Hel

Hel is the Norse goddess and ruler of the underworld realm also called Hel, presiding over those who die of old age, illness, or natural causes (not battle). Daughter of Loki and half-dead in appearance (one side living, one corpse-like), she governs the cold, misty land of the dead with impartiality. In myths, Hel refuses to release Baldr unless all beings weep for him, showing her authority. She embodies inevitable death and the afterlife for the ordinary, contrasting Valhalla, and represents the somber, unavoidable end in Norse cosmology.