Nidhogg made two cracks under the frozen sea of Iceland, each one was a hundred-kilometers-long. The Black Emperor finally won the war and tied her up to miles-high bronze pillars. In the end, more humans died under her rule than under Nidhogg's. At some point, she decided to challenge Nidhogg's rule and launched the largest rebellion in the history of the Dragon Clan, turning one third of the dragons to her side and many human hybrids under the promise of granting them more freedoms. He created the white queen to serve as his priestess, and she was stronger than any other of Nidhogg's creations. Very little is known about Nidhogg, One of his earliest depictions can be found in the ancient Ice sea scrolls, which narrates the creation of the white queen and her subsequent rebellion.ĭuring the start of his reign, Nidhogg achieved peace, since no dragon dared to rebell against him. Most hybrids will find his draconic words irresistible and will surrender to them, except for the descendants of the White Queen. He created the white dragon queen and the four overlords. If so, it would be a nice family reunion, since after their youth Hela had no relationship with her siblings, as they operated in different parts of the worlds.Nidhogg, also known as the Black Dragon Emperor, was the first and original dragon. Some think the hellhound might instead be Fenrir, Hela's brother (via Nordic Culture). There Garmr (also known as Garm), a hellhound, waited to howl at new arrivals.
The entrance to Hela's realm was situated in a cave known as Gnipa, and the gates were known as Nagrindr, or corpse-gates. The river Élivágar, which had 11 tributaries (one of which was called Gjoll), flowed by the entrance, writes Nordic Culture. Helheim itself was surrounded by a fence. Nidhogg also takes the blood from the dead, which is why they are ghostly pale (via Nordic Culture). Helheim is located underneath the branches (or roots) of the world tree, and the dragon Nidhogg chews on them, spreading decay into the tree.
Hela's name means "hidden" or "covered," which is fitting for a realm that was hidden under Yggdrasil's branches as dead bodies are underneath graves (via Norse Mythology). As a result, while they were locked away after the gods were given warnings of trouble from the siblings, Hela was only thrown into exile in Niflheim. Several gods traveled to Helheim for specific purposes throughout Norse mythology Odin learned the prophecies of Ragnarök from a seer he revived while in Hela's realm, for example.ĭespite this, Hela herself has little presence in most of the Old Norse myths, due to the lack of evidence in both writing and rituals. Nevertheless, Hela is honored both as Loki's daughter and as a goddess of death in her own right. But her brothers Fenris Wolf and Jörmungandr, the world serpent, were even more monstrous than she was. She had giantess blood, and therefore an unsettling appearance. Hela, as you might expect of a ruler of the underworld, was known for being fierce and threatening. Hela accepted the dishonorable dead in Helheim. Helheim was part of Niflheim, a misty, cold world underneath one of the world tree Yggdrasil's branches, writes The Norse Gods. In Norse mythology, Hela (also called Hel) ruled one of the realms of the dead, known as Helheim or Hel.