Talk:Hell, Norway

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Being in Norway where the winters are harsh, can we then presume that Hell freezes over?

I nominate this for the funniest line to ever grace Wikipedia

[edit] Helvete and Helvetia?

Is there any connection between the given Norwegian word for Hell (the other place), helvete, and the Latin name for Switzerland, Helvetia? --FOo 04:35, 27 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Not that I'm aware of, but it's a possibility. The Old Norse hell was called Hel, and as such isn't that far away either. krikkert 19:12, 22 July 2005 (UTC)

I wouldn't think Helvetia would be related to Hell or helvete as most Germanic h sounds are replaced with k sounds in the Romance languages. For instance: heart and cardio stem from the same Indo-European word, but heart came to us via Germanic languages, while cardio came to us via Latin. Based on the fact that Helvetia is a name the Romans gave to a Celtic tribe, I'd guess that word somehow originated in Celtic. --Laura Scudder | Talk 08:09, 7 August 2005 (UTC)

I've read that there is no connection, meaning that the words helvete and helvetia stem from unrelated roots. Helvete means "Hel knows", ie. "the place which Hell knows", Hel being the Norse God of the underworld. The English word "hell" is derived from this. What the root of Helvetia is, I don't know, but it's supposedly unrelated. Disclaimer: IANAL (I Am Not A Linguist). -Kvaks 07:33, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

I think you're wrong about the second part. I read that the -vete comes from Old Norse "vite", meaning penalty or punnishment, (related to English blood-wit and Scots wite. Helvetia comes from an old Celtic tribe, that were called something like "the Helvetes". 81.232.72.53 11:50, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Vite means to know in norwegian (both norse and modern norwegian), and thus "helvete" meaning Hel Knows would be correct. Another thing is that Hel was no god but rather the daughter of Loki a half god\Æse (Æsir being almost the equivalent of demons, but in norse mythology trolls and giants) and a æse, making Hel one of the aeses. But since she was the daughter of Loki the other godsfelt that she should get her own domain, and made her the master of the land of the dead. The place where women and cowards went when they died, which was almost the same as hell. Further more I have read something about Christians came up with the name Hell because of her, but I am not certain. (Æ=AE)

Tor Erik

Can Æs really be compared to demons? as Ás is defined as a god, a deity if you will, whilst a demon is more comparable to a jotun?

Anyway; According to the current standard dictionary Helvete is derived from helvíti where the suffix is punishment. It should be concidered that Hell and Helvete are not perfect matches, i am not sure about the english Hell but helvete is not so tightly attached to the christian hell. but lastly i believe there is no connection between helvete and helvetia.

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