The Penguin Book of Hell

by Scott G. Bruce

  THE GREAT BELOW1

  CONCERNING THEIR DESCENT INTO HELL.

  As they proceeded on in conversation with one another, behold a sudden horror and an unbearable cold and a stench never experienced before and shadows incomparable to those previously seen, tribulation and distress invaded Tundale’s soul together, such that the entire foundation of the earth seemed to tremble, and Tundale was compelled to say to the angel who walked ahead of him, “Alas, my lord, what is making it so that I can barely stand on my own? I am so distressed that I barely have the will to speak.” As he stood still waiting for the angel’s response, for he could not move because of his great dread, his guide suddenly disappeared from sight. The poor soul saw that he was by far the lowliest of all the sinners he had seen before and, bereft of his light and solace, what else could he do, except to give up all hope of God’s mercy? For, as Solomon said, there is no wisdom or knowledge in the depths, into which he hastened, and therefore he lacked counsel when God’s help abandoned him.2 While he tarried alone amid such great dangers, Tundale heard the shouts and wailing of an awesome multitude and also the sound of thunder so terrifying that our smallness could not comprehend it, nor could his tongue, as it is said, endeavor to express it.

  CONCERNING THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF HELL.

  As Tundale looked around to see whether he could discern the source of these terrors, he saw a four-sided hole like a cistern, which was in fact a well that emitted a putrid column of flame and smoke that stretched up to the heavens. In this column of flame there was a great number of souls and demons side by side, rising up like embers aglow with fire. When the smoke dissipated to nothing, the souls fell with the demons into the furnace, down into the deep. When Tundale witnessed this great spectacle, his soul wanted to retreat, but he could not lift his foot from the ground. Goaded by fear, he tried again and again and discerned that he could not accomplish what he desired to do. Filled with a great fury, he burned within and tearing his cheeks with his nails, he cried, “Woe to me! Why can I not die? And why did I, the most wretched of all, not wish to believe in the holy scriptures? What madness deceived me?” Overhearing his words, the demons ascending with the flame gathered around him with their instruments, with which they seized the miserable souls for torment. They surrounded him like swarming bees and burned like fire adorned with thorns and they spoke with one voice, saying, “O wretched soul, worthy of pains and tortures, from where have you come here? You are ignorant of the pains that you have not yet experienced; moreover, you will see the torment that fits your deeds, from which there is no escape, not even in death, but you will burn perpetually in agony, unable to die. You will see or find no consolation, no relief, and no light; you will have no hope of aid or mercy. For you have approached the gates of death and you will find yourself in the very depths of Hell without delay. Whoever led you here has deceived you; he would have freed you from our power, if he could, but you will not see him again. Grieve, poor soul, grieve, cry, shout and wail, for you will mourn with those who mourn, you will cry with those who cry, and you will burn forever with those who burn. There is no one who wants to free you from our power, and no one who can.” The demons spoke to one another, saying, “Why should we delay any longer? Let us drag this soul away and show our cruelty to him. Let us give him to Lucifer to be devoured.” And so, brandishing their weapons, they threatened him with everlasting death. These spirits were as black as coal, their eyes were like lanterns burning with fire, their teeth were whiter than snow, and they had tails like scorpions, very sharp iron nails, and wings like vultures. While they were tossing him about, for they had seized him without delay, and while they were singing the song of death to the grieving soul, the spirit of light appeared. Once those spirits of shadow had fled, the angel consoled Tundale with his accustomed words, saying, “Rejoice and be glad, child of light, because you will receive mercy rather than judgment. For you will see the punishments, but you will not suffer anymore.”

  CONCERNING THE PRINCE OF SHADOWS.

