Hell, Norway
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Hell is a village in Lånke, Stjørdal, Norway with a population of 352. It has become a minor tourist attraction because of its name, as visitors often have their photograph taken in front of the station sign. The station sign reads "Gods-expedition", an archaic Norwegian (but current Danish) spelling of the word for "cargo handling" - godsekspedisjon would be the current spelling.
The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means "overhang", "cliff cave". The Norwegian word hell can also mean "luck". The Old Norse 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 is helvete.
Among English-speaking tourists, popular postcards depict the station with a heavy frost on the ground, making a visual joke about "Hell frozen over." Temperatures in Hell can reach -20 °C during winter.
The station itself, Hell Station, is situated at a railway junction where the rail line Nordlandsbanen north to Bodø branches off from Meråkerbanen between Trondheim and Storlien in Sweden. As most other railway stations, Hell station is closed.
Hell is a post town with two post codes: 7517 for delivery route adresses and 7570 for P. O. Boxes. Hell currently has a grocery store, gas station and a retirement home.
Until late 1995, the national main road E6 was aligned trough Hell and across the Hell bridge to Sandfærhus (nearby Trondheim Airport).
The mall Hellsenteret is located at Sandfærhus north of the Stjørdal river, rather than in Hell/Lånke, and thus the name is a misnomer. The Værnes airport hotel is situated next to Hellsenteret.
A yearly blues festival, the Hell Blues Festival[1], takes place in the area around Hell each year. The festival 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 bancruptcy the same year. In 2008 a new festival was started, entitled "Blues in Hell", going back to the original concept.
Mona Grudt, Miss Norway 1990 and Miss Universe 1990, is from a small town near Hell. During the 1990 Miss Universe competition, she listed herself as "The beauty queen from Hell" as a publicity stunt.
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Coordinates: 63°26′N 10°54′E / 63.433°N 10.9°E
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