Svartálfar
Template:Short description Template:Redirect In Norse cosmology, svartálfar (O.N. "black elves", "swarthy elves", sing. svartálfr), also called myrkálfar ("dark elves", "dusky elves", "murky elves", sing. myrkálfr),<ref>Michaud, Joseph Fr; Michaud, Louis Gabriel (1832). "Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne; ou, Histoire, par ordre alphabétique" vol. 53. p. 143</ref><ref>Crawford, Alexander (1891). "The Creed of Japhet". p. 19. W. Clowes and Sons, Limited.</ref> are beings who dwell in Svartálfheim (Svartálf[a]heimr, "home of the black-elves").<ref name="Faulkes-svaralfaheimr"/> Both the svartálfar and Svartálfaheimr are primarily attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. Scholars have noted that the svartálfar appear to be synonymous with the dwarfs and potentially also the dökkálfar ("dark elves"). As dwarfs, the home of the svartálfar could possibly be another description for Niðavellir ("dark fields").
Attestations
The svartálfar are almost only attested in the Prose Edda (the word does appear in Ektors saga ok kappa hans, but is presumably borrowed from the Prose Edda).<ref>Hall, Alaric (2007). Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and Identity, Anglo-Saxon Studies, 8. Woodbridge: Boydell, p. 24.</ref> The svartálfar mentioned in Skáldskaparmál 35 are the Sons of Ivaldi, whom Loki engages to craft replacement hair for Sif, wife of the god Thor, after Loki mischievously sheared off her golden tresses.<ref name="FAULKES96">Template:Harvp</ref> Ivaldi is often glossed as being a dwarf.<ref name="larrington"/>
Svartálfaheimr ("world of black-elves") appears in the Prose Edda twice,<ref name="Faulkes-svaralfaheimr">Template:Harvp</ref><ref>Finnur Jónsson (1911) ed. Edda, index under Svartálfaheimr (p.365) which cross-references to pp. 51, 175.</ref> in each case as the place where certain dwarfs can be found to be living:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Gylfaginning 33, the "world of black-elves" is where the dwarfs are sought by the gods to craft the fetter Gleipnir to bind the wolf Fenrir.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref> And in Skáldskaparmál, 39, the "world of black-elves" is where Loki encounters the dwarf Andvari.<ref>Template:Harvp</ref>
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.<ref name="SWART-ELF-DWARF">Template:Harvp; Template:Harvp and Template:Harvp.</ref> Scholar John Lindow 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.Template:Sfnp
See also
Notes
References
Template:Elves Template:Norse cosmology Template:Norse mythology