HEL, or HELA  , in Scandinavian mythology, the goddess of the dead . She was a child of Loki and the giantess Angurboda, and dwelt beneath the roots of the sacred ash, Yggdrasil . She was given dominion over the nine worlds of Helheim . In early myth all the dead went to her: in later legend only those who died of old age or sickness, and she then became synonymous with suffering and horror . Her dwelling was Elvidnir (dark clouds), her dish Hungr (hunger), her knife Sullt (starvation), her servants Ganglate (tardy feet), her bed Kor (sickness), and her bed-curtains Blikiandabol (splendid misery) .