SIGN AT HELL STATION
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Hell is a small village in
Stjørdal, Norway with a population of 352. It has become a minor
tourist attraction because of its name: people like to take the train there
to get photographed in front of the station sign. At the old warehouse
in the station area, there is a sign "Gods expedition", an old spelling
of the Norwegian word for cargo handling office ("godsekspedisjon" would
be the current spelling).
A yearly blues festival, the
Hell Blues Festival, takes place in the area around Hell each year.
Mona Grudt, Miss Universe 1990,
is from Hell.
The name Hell stems from the
Old Norse word hellir, which means "overhang", "cliff cave". The Norwegian
word 'hell' can also mean "luck".
The Norwegian word for hell
is "helvete", and there are several places in Norway with that name as
well. "Helvete" is considered one of the strongest curses in Norwegian.
Temperatures in Hell can reach
-20?C during winter, which fits well the common English adage "It will
be a cold day in Hell before..."
excerpted
from http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Hell,-Norway
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