son.
Hermóðr rode to Helheim to plead with Hel for Baldur's release. Hel set the condition that all things must weep for Baldur, and when Þökk refused, she kept her word and held him.
Odin cast Hel down into Niflheim and granted her dominion over all who die of sickness and old age — a banishment that gave her a kingdom of shadows beneath the roots of Yggdrasil.
At Ragnarök, Hel releases her countless dead to march against the gods aboard the ship Naglfar, the vessel made of dead men's nails sailing from her cold dominion.
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