Is Hel a Naga?

Sorry for a really stupid question, but I've noticed that in all the times we see Hel, both in the godsmoot (1000) and in the latest issue (1081) she is drawn with a long dress that seem to curve a bit up like a snake's tail.


Does she have a tail under there?

I'm not that familiar with Norse mythology nor did I see much in the D20 version of the pantheon about it.

I just find it odd a bit since in (946), she talks about Mal as "Nergal's Snake" and that the dwarves belong to her, which is a bit funny if she herself as a serpent like being.


So does she have an actual tail? Or am I just imaging things and didn't understand something in the art?

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Originally Posted by SlashDash

Sorry for a really stupid question, but I've noticed that in all the times we see Hel, both in the godsmoot (1000) and in the latest issue (1081) she is drawn with a long dress that seem to curve a bit up like a snake's tail.


Does she have a tail under there?

I'm not that familiar with Norse mythology nor did I see much in the D20 version of the pantheon about it.

I just find it odd a bit since in (946), she talks about Mal as "Nergal's Snake" and that the dwarves belong to her, which is a bit funny if she herself as a serpent like being.


So does she have an actual tail? Or am I just imaging things and didn't understand something in the art?

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Hel doesn't have a snake's tail in Norse Mythology, nor in 3.5.

Her brother is a serpent, though.

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Originally Posted by Unoriginal

Hel doesn't have a snake's tail in Norse Mythology, nor in 3.5.

Her brother is a serpent, though.

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And her other brother is a wolf.
All that tells us though is that divine families can be seriously weird.:smalltongue:

Regarding the dress: I kinda assumed it was supposed to be flowing and billowing dramatically around her like nightly fog around the tombstones on a graveyard.:smallcool:

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Originally Posted by SlashDash

Re: Is Hel a Naga?

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Hel Naga? This is OoTS, not StarCraft. :smallcool: l:
Xel'Naga

Malack X Hel is my new OTP.

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Originally Posted by Kantaki

And her other brother is a wolf.
All that tells us though is that divine families can be seriously weird.:smalltongue:

Regarding the dress: I kinda assumed it was supposed to be flowing and billowing dramatically around her like nightly fog around the tombstones on a graveyard.:smallcool:

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Don't forget her half-brother, Sleipner.
Yes, Odin's eight-legged horse is also Loki's kid though his father was a horse.
Yes, father. Loki is Sleipner's mother.

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Originally Posted by SlashDash

Does she have a tail under there?

I'm not that familiar with Norse mythology nor did I see much in the D20 version of the pantheon about it.

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Traditionally she's half "alive" insofar as that applies to Goddesses, and half "dead and rotting". Some interpretations do the split vertically some do it horizontally.

That said, the Giant has said before he doesn't care much at all about real-world portrayals of any of the Gods, so she could be anything really.

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Originally Posted by Quebbster

Yes, father. Loki is Sleipner's mother.

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Shapeshifters get into all the best mischief. :D

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Originally Posted by Kantaki

Regarding the dress: I kinda assumed it was supposed to be flowing and billowing dramatically around her like nightly fog around the tombstones on a graveyard.:smallcool:

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I suppose it could meant to give her a ghost like appearance.

Makes sense.

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Originally Posted by SlashDash

I suppose it could meant to give her a ghost like appearance.

Makes sense.

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That would check with the "half living woman, half dead" traditionnal description of Hel. She just took "half ghost" rather than "half decaying corpse". Less embarassment when a pretender like Thrimm comes for a visit. ^^

Nagas are based on Indian mythology, I doubt a goddess based on Norse mythology would be one.

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Originally Posted by SlashDash

Is Hel a Naga?

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No. She's a deity.

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Originally Posted by SirKazum

No. She's a deity.

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A deity could be a naga, though. Just not a Norse one.

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Originally Posted by Wristlet Eater

A deity could be a naga, though. Just not a Norse one.

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The whole (sorta) joke being that "deity" is its own creature, and deities are never nagas or humans or elves or whatever else... :smalltongue:

Nagas have snake bodies below the neck. They don't have arms.

Hel's torso, as we can see from her dress, has humanoid skin, from which extends a pair of humanoid arms.

Also, nagas don't have breasts, on account of having snake bodies below the neck, whereas Hel's got a bit of a curve there.

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Originally Posted by Kardwill

That would check with the "half living woman, half dead" traditionnal description of Hel. She just took "half ghost" rather than "half decaying corpse". Less embarassment when a pretender like Thrimm comes for a visit. ^^

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I can't believe I didn't think of that until I read that. And I'm the one bringing up the "half-dead" thing in these kind of threads.

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Originally Posted by Wristlet Eater

Nagas are based on Indian mythology, I doubt a goddess based on Norse mythology would be one.

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Do people know that though? I mean when I hear about Nagas, I think of Final Fantasy Nagas, D&D Nagas, maybe even Xanth Nagas. But I didn't even know the mythological Nagas were Indian until DesolaterMagic wouldn't shut up about how they don't belong on Amonkhet because they are an Indian myth.

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Originally Posted by Inyssius Tor

Nagas have snake bodies below the neck. They don't have arms.

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Depends on the Naga. MtG ones tend to have snake heads, a humanoid torso, and then a snake rest of the body.

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Originally Posted by The MunchKING

Do people know that though? I mean when I hear about Nagas, I think of Final Fantasy Nagas, D&D Nagas, maybe even Xanth Nagas. But I didn't even know the mythological Nagas were Indian until DesolaterMagic wouldn't shut up about how they don't belong on Amonkhet because they are an Indian myth.

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I don't know. I know I knew it. But maybe that's just because I spend an abnormal amount of time surfing Wikipedia.