Hell as a curse

[Ynax he/him]

Hi guys, I found out about Sanderson about a year ago when I began reading WoT and saw that he finished the books. Since then I tested out WoK and got stuck.

  In many of his works I have seen the word Hell used as a curse, though I'm sceptical of its origin. None of the books I've read has hell as an afterlife life (I've not read Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell though). Damnation exists in some but where does the curse Hell come from? (It's ironic how I rather tend to find inconsistencies instead of clues to the Cosmere or such)

Edited January 6, 2015 by Ynax

[ZeldaDad he/him]

Not that I doubt you, but do you have any passages where it's used or specific books you've seen it in? I've often thought the same things when reading books like these and it's interesting to see. I'd have to guess if pressured for an answer, it would be something along the lines of "hell" not being the main name for it in that world/universe, just a slang term or a carry-over from another culture... something like Hades for us I guess, if that makes sense.

 

Also, welcome!

Edited January 7, 2015 by Endra kin'Fox

[Ynax he/him]

Thanks!

 

The Well of Ascension Chapter 16

 

The general glanced at him, and Elend saw a harsh wisdom in his eyes. "I've known worse

leaders," he said. "But I've also known a hell of a lot better."

This is when he is speaking with Clubs overlooking Straffs and Cetts army

[thecatinthehat]

Maybe simply a translation convention? The characters didn't speak Engligh at the time, did they?

[Windrunner he/him]

I'm gonna go with that. After all, as Brandon explains in the annotations, he uses the phrase "mooning" over someone, and Scadrial has no moon. It's just a translation quirk.

[gjustice99 she/her]

Maybe simply a translation convention? The characters didn't speak English at the time, did they?

The character do not speak English. It has been stated that the language on Scadrial sounds similar to French.