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Places in Norway Literally Named After Hell

Last Updated: November 27, 2024 4 Comments

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Places in Norway Literally Named After Hell

Map created by reddit user PisseGuri82 using Helvetica
The map above shows many of the places in Norway literally named after Hell (Helvete in Norwegian). In total there are over 300 place names recorded by the Norwegian Mapping Authority.

The highest Helvetestinden (or “Hell Peak”) is the 4,500 ft (1371 m). The word hell often appears in compound words such as Helvetesdalen (Valley of Hell), Helvetesdjupet (Depths of Hell) and Helvetesbotn (Bottom of Hell).

The map includes the following geographical place names:

  • Mountain features like peaks, valleys, crevices, deadly gorges or desolate screens.
  • Bottomless lakes and thundering rivers, unnavigable bays, and lurking underwater shallows.
  • Devious skerries hiding in the waves waiting to break you keel and turn you to a feast for the crabs.
  • Dark, dense and dead forests from where no man has ever returned.
  • Remote waterfalls forever pounding on the bones of those who dared approach them.
  • Marshlands waiting to slowly suck you in and silence your cries with its black dead soil.
  • That one not very nice farm. You know what I mean.

However, as reddit user spongebob pointed out:

Ironically there is a town in Norway that is actually called “Hell” but it is not on this map because it’s not named after hell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway

“The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means “overhang” or “cliff cave”.”

Also see:

  • Places Named Santa Cruz / Sainte Croix / Santa Croce
  • European Places With “Saint” or “Holy” In Their Names
  • Map Of Places Named Victoria

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Filed Under: Other Tagged With: hell, words

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Comments

  1. Kumhan says

    March 11, 2016 at 4:41 pm

    Except Hel in Norse mythology has nothing to do with the Christian place full of flames and torture.

    Reply
    • hellothisisdog says

      May 5, 2016 at 11:54 pm

      Irrelevant. Locations in this map have nothing to do with Hel in the first place, but Helvete (‘hell’).

      Reply
      • Darren K says

        May 6, 2016 at 8:20 am

        Quite relevant in fact. No concept of Hel before the Christian conversion had anything to do with the flames that are portrayed all around the map, nor with a vilification of the underwater Egyptian creator god Khnum, the Ram-Headed-One, which resulted in the christian image of Satan (lower right corner).

        Reply
    • mappy says

      April 8, 2020 at 2:23 pm

      What’s Norse mythology got to do with it? These names all date from after Christianisation.

      Reply

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