Alfar

Interpreting elven lore

For many fans of modern fantasy media, the categories of “elves,” “dwarves,” and other fantastic humanoid creatures are taken for granted. Some point to old Germanic traditions for the origins of these categories, and even highlight quotes from early Germanic texts to support a taxonomical view of these superhuman categories. Though we may see inklings of various groupings of supernatural beings in early Germanic literary sources, elves and their ilk appear in our sources heterogeneously, and a deeper examination of the evidence paints a much more complex and fluid picture of elves, dwarves and other beings as they might have been understood in the conception of early Germanic cultures.

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Elven typology

For an early basis of the modern permutations of elven “types” seen in media, and the contrast between the categories “elf” and “dwarf,” most scholars have pointed to Snorri Sturluson, and particularly his account in Gylfaginning of “light-elves” and “dark-elves.” Gylfaginning 17 states that

Here, Snorri is unambiguous about a distinction between what he called ljósalfar and døkkalfar, the former living in Alfheimr and the latter “beneath the earth.” A confounding factor, however, is introduced in Gylfaginning 34, wherein

The use of ofan í with the accusative case expresses motion down into the earth, and when paired with the description of the døkkalfar as svartari en bik “blacker than pitch,” it might suggest that these dwarves inhabiting Svartalfaheimr are the døkkalfar referenced earlier. It remains possible, however, that there was a threefold distinction between ljósalfar, døkkalfar, and svartalfar, wherein the last of these three is equated with dvergar ‘dwarves.’ Regardless, some distinction is corroborated in other sources, such as Alvíssmál, wherein the dwarf Alvíss gives names for celestial objects and phenomena attributed to both dvergar and alfar, separately, e.g. Alvíssmál 14:

Another reference is in Hávamál 159-160, wherein the High one says he knows a “fourteenth spell”

while the “fifteenth” spell

Elven associations

Apart from being listed separately such as in the above poems, the terms dvergar and alfar are associated with different subjects in the sources. Where smithcraft is concerned, we tend to see references to dvergar. In Gylfaginning 34 cited above, Skírnir’s errand is to employ the dwarves in crafting fetters for the wolf Fenrir. In Hyndluljóð 7, the goddess Freyja references the golden boar Hildsvini,

In Fjǫlsvinnsmál 10, þrír… sólblinda synir “three sons of Sólblindi [‘sun-blinded’]^❦2 Claude Lecouteux (2015) suggests that “[h]is name is an allusion to the fact that dwarves cannot tolerate sunlight because it turns them to stone”,” a dwarf, built the iron gate Þrymgjǫll. Many other references are made throughout the corpus to the prowess of dwarven smiths, who are the origin for many of the weapons of gods and heroes.

Unlike more concrete smithcraft connotations placed on the dwarves, a distinctive character for elves is more elusive. One key association is between the gods and the elves. Lotte Motz says:

One “imprint on the language” referenced by Motz is the use of the element alfr in kennings to refer to people, which parallel the similar use of gods’ names, “i.e. vígálfr — elf of the fight — warrior^❦4 Hákonarkviða 10 , sverðálfr — elf of the sword — warrior^❦5 Háleygjatal 11 ” (p 98-99). Alaric Hall also speaks to the “theophoric associations of álfr,” making reference to onomastic pairs þórarinn :: álfarinn, and alfkil :: þorkil beside áskell (containing the element áss ‘god’).

Moreover, Hall believes that this associated grouping of elves, gods, and men “were systematically contrasted with monsters,”^❦6 Hall 2007, p 30 and maintains a “binary division between æsir and álfar on the one hand and dvergar and jǫtnar on the other.”^❦7 Hall 2007, p 33 Additionally, Haukar Þorgeirsson, making reference to the Hávamál 159 stanza cited above, claims that “af vísunum sem þessum er helst að skilja að álfar séu goðkynjaðar verur og heimildir eru til um að þeir hafi verið blótaðir í heiðnum sið”^❦8 H Þorgeirsson 2011, p 49 “[from references such as these, it is most likely that álfar are god-like beings, and there is evidence that they would have been worshipped in heathen tradition]”.

One confounding factor in this association of the alfar with the æsir is their simultaneous close connection with the vanir. According to Motz, “the sun was the elves’ instrument; Yngvi in several accounts the brother of Álfr and thus an elf^❦9 Vǫluspá 16, is linked in name to Freyr, the god of sun and sky, also described as shining (Skírr) and thus sometimes designated as: Yngvi-Freyr. This god also lives in Álfheimr^❦10 Grímnismál 5: alfheim frey gáfu í árdaga / tívar at tannféi “The gods gave Elf-home to Freyr as a tooth-fee in days of yore.” .”^❦11 Motz 1973, p 96 In Grímnismál 4, we are told that

and in Lokasenna 30, Loki lobs at Freyja the accusation that ása ⁊ alfa   er hér inni eru / hverr hefir þinn hór verit “of the gods and the elves who are herein, each has been thy consort.” Hall believes that:

Hall’s solution might also explain the similar onomastic practices observed above, and account for the absence of the term van(i)r and the presence of alf(a)r in the many texts where the Vanir appear. Frog & Jonathan Roper corroborate Hall’s thought, noting that “outside of Alvíssmál, [vanr] always alliterates with vís[s] as a collocative pair,” that “vanir exhibits almost no flexibility or productive use,” and that

