Journal of the Archivist
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In Entry XII, the Archivist studies Hel, the Norse realm and goddess of the dead, through Snorri Sturluson’s Edda: her half-dark body, her hall of Hunger and Sickbed, the golden bridge over the river Gjöll, and her terrible condition for Baldr’s return, weighing what is ancient belief against medieval invention.
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In Entry XI, the Archivist traces the Devil’s changing colors: the blue angel of Ravenna, the black of medieval demonology, the green of Gothic fiends, and the red of Revelation, hellfire, and Gounod’s Faust. Each color carried meanings of darkness, corruption, or fire, revealing more about painters than about Satan.
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In Entry X, the Archivist examines clippings about Exeter, Rhode Island, where in 1892 a family exhumed Mercy Brown and burned her heart to save her dying brother. The entry places the episode within New England’s struggle with tuberculosis, and asks how the word “vampire” came to replace her name.