Called the huldufolk, or “hidden people”, by some, we have begun to see a resurgence of cultural interest in Elves (Alfar). Especially in Iceland we see a serious interest in the re-kindling of humanity’s relationship and even intellectual understanding of Alfar from the Elfschool that has formed there. Even in fun, silly movies like Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga we see one of the main characters leaving offerings for the Elves at their hill in hopes of enlisting their help with winning a song contest and securing the love of her life. While the movie itself is meant in total fun and includes plenty of misadventure as well as success at the hands of the Elves, who are never seen, it is highly interesting to note the strong presence of the belief in Elves.
On the World Tree (Yggdrassil in the Old Norse, Maailman Puu in Finnish) where the ancients identified the nine main realms of existence, or dimensions of reality, Alfheim is parallel to Midgard. “Heim” means homeland or land of, so Alfheim simply means Elfland or Homeland of the Elves. In our tradition, we are taught to think of this as Midgard residing within Yggdrassil itself, while Alfheim lies physically outside the body of the World Tree. *My mentor explains that this is because humans are mortal, yet the Alfar are immortal. Their realm, being contiguous with Midgard and ruled by Frey, is attached to other worlds, hence their (the Alfar) reputation, as the smiths of the Gods and Goddesses, for technology far outside what Midgard has to offer.
Alfheim was given to Frey, God of the Harvest, as a tooth-gift. A tooth-gift (tannfé) would be the gift given to a child upon losing their first tooth. While it is not in keeping with the main purpose of this article, suffice it to say we can see origin story hints regarding our modern tooth fairy myth, where children are brought money or prizes when they place their lost teeth under their pillows at night. As He was to be Lord over Alfheim one day, Frey was sent to be fostered by Ivaldi’s sons, Ivaldi being the original leader of the land of elves. Sending a prince to be fostered by those who were tributary leaders of a higher king’s lands was a common practice that we see aligned with this detail. In fact, it only makes sense that the Harvest God would be meant to learn from “the artisans of Nature, who had forged the universally beneficial treasures of the gods and the vegetation that adorns creation,” as Rydberg states. (Rydberg, pg. 23)
The Alfar are altogether a separate order or class of being from the Gods and Goddesses Themselves. Some may catch glimpses of them out of the corner of our eyes from time to time as our realms overlap, and some even see and interact with them on a more regular basis. There have been reports of portals to the realm of the Dokkralfar, or Dark Elves, deep within the Earth, where they work with minerals, stones, and craft many different tools for higher uses as well as support the life forms of the planet we call home. In firsthand accounts of encounters with the Dokkralfar, they are often described as being dark or deep blue. The Goddess Sif, kin to the Alfar, spends a great deal of time working there and is so known for being the Goddess of Green and Growing Things due to Her work with the minerals and compounds delivered to the plant realm through their roots in the Earth.
The Ljosálfar, or Light Elves, are those we catch glimpses of here on the surface. Perhaps out of the corner of your eye you’ve noticed someone moving, but then turned to find no one there? This is often how Light Elves are perceived by those of us here in Midgard. One of our kindred children actually experienced this recently when he reported seeing a Rumpelstiltskin-type old man clad all in white in his peripheral vision, but when he turned to talk to the gentleman face-on he was not there. While the Dokkralfar generally keep to their realm in the depths, the Ljosálfar reside upon Earth’s surface as we do, hence the different designations in naming Light and Dark Elves, the Ljosálfar and Dokkralfar.
Elves are the craftsmen of the Godanum, designing and creating sophisticated technologies for the Shining Ones Themselves. These are also occasionally used during shamanic work if some of their workmanship can be helpful to the person attending for shamanic aid. In our collective experience, we have extremely rarely known the Alfar to be malevolent at all. We have found that quite the opposite is true: the elven folk are friendly and happy to aid and foster relationships with us as our overlapping realms of Midgard and Alfheim allow. Just always remember friendship is a two-way street – a gift for a gift is a good guide to follow when building a relationship with the Alfar!
Resource:
Rydberg, Viktor. Our Father’s Godsaga Retold for the Young. Translated by William P. Reaves, iUniverse, Inc., 2003.
*Many thanks to my mentor, Greg R. for helping with this explanation.
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