This article discusses Hälle, the name of a village in Brunflo parish and of a deserted farm in Alsen parish, and Hällne, the name of a village in Oviken parish, all in Jämtland, Sweden. In late medieval sources these places were referred to as Hændla (pl.). This name corresponds to a noun OSw. *hændil m. ‘something similar to a hand’, a word otherwise known from five place-names in Götaland in southern Sweden. The author suggests that the three Hændla places in Jämtland owe their name to metaphorical use of the word *hændil. In one case the name probably referred to a peculiar rock formation, in another to a distinctive erratic boulder, and in the third case possibly to a contour in the terrain.