Here is a sketch art card of Hel from Norse Mythology that I drew for the Classic Mythology trading card set produced by me & my wife Elaine (Perna Studios) - Sketch card measures 2.5" x 3.5".
www.pernastudios.deviantart.com
Hel - In Norse Mythology, Hel was the Daughter of Loki and goddess of the underworld (keeper of the dead), Niflheim. She was thrown into Niflheim by Odin, who decreed that she must rule over men who died of sickness or old age. She was frightening to look at. In some accounts she reclines on a bed called Disease and half of her body is rotting and decayed. In other accounts half of her face is flesh and half is blank. In other accounts half of her face is flesh and half is blue. In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, her appearance is described as half-black/decayed and half-flesh colored, and as further having a gloomy, down-cast appearance. The Scandinavian word Hel originally simply meant the place where the dead go, but this became personified into the goddess Hel. The English word, Hell, naturally derives from the Scandinavian. She had playing key role in the attempted resurrection of the god Balder.
