Norse cosmology Norse cosmology is the account of the universe and its laws by the ancient North Germanic peoples. The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology and Old Norse religion such as notations of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthr ...

, svartálfar ( O.N. "black elves", "swarthy elves", sing. svartálfr), also called myrkálfar ("dark elves", "dusky elves", "murky elves", sing. myrkálfr), are beings who dwell in Svartálfheim (''Svartálf eimr'', "home of the black-elves"). Both the svartálfar and Svartálfaheimr are primarily attested in the ''

Prose Edda The ''Prose Edda'', also known as the ''Younger Edda'', ''Snorri's Edda'' () or, historically, simply as ''Edda'', is an Old Norse textbook written in Iceland during the early 13th century. The work is often considered to have been to some exten ...

'', written in the 13th century by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

. Scholars have noted that the svartálfar appear to be synonymous with the

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

s and potentially also the dökkálfar ("dark elves"). As dwarfs, the home of the svartálfar could possibly be another description for ''

Niðavellir In Norse cosmology, Niðavellir (anglic. as Nidavellir; probable compound of O.N. ''Nið'' – "new moon", "the wane of the moon" (perhaps related to ''niðr'' – "down") + ''Vellir'' (pl. of ''völlr'') – "fields": ''Dark Fields'', ''Downward ...

'' ("dark fields").

Attestations

The ''svartálfar'' are almost only attested in the ''

'' (the word does appear in ''Ektors saga ok kappa hans'', but is presumably borrowed from the ''Prose Edda''). The ''svartálfar'' mentioned in ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'' 35 are the

Sons of Ivaldi In Norse mythology, the Sons of Ivaldi ( Norse: ''Ívaldasynir'') are a group of dwarfs who fashion Skíðblaðnir, the flying ship of Freyr, Gungnir, the spear belonging to Odin, as well as the golden hair for Sif to replace the hair that L ...

, whom

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

engages to craft replacement hair for

Sif In Norse mythology, Sif is a golden-haired goddess associated with earth. Sif is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturl ...

, wife of the god

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, after Loki mischievously sheared off her golden

tresses Tresses () is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde department The following is a list of the 534 communes of the Gironde department of France. Th ...

. Ivaldi is often glossed as being a

. ''Svartálfaheimr'' ("world of black-elves") appears in the ''Prose Edda'' twice, in each case as the place where certain dwarfs can be found to be living: In ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first main part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'', after the initial Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' takes the form of ...

'' 33, the "world of black-elves" is where the dwarfs are sought by the

gods A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

to craft the fetter

Gleipnir In Norse mythology, Gleipnir (Old Norse "open one")Orchard (1997:58). is the binding that holds the mighty wolf Fenrir (as attested in chapter 34 of the ''Prose Edda'' book '' Gylfaginning''). Its name means "the entangled one" or "the deceiver" ...

to bind the wolf

Fenrir Fenrir (Old Norse 'fen-dweller')Orchard (1997:42). or Fenrisúlfr (Old Norse "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"),Simek (2007:81). also referred to as Hróðvitnir (Old Norse "fame-wolf")Simek (2007:160). and Vánagandr (Old Nors ...

. And in ''Skáldskaparmál,'' 39, the "world of black-elves" is where Loki encounters the dwarf

Andvari In Norse mythology, Andvari ( 12th c. Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate ...

Theories and interpretations

Scholars have commented that, as both attestations mentioning the beings and location appear to refer to dwarfs, ''svartálfr'' and ''dwarf'' may simply be synonyms for the same concept.; and . Scholar

John Lindow John Frederick Lindow (born July 23, 1946) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old Norse and Folklore at University of California, Berkeley. He is a well known authority on Old Norse religion and literature. Biography John Lin ...

comments that whether the dökkálfar and the svartálfar were considered the same at the time of the writing of the ''Prose Edda'' is also unclear.

Notes

References

* * * * ** {{DEFAULTSORT:Svartalfar Places in Norse mythology Norse dwarves