Helheim: the frozen hell even Odin feared

Helheim, also known as Hel, was one of the Nine Realms of the World Tree and the final destination of the dishonorable dead. Those who died of crime, disease, mishap, or age were forced to tread its icy lands, where no fire could live, tormented for eternity by visions of their past. A nightmarish place of intense darkness and permanent deep-freeze, its cold was so lethal that even Odin himself could not survive there for long. It ran from a path leading from Tyr's Temple to the Bridge of the Damned, beyond which no one could return, and it was ruled and watched over by the eagle Hraesvelgr. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

A land of unyielding cold#

Helheim was locked in permanent deep-freeze, its skies dark and choked with an emerald fog and a constant wind known as the Winds of Hel. Its architecture was made of ebony black stone, much of it buried under ice, with bridges, gates, and metal statues depicting humans in states of lament. Despite the cold, non-frozen rivers flowed from the waterfalls near Tyr's Temple. The only plant known to grow there was Hel's Bramble, a black thorned vine susceptible only to the fire of the Blades of Chaos. It was overrun with savage undead, including Hel-Walkers, Travelers, and Revenants, making it a lawless and violent place. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

The dead arrived as dark featureless silhouettes and had to pass through the Bridge of the Damned, guarded by the troll Mattugr Helson, the Bridge Keeper, whose task was to inspect each soul to confirm it was truly dead. Beyond the bridge, the residents were tormented by visions of their pasts shaped by the emerald fog. There rose the highest building in all of Helheim, where the silver eagle Hraesvelgr sat and watched over the land and its inhabitants. Said to have existed since the earliest frosts, it had known nine rulers, of whom Hraesvelgr had reigned the longest. (God of War (2018); God of War Ragnarök)

Kratos and the visions of the dead#

After Kratos beheaded Mimir, Mimir let slip that his soul had briefly entered Helheim before Freya restored him to life, and he dreaded the place ever after. To save his ailing son Atreus, Kratos journeyed into Helheim to retrieve the heart of Mattugr Helson, killing the troll with the Blades of Chaos. The mists then haunted him with a vision of his father, and the knowledge gained led Mimir to realize that Kratos was the Ghost of Sparta. Later, Kratos, Atreus, Mimir, and Baldur were thrown beyond the Bridge of the Damned by a sudden use of the Bifrost. There each was confronted by a vision of his past, and they learned that Freya was Baldur's mother and had stripped him of feeling to protect him. The group modified a docked ship to fly up a waterfall and escape back to Tyr's Temple, finding a hidden chamber of Odin containing the missing part of Tyr's Shrine. (God of War (2018))

Garm and the tears between realms#

In the second era, Odin sent Atreus, along with Thrud and Heimdall, into Helheim in search of a piece of the Mask of Creation. The mask's energy led them to a chamber guarded by the chained Hel's Hound Garm, a beast that Tyr had imprisoned there long ago to stop it from tearing holes between the realms. Believing the mask piece lay beyond, Atreus broke the chains, freeing Garm, who fled and began spreading chaos across the realms, only for the chamber to prove empty. Kratos and Atreus later returned to stop the beast. Discovering that Garm had no soul and so could not be killed, they stabbed it with a knife holding the soul of the deceased wolf Fenrir, reborn within Garm's body and seemingly taming it. Hraesvelgr then tasked them with closing the six tears Garm had torn, which they did across the realms. (God of War Ragnarök)

The Army of the Dead and the healing of Hel#

When Kratos and his allies resolved that instigating Ragnarok was the only way to end Odin's reign, they sought to recruit Helheim's Army of the Dead. Hildisvini negotiated with Hraesvelgr, bringing Mimir along in the belief that the ruler would be more willing to treat with one of the deceased. The two succeeded, and Hel's army served as the vanguard against Asgard, on the condition that a successor be found, since Hraesvelgr wished to retire. Following Odin's death and the destruction of Asgard, the realms slowly began to heal, Helheim among them, with its gates opened to let the dead pass through unhindered and the number of Hel-Walkers in Midgard declining greatly. (God of War Ragnarök)