Hell (, ) is a village in

Stjørdal Municipality () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Stjørdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the List of towns and cities in ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is located in the western part of the municipality, about south of the town of

Stjørdalshalsen Stjørdalshalsen or Stjørdal (nickname: ''Halsen'') is a town and the administrative centre of Stjørdal Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located between the rivers Stjørdalselva and Gråelva to the south and north and by th ...

. The village has a population (2023) of 1,921 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of . Hell is a

post town A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system.Royal Mail, ''Address Management Guide'', (2004) Including the correct post town in t ...

with two

post codes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

: 7517 for delivery route addresses and 7570 for

post-office box A post office box (commonly abbreviated as P.O. box, or also known as a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no door-to-door delivery ...

es. Hell currently has a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

, a fast food shop, and a

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home, old folks' home, or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – or rest home, is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Ty ...

. Until late 1995, the

European route E6 European route E6 (, , or simply E6) is the main north–south thoroughfare through Norway as well as the west coast of Sweden. It is long and runs from the southern tip of Sweden at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the countr ...

highway was aligned through Hell and across the Hell bridge to Sandfærhus (nearby is the

Trondheim Airport, Værnes Trondheim Airport (; ), more commonly known as Værnes, is an international airport serving Trondheim (city), Trondheim and the surrounding areas in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, Trøndelag, Værnes, a village i ...

). The new highway (completed in 1995) now goes around the village.

Etymology

The village of Hell has become a minor

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

because of its name, as visitors often have their

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, or more generically referred to as an ''image'' or ''picture'') is an image created by light falling on a photosensitivity, photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor. Th ...

taken in front of the

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

sign. A smaller building on the railway station has been given the sign ', which is the archaic spelling of the word for "

goods In economics, goods are anything that is good, usually in the sense that it provides welfare or utility to someone. Alan V. Deardorff, 2006. ''Terms Of Trade: Glossary of International Economics'', World Scientific. Online version: Deardorffs ...

handling" (' would be the spelling in the contemporary

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelli ...

). The name ''Hell'' stems from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

word '' hellir'', which means "overhang" or "cliff cave". It has a more common

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

in modern Norwegian that means "luck". The

word '' Hel'' is the same as today's English ''Hell'', and as a proper noun, '' Hel'' was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian, the word for

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

is '. Temperatures in Hell can reach during winter. Among English-speaking tourists, popular postcards depict the station with a heavy frost on the ground, making a visual joke about "Hell frozen over". British punk band The Boys recorded their third album in the village, and as a result named it '' To Hell with the Boys''.

Climate

Trondheim Airport Værnes is used as the official meteorological office for this region. Temperatures in both the winter and summer are moderate due to the geography of the location: the average January highs are still above freezing despite a high latitude. Hell has a humid continental climate that is close to being subarctic and also close to being oceanic.

Amenities

Hell railway station is situated at a

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switc ...

where the

Nordland Line The Nordland Line (, ) is a railway line between Trondheim and Bodø, Norway. It is the longest in Norway and lacks electrification. The route runs through Trøndelag and Nordland counties, carrying a combination of commuter, long-haul passenge ...

north to Bodø branches off from the Meråkerbanen between

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

and

Storlien Storlien ��ˈstuːrˌliːənis a village and ski resort located in Åre municipality in Jämtland, Sweden, two kilometres from the Swedish-Norwegian border. The primary bases of the settlement are tourism and outdoor life – alpine skiing, sn ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Hell Station is currently a staffed railway station. The ''Hell Kjøpesenter'' mall is located at Sandfærhus north of the

Stjørdalselva Stjørdalselva () is a long river that reaches from near the Norwegian– Swedish border down the Stjørdalen valley through Meråker Municipality and Stjørdal Municipality before entering the Trondheimsfjord. The mouth is located on the sout ...

river, rather than in Hell, and thus the name is a

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the nam ...

. A

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

festival takes place every year at Hell Station in September, The original festival (Hell Blues Festival) started in 1992, then changed its name to Hell Music Festival in 2006 to open their doors for music other than blues. The Hell Music Festival in 2007 failed to attract many concert-goers, however, and the festival declared bankruptcy the same year. In 2008 a new festival was started, entitled "Blues in Hell", going back to the original concept. Since 2011, the circuit in the village has hosted a round of the

FIA European Rallycross Championship The European Rallycross Championship (former abbreviation ERC, now Euro RX or ERX) is a rallycross competition held in Europe, organised under the auspices of the FIA. History The predecessor championship began in 1973 as the Embassy/ERA Europ ...

(and from 2014 the

FIA World Rallycross Championship The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull G ...

Notable person

Mona Grudt Mona Grudt (born 6 April 1971) is a Norwegian TV host, model, editor and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1990. She is, at present, the only Norwegian to capture the Miss Universe title. Miss Universe Grudt became the clear favorite o ...

, Miss Norway 1990 and

Miss Universe 1990 Miss Universe 1990, the 39th Miss Universe pageant, held on April 15, 1990 at the Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles, California, United States. Mona Grudt of Norway was crowned by her predecessor Angela Visser of Holland at the end of the event. S ...

, is from a small village near Hell. During the 1990 Miss Universe competition, she listed herself as "The beauty queen from Hell" as a

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utiliz ...

References

External links