| Dark Elves | |
|---|---|
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Other Names |
Dökkálfar, Myrkálfar, Svartálfar, Dark Elf |
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First Appearance |
Norse Myth |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
In Norse myth the Dökkálfar or dark elves dwell within the earth and have a dark complexion, while the light elves live in Álfheimr, and are "fairer than the sun to look at". The Ljósálfar and the Dökkálfar are attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson, and in the late Old Norse poem Hrafnagaldr Óðins.
n the Prose Edda, the Dökkálfar and the Ljósálfar are described in chapter 17 of the book Gylfaginning. In the chapter, Gangleri (the king Gylfi in disguise) asks the enthroned figure of High what other "chief centres" there are in the heavens outside of the spring Urðarbrunnr. Gangleri responds that there are many fine places in heaven, including a place called Álfheimr (Old Norse 'Elf Home' or 'Elf World'). High says that the Ljósálfar live in Álfheimr, while the Dökkálfar dwell underground and look—and particularly behave—quite unlike the Ljósálfar. High describes the Ljósálfar as "fairer than the sun to look at", while the Dökkálfar are blacker than pitch.
As chapter 17 continues, Gangleri asks what will protect the beautiful hall of Gimlé, previously described as the southernmost end of heaven, when the fires of Surtr burn heaven and earth (Ragnarök). High responds that there are in fact other heavens. The first called Andlàngr, he says, is "south of and above this heaven of ours" and "we believe" Gimlé is located in the third heaven "still further above that one", Víðbláinn. High adds that "we believe it is only light-elves who inhabit these places for the time being".
Since the Prose Edda describes the dökkálfar as being subterranean dwellers, they may be dwarfs under another name. The Prose Edda also uniquely mentions the svartálfar (black elves), but there are reasons to believe these also refer to merely dwarfs.
Jacob Grimm surmised that the proto-elf (ursprünglich) was probably a "light-colored, white, good spirit" while the dwarfs may have been conceived as black spirits by relative comparison. But the two classes of creatures were getting confounded, and there arose a need to coin the term light-elf (ljósálfar, or hvítálfar — white elves) to refer to the "elves proper". This was counterpart to the "dark-elf" (dökkálfar, or svartálfar — black elves).
Preferring it over duality, Grimm postulated three kinds of elves (ljósálfar, dökkálfar, svartálfar) present in Norse mythology.
But Grimm's tripartite division faced "trouble" in Snorri's statement that dark-elves were pitch-black, as this would lead to the first reduction that dark-elves = black-elves. As a solution, Grimm pronounced Snorri's statement fallacious, and hypothesizes that dark elves were not really 'dark' but rather 'dingy' or 'pale'.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Dark Elves from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- Prose Edda
- Hrafnagaldr Óðins