The association of the north with the realm of Satan is deeply embedded in Christian
mythology, perhaps justifying Dante's depiction of the lowest circle of Hell, in which
Satan is trapped, as ice-bound. Certainly, in Paradise Lost Milton knowingly exploits
this association, as at the very moment in which Satan's revolt against God materializes
he retreats to the north:
Assemble thou
Of all those myriads which we lead the chief;
Tell them, that by command, ere yet dim night
Her shadowy cloud withdraws, I am to haste,
And all who under me their banners wave,
Homeward, with flying march, where we possess
The quarters of the north; there to prepare
Fit entertainment to receive our King,
The great Messiah. (V.683-91)