Hel (being) In the Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, and Heimskringla, Hel is referred to as a daughter of Loki and Angrboða, and to "go to Hel" is to die. In the Prose Edda book Gylfaginning, Hel is described as having been appointed by the god Odin as ruler of a realm of the same name, located in Niflheim. In the same source, her appearance is described as half black and half white flesh-coloured and further as having a gloomy, downcast appearance. The Prose Edda details that Hel rules over vast mansions with many servants in her underworld realm and plays a key role in the attempted resurrection of the god Baldr. Scholarly theories have been proposed about Hel's potential connections to figures appearing in the 11th century Old English Gospel of Nicodemus and Old Norse Bartholomeus saga postola, potential Indo-European parallels to Bhavani, Kali, and Mahakali, and her origins. The Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, features various poems that mention Hel.
Freyja In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse the "Lady") is a goddess associated with love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death. Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a chariot pulled by two cats, owns the boar Hildisvíni, possesses a cloak of falcon feathers, and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother of two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her brother Freyr (Old Norse the "Lord"), her father Njörðr, and her mother (Njörðr's sister, unnamed in sources), she is a member of the Vanir. Freyja rules over her heavenly afterlife field Fólkvangr and there receives half of those that die in battle, whereas the other half go to the god Odin's hall, Valhalla. Etymology[edit] Attestations[edit] Poetic Edda[edit] In the Poetic Edda, Freyja is mentioned or appears in the poems Völuspá Grímnismál, Lokasenna, Þrymskviða, Oddrúnargrátr, and Hyndluljóð. Freyja and Loki flyt in an illustration (1895) by Lorenz Frølich The two go to see the beautiful Freyja.
Hades Names and epithets As with almost every name for the gods, the origin of Hades's name is obscure. The name as it came to be known in classical times was Ἅιδης, Hāidēs. Later the iota became silent.[3] Originally it was *Awides which has been claimed to mean "unseen".[4] This changed into Ἀΐδης, Aïdēs (and afterwards Āïdēs), with the dropping of the digamma. This Ionic and epic form of the name is the one used in epic poetry.[5] Poetic variants of the name include Ἀϊδωνεύς, Aïdōneus, and *Ἄϊς, Aïs (a nominative by conjecture), from which the derived forms Ἄϊδος, Āïdos, Ἄϊδι, Āïdi, and Ἄϊδα, Āïda, (gen., dat. and acc., respectively) are words commonly seen in poetry.[7] Epithets of Hades include Agesander (Άγήσανδρος) and Agesilaos (Άγεσίλαος),[10] both from agein (ἆγειν, "fetch" or "carry") and anēr (ἀνήρ, "man") or laos (λαός, "men" or "people"), describing Hades as the god who carries away all.[11][12][13][14] Nicander uses the form Hegesilaus (Ἡγεσίλαος).[15] God of the underworld Cult
Donn According to Irish mythology, Donn, or the Dark One, is the Lord of the Dead and father of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, whom he gave to Aengus Óg to be nurtured. Donn is regarded as the father of the Irish race; a position similar to that of Dis Pater and the Gauls, as noted by Julius Caesar. Originally, Donn was the chief of the Sons of Mil, a mythological race who invaded Ireland, ousting the Tuatha Dé Danann. Knockfierna, County Limerick was Donn Fírinne's residence. In modern Irish, the word for the colour brown is "donn". Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Hecate Ancient Greek goddess of magic and crossroads Hecate was one of the main deities worshiped in Athenian households as a protective goddess and one who bestowed prosperity and daily blessings on the family.[5] In the post-Christian writings of the Chaldean Oracles (2nd–3rd century CE) she was regarded with (some) rulership over earth, sea, and sky, as well as a more universal role as Savior (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul.[6][7] Regarding the nature of her cult, it has been remarked, "she is more at home on the fringes than in the center of Greek polytheism. Intrinsically ambivalent and polymorphous, she straddles conventional boundaries and eludes definition."[8] Name and origin[edit] The origin of the name Hecate (Ἑκάτη, Hekátē) and the original country of her worship are both unknown, though several theories have been proposed. Greek origin[edit] R. Egyptian origin[edit] Anatolian origin[edit] Later development[edit] Iconography[edit] Sacred animals[edit] Functions[edit]
