Mrs. Hell

One of my favorite fairy tales is called, in the original German, "Frau Holle." Now, "Frau Holle" translates literally into "Mrs. Holle" (since holle doesn't mean anything, although it may have at one time been related to the words for "frost" or "ice" or possibly "winter" in proto-Germanic or proto-Indo-European) but common usage changes Mrs. to Mother because Mother was probably the more common pronoun for an old woman whose marital status was uncertain.

While I was doing research as an undergraduate I found a little book of Grimm's Fairy Tales printed in the original German script which printed the name "Frau Hoelle," which translates into "Mrs. Hell" or "Mother Hell" as some would have it. My teacher kept giggling as I was reading aloud. Whatever. I'm good for a giggle.

The story itself is just an iteration of a common fairy-tale trope, but the fascinating thing is the character's descent into the fairy realm. The Irish would have that the fairy realm is merely another path - the crooked path riding the edge between Heaven and Hell. The Scottish fairy tales are closer to what I saw in Frau Hoelle, which is that the fairy folk are a test. They either require kindness despite fear or ugliness, or they tempt the righteous into thorny paths, as the saying goes.

The tale shows two sisters, the one obviously demonstrating the correct path and the other obviously not. They descend from the realm of their parents into the place of testing. Each meets with identical tests which the good sister passes and the bad sister fails by her own choice. Each comes under the employ of Mother Hell, which is the final test. It is Mother Hell herself who administers the final reward or judgment (a judgment with permanent consequences, naturally).

What fascinates me is the necessity of the descent for the testing, which has the ring of truth. Another aspect which fascinates me, but which does not seem to have a direct correspondence to my current doctrinal beliefs, is the judgment of hell. The character in the fairy tale is not remotely demonic. She is magic, certainly, and very strict. She is also quite unforgiving. It is the judgment of a taskmaster, or one who will either pay handsomely for a job well done, or send you to permanent coventry for being lazy. It seems to be more of a natural judgment, like the ant and the grasshopper are judged by the coming Winter.

I shall ponder.