Helgrind

“Hermod then pursued his journey until he came to the barred gates of Hel. Here he alighted, girthed his saddle tighter, and remounting, clapped both spurs to his horse, who cleared the gate by a tremendous leap without touching it.”

In Gylfaginning, after Hermóðr has crossed the bridge over Gjöll and followed the road the maiden Móðguðr pointed out, he comes to the barred gates of Hel. He gets down, tightens his saddle girth, mounts again and spurs his horse, which clears the gate in one leap without touching it. He then rides on to the hall, where he finds his brother Baldr in the seat of honour. In Snorri’s description of Hel’s dwelling, it is protected by very high walls and strongly barred gates.

The poem Baldrs draumar, which tells of Odin’s own ride to Hel, speaks in the translation used here of an eastern gate, a different text and a different passage.

The translation used here calls it only “the barred gates of Hel”. The Old Norse name Helgrind is usually read as “Hel’s gate”. It should not be confused with Valgrind, the gate before Valhöll, which has its own entry. The leap is told of Hermóðr and his horse in this one episode, and the horse is Odin’s Sleipnir, lent for the errand.