“Hel our Queen”: An Old Norse Analogue to an old English Female Hell
One of the most arresting characters in medieval literature, appearing in the Old English Gospel of Nicodemus, is seo hell, an apparently female chthonic figure who engages in a memorable flyting with Satan and orders him out of “her” dwelling (ut of mýnre onwununge) Her vivid personification in a d...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1983
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 1983, Volume: 76, Issue: 2, Pages: 263-268 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | One of the most arresting characters in medieval literature, appearing in the Old English Gospel of Nicodemus, is seo hell, an apparently female chthonic figure who engages in a memorable flyting with Satan and orders him out of “her” dwelling (ut of mýnre onwununge) Her vivid personification in a dramatically excellent scene suggests that her gender is more than grammatical, and invites comparison with the Old Norse underworld goddess Hel and the Frau Hölle of German folklore, to say nothing of underworld goddesses in other cultures. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816000001358 |