Eljudnir

Eljudnir is a location in Norse mythology described as the hall of Hel, the goddess who presides over the realm of the dead. In the mythic landscape, Helheim, the underworld, is the domain over which Hel rules, and Eljudnir is associated with her residence within that realm. The name appears in Old Norse sources such as the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda, though the poems offer limited descriptive detail beyond its function as Hel’s dwelling.

The hall functions primarily as a symbol of Hel’s rulership over the dead who die from illness or old age, rather than a vividly described place. Descriptions of Eljudnir emphasize its association with the posthumous world and the governance of Hel over its inhabitants, rather than with heroic feasts or battles that characterize other mythic halls.

In the wider corpus of Norse myth, Eljudnir is one of several named halls that anchor the afterlife and divine administration. It is often contrasted with Valhalla, Odin’s hall for those who die in battle, and with other dwellings tied to deities associated with birth, kingship, or fertility. Scholarly interpretation treats Eljudnir as a compact, narrative marker of Hel’s sovereignty and the Norse conception of an orderly underworld, rather than as a detailed physical locale. The etymology of Eljudnir is uncertain, but the name is firmly tied to Hel and to the realm of the dead in Norse myth.