Beneath the earth itself, Hel, mistress of the cold and joyless world of shades, at last received him; unless, indeed, by dying a warrior's death, he was admitted to the happy realms of Waelheal.

As a whole, the Anglo-Saxon heathendom was a religion of terrorism.

Evil spirits surrounded men on every side, dwelt in all solitary places, and stalked over the land by night.

Ghosts dwelt in the forest; elves haunted the rude stone circles of elder days.

The woodland, still really tenanted by deer, wolves, and wild boars, was also filled by popular imagination with demons and imps.
Charms, spells, and incantations formed the most real and living part of the national faith; and many of these survived into Christian times as witchcraft.