  “Come, therefore,” the angel said, “and I will show you the worst adversary of the human race.” And proceeding on, he came to the gates of Hell and said to Tundale, “Come and see, but know this, that my light barely shines for those who are condemned here. You will be able to see them, but they will not be able to see you.” Drawing near, Tundale looked upon the depths of Hell. The abundance and array of unspeakable torments that he saw there he could never reveal, even if he had one hundred heads and in each head one hundred tongues. But I think that it would not be useful to leave out a few of the things that he told us. For he saw the prince of shadows, the enemy of the human race, the devil, who surpassed in size all of the beasts that he had seen before. Tundale could not find anything to compare to the size of its body and we should not dare to presume anything that we did not learn from his lips, but we should not neglect the story that we heard from him. For the devil was the blackest black like a raven, with the shape of a human body from its feet to its head, except that it had many hands and a tail. This horrid monster had no fewer than one thousand hands and each of those hands was one hundred cubits in length and ten cubits in width.3 Each of its hands had twenty fingers, which were one hundred palms long and ten palms wide.4 Its nails were longer than the lances of soldiers and made of iron, and it had the same kind of nails on its feet. Moreover, it had a great, long beak and a tail that was long and very hard and ready to harm souls with its very sharp barbs. This horrifying spectacle lay inclined upon an iron grill, the burning coals placed beneath it fanned by the bellows of an unimaginable multitude of demons. Such a great crowd of souls and demons surrounded the Devil, too many for anyone to believe, because the world has produced so many souls since the beginning of time. The enemy of the human race was bound by every limb and through every joint of its limbs by immense, flaming chains of iron and copper. Moreover, when it moved in the coals and was charred all over, with great rage the burned beast thrashed from one side to the other and grasped with all of its hands for the multitude of souls. And when each hand was full, he squeezed them like a thirsty peasant pressing a bunch of grapes, so that no soul that was not already in pieces or lacking a head or feet or hands could possibly escape him unharmed. And then, as though breathing, he blew and scattered all of the souls into the different parts of Hell, and immediately the pit vomited its fetid flame, concerning which we have spoken before. And when the dire beast drew its breath, it sucked back all of the souls that it had scattered and devoured the ones that fell into its mouth with smoke and sulfur. But whoever fled from its hands, the Devil struck with its tail and in this way the wretched beast struck itself in its incessant lashings. Inflicting punishments on souls, it was tortured by its own torments. Witnessing this, Tundale asked the angel of the Lord, “My lord, does this monster have a name?” The angel said in response, “This beast before you is called Lucifer and he is the first of God’s creatures to dwell in the delights of paradise. If he was freed, he would throw into confusion heaven and earth and everything, even into the depths of Hell all at once. Moreover, some of this multitude are angels of darkness and ministers of Satan; others are the sons of Adam, who did not merit mercy. For these are the ones who held out no hope of mercy from God nor did they believe in God and therefore with the prince of shadows they merit to suffer in this way without end, because in their words and deeds they did not wish to cleave to the Lord of Glory, who would have returned good to them forever.” Tundale asked, “Have these souls already been judged or do they still wait for many others, who promised with words to live well, but denied it with their deeds?” The angel responded, “Those who deny Christ altogether or perform works of denial will endure such punishments, for they are adulterers, murderers, thieves, robbers, the proud, and those whose penance is not worthy of their crime. First, they will suffer those lesser punishments that you witnessed before and then they will be led to these torments, from which no one can escape once they have entered. Here also are prel
ates and leaders of the world, who desired to be foremost, not to be useful, but simply to be foremost. Those who did not reckon that their power to rule or to correct their subjects was given to them and conceded by God and indeed those who did not exercise the power entrusted to them, as they should have, will suffer without end. For this reason, scripture proclaims, ‘The powerful suffer torments powerfully.’”5 Then Tundale said, “Since you say that power was given to them by God, why do they suffer because of it?” And the angel responded, “Power granted by God is not bad, but it is bad to use it badly.” And Tundale asked, “Why does the almighty Lord not always grant power to the good, so that they can correct their subjects and rule over them, as they should?” The angel responded, “Sometimes power is granted to the good to drive out the sins of their subjects—although evil people do not deserve to have good leaders—and sometimes it is because of good leaders that the health of their souls are more secure.” Then Tundale asked, “I wish to understand why this monster is called the prince of shadows, when it can defend no one and cannot even free itself?” And the angel responded, “He is called a prince not on account of his power, but on account of the primacy that he holds in the shadows. For although you have witnessed many punishments before these, they count for nothing when compared to this vast torment.” And Tundale said, “This is undoubtedly true, for it disturbs me greatly to look upon that lake and it vexes me even more than everything I suffered before to endure this stench. I beg you, if it is possible, do not allow me to be dragged away from here quickly and tortured any more. For I see in this torment many relatives and companions and others known to me, whom I rejoiced to have with me as friends on earth, yet whose company here I very much abhor. Indeed, I know for certain that unless divine mercy comes to my aid, when my merits are weighed, I will suffer these torments no less than they do.” And the angel said, “Come, O happy soul, turn toward your peace, for the Lord blesses you. Indeed, you will not suffer anymore nor will you see these punishments unless you earn them again. Up to this point you have seen the prison of the enemies of God; now you will see the glory of his friends.”

