HEL or HELA, in Scandinavian mythology, goddess of the dead, a child of Loki and the giantess Angurboda, dwelt beneath the roots of the sacred ash, Yggdrasil (q.v.), and ruled 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; she then became synonymous with suffering and horror.