A more tenuous connection between elves and the qualities of beauty and (sun)light associated with the Vanir (especially Freyr and Freyja) appears in the Old English adjective ælfscíene, meaning “beautiful.” Hall compares this to similar noun + adjectives compounds “gærsgréne ‘green as grass’; hrímceald ‘cold as frost,’” and claims that “[t]his strongly implies that ælfe were not only characterised by beauty, […] but that they were a paradigmatic example of beauty.”^❦15 Hal Hall 2007, p 92-93l also notes another parallel in the Old English use of ælf to gloss Latin terms for nymphs, sylphs, dryads, and other such creatures^❦16 Aldhelm’s Enigmata ff. 10v-25v, stating that this “might imply that ælfe shared the nymphs’ characteristic beauty.”^❦17 Hall 2007, p 88 To this observation, we might add that the aptness of elves as analogous to nature spirits may also corroborate their association in the Norse literature to the Vanir.

A supernatural spectrum

From all the evidence presented thus far, there appears to be a rough distinction between the æsir and vanir/elves on the one hand, and the dwarves or “swart-elves” on the other. However, there is also a wealth of evidence that discourages such a distinction. Among Motz’s observed elf-kennings listed above, “the word álfr appears as part of the designation of a giant: bjargálfr [‘mountain elf’].^❦18 Bergbúa þáttr 11,”^❦3 Motz 1973, p 99 which directly contrasts Hall’s æsir~alfar / dvergar~jǫtnar split. Also notable are the dwarf names given in Vǫluspá such as Alfr, Gandalfr, and Vindalfr. Motz also notes that

Even the strong association between swords and smithcraft is not exclusive, as “the æsir too are intimately associated with smithing, in stanzas 7 and 61 of Vǫluspá, as are otherworldly beings elsewhere in medieval Europe.”^❦22 Hall 2007, p 33 Ármann Jakobsson adds:

Jakobsson argues rather that the term alfar, while it does seem to have a closer connection with some beings, could generally be used “for every paranormal figure that is clearly superior to humans […] álfr could be a human or a dvergr (dwarf) or a troll.”^❦23 Á Jakobsson 2015, p 216 Jakobsson goes on to explain how the retrospective “taxonomical” notion of alfar can largely be attributed to the influence of the growth of taxonomy in the natural sciences in the 18^th century on the development of folkloric studies in the 19^th, “ignoring the fact that, in the medieval sources, ‘troll’ may just as well denote a witch or a ghost as a clearly defined ethnic other.”^❦24 Á Jakobsson 2015, p 217. On this tendency, Terry Gunnell also comments:

While Snorri likely had access to sources no longer available to us, it is important to remember that he was in a situation not wholly dissimilar from that of the contemporary philologist.

Against the line of thought which would blur the lines between alfar and dvergar, Hall argues that the evidence which would tie them together post-dates “the earliest Norse evidence” of kennings which he believes demonstrate a clear distinction, and that, moreover, “the tendency to conflate elben with zwerger in German sources can be explained fairly straightforwardly by demonisation of elben, building on certain of their traditional associations.”^❦26 Hall 2007, p 32 His observations on a similar development of demonization of elves in the Old English tradition^❦22·❦27 Hall 2007, p 33 would corroborate this tendency. However, Hall still concedes that “disinctions between æsir and jǫtnar, accurate as generalisation, are not always neat, and the same may be true of álfar and dvergar.”^❦22 Hall 2007, p 33

Conclusion

Much of the present evidence conflicts with any firm conclusion about the elven categories. What we can discern is:

1. Snorri’s classification in Gylfaginning is not neatly paralleled elsewhere;
2. smithcraft is primarily (though not exclusively) associated with dwarves;
3. the terms vanir and alfar show significant overlap, and may even have been synonymous;
4. elves and æsir are strongly linked in both nature (especially if the elves are vanir) and in reverence (theophoric naming and kennings); and
5. there appears to have been significant overlap between dwarves and elves, though whether this is an early state of affairs that was later spliced and taxonomized or a later development as a result of blending and pejoration remains unclear.

It is likely that this problem will remain an open area of study, as there are so many difficulties and uncertainties. A comfortable interpretation in the midst of this uncertainty is the tentative definition of alfr as a nebulous macro-category that can variously capture vanir, dwarves, heroes, and other supernatural entities which were likened to or contrasted with the æsir divinity.

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references

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bibliography

• Á Jakobsson 2015. “Beware of the Elf! A Note on the Evolving Meaning of Álfar.” Folklore 126, p 215-223
• Gunnell, T 2007. “How Elvish Were the Álfar?” Wawn, A & Johnson, G, & Walter, J (ed), Constructing Nations, Reconstructing Myth: Essays in Honour of T. A. Shippey. Making the Middle Ages 9, p 111-130
• Hall, A 2007. Elves in Anglo-Saxon England: Matters of Belief, Health, Gender and Identity. Boydell
• H Þorgeirsson 2011. “Álfar í Gömlum Kveðskap.” Són 9, p 49-61
• Lecouteux, C 2015. Encyclopedia of Norse and Germanic Folklore, Mythology, and Magic. Inner Traditions
• Motz, L 1973. “Of Elves and Dwarves.” Arv: Tidskift för Nordisk Folkmennisforskning p 93-129
• Roper, F & J 2011. “Verses versus the Vanir: Responses to Simek’s ‘Vanir Obituary.” The Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter, p 29-37

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philology