Norse cosmology Norse cosmology is the study of the cosmos (cosmology) as perceived by the ancient North Germanic peoples. The topic encompasses concepts from Norse mythology, such as notions of time and space, cosmogony, personifications, anthropogeny, and e ...

, Álfheimr (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: , "Land of the

Elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes " ...

" or "Elfland"; anglicized as Alfheim), also called "Ljósálfheimr" ( , "home of the

Light Elves Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequency, fr ...

"), is home of the Light Elves.

Attestations

Álfheim as an abode of the Elves is mentioned only twice in

texts. The

eddic poem The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the ''Prose Edda'' written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic med ...

Grímnismál ''Grímnismál'' (Old Norse: ; 'The Lay of Grímnir') is one of the mythological poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript and the AM 748 I 4to fragment. It is spoken through the voice of ''Grímnir'', one of ...

'' describes twelve divine dwellings beginning the stanza 5 with:

Ýdalir call they the place where Ull
A hall for himself hath set;
And Álfheim the gods to
Frey Freyr (Old Norse: 'Lord'), sometimes anglicized as Frey, is a widely attested god in Norse mythology, associated with kingship, fertility, peace, and weather. Freyr, sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden a ...
once gave
As a tooth-gift in ancient times.

A tooth-gift was a gift given to an

infant An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

on the cutting of the first tooth. In the 12th century eddic prose ''

Gylfaginning ''Gylfaginning'' (Old Norse: 'The Beguiling of Gylfi' or 'The Deluding of Gylfi'; c. 20,000 words; 13th century Old Norse pronunciation ) is the first part of the 13th century ''Prose Edda'' after the Prologue. The ''Gylfaginning'' deals with t ...

'',

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 the ...

relates it in the stanza 17 as the first of a series of abodes in heaven:

That which is called Álfheim is one, where dwell the peoples called '' ljósálfar'' ight Elves but the '' dökkálfar'' ark Elvesdwell down in the earth, and they are unlike in appearance, but by far more unlike in nature. The Light-elves are fairer to look upon than the sun, but the Dark-elves are blacker than pitch.

The account later, in speaking of a hall in the Highest Heaven called

Gimlé In Norse mythology, Gimlé (alternately Gimli as in Icelandic) is a place where the worthy survivors of Ragnarök are foretold to live. It is mentioned in the ''Prose Edda'' and the Eddic poem "Völuspá" and described as the most beautiful plac ...

that shall survive when heaven and earth have died, explains:

It is said that another heaven is to the southward and upward of this one, and it is called
Andlang In Norse mythology, Andlang (also Andlàngr or Öndlangr) is described as the second heavenly realm which stretches between the first, containing the halls of the gods, and the third, named Vídbláin. In all there are nine heavens according to S ...
'Andlangr'' 'Endlong'but the third heaven is yet above that, and it is called Vídbláin 'Vídbláinn'' 'Wide-blue'and in that heaven we think this abode is. But we believe that none but Light-Elves inhabit these mansions now.

It is not indicated whether these heavens are identical to Álfheim or distinct. Some texts read Vindbláin (''Vindbláinn'' 'Wind-blue') instead of Vídbláin. Modern commentators speculate (or sometimes state as fact) that Álfheim was one of the nine worlds (''heima'') mentioned in stanza 2 of the eddic poem ''

Völuspá ''Vǫluspá'' (also ''Völuspá'', ''Vǫlospá'' or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress'; reconstructed Old Norse: ) is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It tells the story of the creation of the world and ...

''.

Sources

Locations in Norse mythology Saga locations Elves Freyr {{saga-stub

Attestations

See also

Sources