Editing Hel (mythological being) (section)

==Etymology==
The [[Old Norse]] name ''Hel'' is identical to the name of the [[Hel (location)|location]] over which she rules. It stems from the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] feminine noun ''*haljō-'' 'concealed place, the underworld' (compare with [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''halja'', [[Old English]] ''hel'' or ''hell'', [[Old Frisian]] ''helle'', [[Old Saxon]] ''hellia'', [[Old High German]] ''hella''), itself a [[Morphological derivation|derivative]] of ''*helan-'' 'to cover > conceal, hide' (compare with OE ''helan'', OF ''hela'', OS ''helan'', OHG ''helan'').{{Sfn|Orel|2003|pp=156, 168}}{{Sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=|pp=204, 218}} It derives, ultimately, from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] verbal root ''*ḱel-'' 'to conceal, cover, protect' (compare with [[Latin]] ''cēlō'', [[Old Irish]] ''ceilid'', [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] ''kalúptō'').{{Sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=|pp=204, 218}} The Old Irish masculine noun ''cel'' 'dissolution, extinction, death' is also related.{{Sfn|Kroonen|2013|p=204}}

Other related early Germanic terms and concepts include the [[Compound (linguistics)|compounds]] ''*halja-rūnō(n)'' and *''halja-wītjan''.''{{Sfn|Orel|2003|pp=155–156|p=}}'' The feminine noun ''*halja-rūnō(n)'' is formed with ''*haljō-'' 'hell' attached to ''*rūno'' 'mystery, secret' > [[runes]]. It has descendant [[cognate]]s in the Old English ''helle-rúne'' 'possessed woman, sorceress, diviner',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dictionary of Old English|url=https://tapor.library.utoronto.ca/doe/?E14975|website=University of Toronto|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225010901/https://tapor.library.utoronto.ca/doe/?E14975|url-status=live}}</ref> the Old High German ''helli-rūna'' 'magic', and perhaps in the Latinized Gothic form ''[[Haliurunas|haliurunnae]]'',''{{Sfn|Orel|2003|pp=155–156|p=}}'' although its second element may derive instead from ''rinnan'' 'to run, go', leading to Gothic ''*haljurunna'' as the 'one who travels to the netherworld'.<ref>Scardigli, Piergiuseppe, Die Goten: Sprache und Kultur (1973) pp. 70–71.</ref><ref>Lehmann, Winfred, A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)</ref> The neutral noun *''halja-wītjan'' is composed of the same root ''*haljō-'' attached to *''wītjan'' (compare with Goth. ''un-witi'' 'foolishness, understanding', OE ''witt'' 'right mind, wits', OHG ''wizzi'' 'understanding'), with descendant cognates in Old Norse ''hel-víti'' 'hell', Old English ''helle-wíte'' 'hell-torment, hell', Old Saxon helli-wīti 'hell', or [[Middle High German]] ''helle-wīzi'' 'hell'.''{{Sfn|Orel|2003|pp=156, 464|p=}}''

''Hel'' is also etymologically related—although distantly in this case—to the Old Norse word ''Valhöll'' '[[Valhalla]]', literally 'hall of the slain', and to the English word ''hall'', both likewise deriving from Proto-Indo-European ''*ḱel-'' via the Proto-Germanic root *''hallō-'' 'covered place, hall'.<ref name="HELL-HALL">This is highlighted in Watkins (2000:38).</ref>