Cichol Gricenchos Osiris Osiris (/oʊˈsaɪərɨs/; also Usiris), is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and holding a symbolic crook and flail. Osiris is first attested in the middle of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt, although it is likely that he was worshipped much earlier;[4] the term Khenti-Amentiu dates to at least the first dynasty, also as a pharaonic title. Most information available on the myths of Osiris is derived from allusions contained in the Pyramid Texts at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, later New Kingdom source documents such as the Shabaka Stone and the Contending of Horus and Seth, and much later, in narrative style from the writings of Greek authors including Plutarch[5] and Diodorus Siculus.[6] Etymology of the name[edit] Appearance[edit] Early mythology[edit]
Ankou This article is about the personification. For the ingredient, see red bean paste. Background[edit] This character is reported by Anatole Le Braz, writer and legends collector of the 19th century. Here is what he wrote about the Ankou in his best-seller "The Legend of Death": The Ankou is the henchman of Death (oberour ar maro) and he is also known as the grave yard watcher, they said that he protects the graveyard and the souls around it for some unknown reason and he collects the lost souls on his land. - War ma fé, heman zo eun Anko drouk. There are many tales involving Ankou, who appears as a man or skeleton wearing a cloak and wielding a scythe and in some stories he is described as a shadow that looks like a man with an old hat and a scythe, often atop a cart for collecting the dead. One tale[citation needed] says that there were three drunk friends walking home one night, when they came across an old man on a rickety cart. Appearance in subcultures[edit] In popular culture[edit]
Persephone Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon and promised the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus, usually in orphic tradition. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities. Name[edit] Etymology[edit] Persephone or "the deceased woman" holding a pomegranate. Persephatta (Περσεφάττα) is considered to mean "female thresher of corn," going by "perso-" relating to Sanskrit "parsa", "sheaf of corn" and the second constituent of the name originating in Proto-Indo European *-gʷʰn-t-ih, from the root *gʷʰen "to strike".[8] An alternative etymology is from φέρειν φόνον, pherein phonon, "to bring (or cause) death".[9] John Chadwick speculatively relates the name of Persephone with the name of Perse, daughter of Oceanus.[12] Italy.
Death (personification) A Western depiction of Death as a skeleton carrying a scythe In some cases, the Grim Reaper can actually cause the victim's death,[2] leading to tales that he can be bribed, tricked, or outwitted in order to retain one's life, such as in the case of Sisyphus. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving to sever the last ties between the soul and the body and to guide the deceased to the next world without having any control over the fact of the victim's death. Breton folklore shows us a spectral figure portending death, the Ankou. In Ireland was a creature known as a dullahan, whose head would be tucked under his or her arm (dullahans were not one, but an entire species), and the head was said to have large eyes and a smile that could reach the head's ears. In Scottish folklore there was a belief that a black or dark green dog known as a Cù Sìth took the soul of a dying person to the afterlife.
Nephthys Etymology[edit] Nephthys - Musée du Louvre, Paris, France Nephthys is the Greek form of an epithet (transliterated as Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, from Egyptian hieroglyphs).The origin of the goddess Nephthys is unclear but the literal translation of her name is usually given as "Lady of the House," which has caused some to mistakenly identify her with the notion of a "housewife," or as the primary lady who ruled a domestic household. Function[edit] Nephthys was known in some ancient Egyptian temple theologies and cosmologies as the "Useful Goddess" or the "Excellent Goddess".[2] These late Ancient Egyptian temple texts describe a goddess who represented divine assistance and protective guardianship. Nephthys is regarded as the mother of the funerary-deity Anubis (Inpu) in some myths.[3][4] Alternatively Anubis appears as the son of Bastet[5] or Isis.[6] Triad of Isis, Nephthys, and Harpocrates. "Ascend and descend; descend with Nephthys, sink into darkness with the Night-bark. Symbolism[edit]