  TEACHING THE TORMENTS: THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES (c. 1000–1300)

  In the High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300), the fear of Hell escaped from the monasteries and found a rapt audience among ordinary Christians. Throughout the first millennium, tales about infernal torments taught cloistered individuals to cultivate virtue and thereby avoid punishment in the world to come, but after the year 1000 CE, elements of these stories began to spread to parish churches in towns and villages, carried on the tongues of monks and priests who ministered to laypeople in the countryside. Medieval Christians were preoccupied with Hell for different reasons. The doctrine of Purgatory—an intermediate place in the afterlife, where a cleansing fire burned away the impurities of souls bound eventually for Heaven—received its official definition at the First Council of Lyon (1245), but the formation of this doctrine in the preceding centuries had forced Christian thinkers to articulate how Purgatory differed from Hell with respect to its location, its duration, and the kinds of torments the wicked could expect to suffer there. In this same period, Christian authors also recognized the utility of stories about Hell in promoting an increased responsibility among ordinary Christians for their own salvation, especially in the wake of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), which required all Christians to make confession at least once a year and to attend the Mass more frequently. While the doctrine of Purgatory embraced the hope that the souls of sinners would eventually find their way to Heaven, Hell was an efficient tool in medieval preaching because it provoked an unparalleled fear. As sermon after sermon made plain, there was no escape from the fiery, reeking pit that awaited the truly wicked. After centuries of cloistered seclusion, Hell was on the march in the High Middle Ages.

  LESSONS IN HORROR1

  In the early twelfth century, a Christian theologian and monk named Honorius of Autun (1080–1154) composed numerous treatises on aspects of the Christian faith, writing in a clear and unpretentious style of Latin that garnered him a wide audience. Among his most popular works was a handbook of Christian instruction intended to educate individuals who were about to receive baptism. He called this book Elucidarium, because its contents “made clear” the important lessons about the truth of the Christian faith that it imparted to the reader. The Elucidarium had three parts: the first part treated the capacity of human beings to know God; the second part dealt with the problem of evil; and the third part contemplated the future life of the soul, that is, Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell. Honorius was a teacher who knew the limitations of his audience, who may have included not only young monks but also lay parishioners who lived in proximity to his abbey. Following the model of the Dialogues of Gregory the Great (see pp. 61–64), he presented the Elucidarium in the form of a dialogue between a teacher and a student and thereby distilled complicated theological teachings into a straightforward exchange. His lessons distinguished between an upper and lower Hell and articulated for the first time the nine terrible torments that sinners could expect to suffer in the world to come.

  STUDENT: What is Hell and where is it located?

  TEACHER: There are two Hells, an upper one and a lower one. The upper Hell is located at the lowest part of this world; it is full of punishments. For in this place excessive heat, great cold, hunger, and thirst abound, as well as a myriad of bodily afflictions, like lashings, and afflictions of the soul, like fear and shame. Concerning this, it is said, “Take my soul,” that is, my life, “from prison,” that is, from Hell.2 The lower Hell is a place of the spirit, where the fire does not go out, concerning which it is said, “You have delivered my soul from the lower Hell.”3 It is said to be below the earth, for, just as the bodies of sinners are covered by the earth, thus the souls of sinners are buried under the earth in Hell, as it is said concerning the rich man, “He was buried in Hell.”4 In this lower Hell, there are nine kinds of torment.

  STUDENT: What are those punishments?

  TEACHER: The first torment is fire, which always burns, so that, even if the entire ocean flowed onto it, it would not be extinguished. The heat of it surpasses real fire like the heat of real fire surpasses painted flames. Hellfire burns, but it does not shed light. The second torment is unbearable cold, concerning which it is said, “If a mountain of fire was placed there, it would turn into ice.”5 Concerning these two torments, it is said, “Wailing and the gnashing of teeth,” because the smoke from the fire coaxes tears from the eyes, while the cold causes the teeth to grind.6 The third torment is undying worms, that is, serpents and dragons, terrifying to see and hear, which live in the flames like fish in water. The fourth torment is an unbearable stench. The fifth torment is cutting whips, like the hammers of those striking iron. The sixth torment is a thick darkness, as it is said, “a land of darkness, where chaos and an everlasting horror dwell.”7 The seventh torment is the shame of the sins that are revealed there to everyone and no one can conceal them. The eighth torment is the horrifying sight of demons and dragons, which the damned see by the glow of the flames, and the pitiful din of weeping and cursing. The ninth torment is fiery chains, by which individual limbs are bound.