Helheim is the Norse underworld, home most of the dead. A dark realm ruled by Hel, behind the gate Helgrindr guarded by the hound Garmr.
Helheim | Realm of Hel and the Dead in Norse Mythology - Vikingr
Helheim (“house of Hel”) is one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology. It is ruled by Hel, the monstrous daughter of the trickster god Loki and his wife Angrboda. This cold, dark and misty abode of the dead is located in the world of Niflheim, on the lowest level of the Norse universe.
Occasionally, it’s also referred to as “Helheim,” “The Realm of Hel,” although this is much more common in the secondary literature than in the Old Norse primary sources.
Helheim holds a significant place in Norse cosmology as the final destination for many souls after death. This realm is not merely a place of punishment but a complex world with its own rules and inhabitants.
In this place rises the highest building in all of Helheim, where an enormous silver eagle, Hraesvelgr, sits and simply watches over Helheim and its inhabitants.
What is Helheim? It has been said that all people who die from illness, old age, or are regarded as cowards or dishonorable by the Gods and Goddesses will end up in the realm of Helheim. According to the Viking Age, if you did not die in battle, you would simply go to Helheim.
In Norse mythology, Helheim lay in the far north, a bleak realm governed by Hel. It received the vast majority of the dead, those whose deaths were ordinary rather than heroic.