Gjallarbrú

thumb | right | alt=Gjallarbrui. Illustration by Gerhard Munthe, 1904. | Gjallarbrui. Illustration by Gerhard Munthe, 1904. In Norse mythology, Gjallarbrú (lit. "bridge of Gjöll") is a bridge that crosses the river Gjöll, serving as the passage to reach Hel.

It figures most prominently in Snorri Sturluson's Gylfaginning, in the section of the Baldr myth that recounts Hermód's journey to Hel in an attempt to retrieve Baldr. After riding for nine nights through deep, dark valleys, Hermód reaches the bridge, where he converses with Módgud, the maiden who guards it. She asks his name and lineage and informs him that five companies of dead men crossed the bridge the previous day, yet it trembles no more beneath their passage than under his alone, and he does not resemble the dead.