ℌ𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬, 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬, 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩𝔬, 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩'𝔰-𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔡...
Updated: Aug 4, 2023
Hello, Hello, Hello, Hell's Cold... The odd link of Nirvana and Dante and how hot is hell exactly?
The notion of hell as a frozen wasteland may come as a surprise to many, given the commonly assumed belief that hell is a huge cauldron boiling peoples souls in exquisite torture… Or whatever they believe these days. This belief is rooted in biblical references, such as in Revelations where hell is described as a “lake of fire”, and yes that amazing cover by Nirvana of the meat puppets song was about the same reference…
Considering that Christianity originated in arid tropical regions like the Middle East and Africa, the idea of hell being freezing cold, similar to their climates, seems implausible. Additionally, the New Testament uses the term “Gehenna” to refer to hell, historically a place outside Jerusalem where waste was burned. Hence, there is sufficient evidence to support the phrase “it’s hot as hell right now” not to be mistaken by “wow they’re hot as hell” (which has it’s routes based in another satanic topic we’ll tune into soon!)
How can this apparent contradiction be explained? Furthermore, the phrase “it’s cold as hell” adds complexity to this concept, we certainly don’t say “wow they’re cold as hell”… but “it’s cold as hell in here” certainly gives the nuance, though hell and fire or in temperature terms, hot and hell are are more closely related.
Various interpretations of hell suggest that the deeper one descends, the colder it becomes. Well if we’re going to look at Dante’s map of hell the very last point in hell where the devil himself resides is a frozen icy cave...
""THE banners of Hell's Monarch do come forth
Towards us; therefore look," so spake my guide,
"If thou discern him." As, when breathes a cloud
Heavy and dense, or when the shades of night
Fall on our hemisphere, seems view'd from far
A windmill, which the blast stirs briskly round,
Such was the fabric then methought I saw,
To shield me from the wind, forthwith I drew
Behind my guide: no covert else was there.
Now came I (and with fear I bid my strain
Record the marvel) where the souls were all
Whelm'd underneath, transparent, as through glass
Pellucid the frail stem. Some prone were laid,
Others stood upright, this upon the soles,
That on his head, a third with face to feet
Arch'd like a bow. When to the point we came,
Whereat my guide was pleas'd that I should see
The creature eminent in beauty once,
He from before me stepp'd and made me pause.
"Lo!" he exclaim'd, "lo Dis! and lo the place,
Where thou hast need to arm thy heart with strength."
How frozen and how faint I then became,
Ask me not, reader! for I write it not,
Since words would fail to tell thee of my state."
A striking comparison to the cold depths of hell to the frozen and faint feeling one gets when 'frozen in fear'.
Maybe not the nirvana one was expecting....
AND
Speaking of Nirvana, Nirvana are being taken to court at the moment by the descendent of the guy that drew one of the maps of hell inspired by Dantes 9 rings of hell *see below*, giving this blog post a rather odd pairing of the two subjects.
[Nirvana Face Copyright Suit Over Use of Dante’s ‘Inferno’ Illustration – Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/nirvana-copyright-lawsuit-dante-inferno-1164820/)
And which is now coming to the uk! Lucky us!
[Copyright Case Involving Nirvana, ‘Inferno’ Illustration Heads to UK – ARTnews.com](https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/nirvana-live-nation-copyright-infringement-suit-dante-inferno-illustration-1234673360/?fbclid=IwAR039Gn69MbPTCKisbQSqYtNpTT5hJxWzLwR19FV3ayaUYFnrRQmqLQOLdo) Me wearing the infamous shirt...
I thought I read somewhere (*Can't remember where exactly) that the belief in Hell being a cold place derived from Helheim - the Underworld in Norse Mythology and the domain of the Goddess Hel.
Btw - if my soul is damned then I sure hope hell is cold because I don't cope well in the heat 🤣