  alfheim (, "elf home"), also called ljosalfheim (ljÃ³sÃ¡lfheimr, "light-elf home"), is one of the nine worlds and home of the light elves in norse mythology. ==in old norse texts==  Ãlfheim as an abode of the elves is mentioned only twice in old norse texts. the eddic poem grÃ­mnismÃ¡l describes twelve divine dwellings beginning in stanza&nbsp;5 with: Ãdalir call they &nbsp; &nbsp; the place where ull a hall for himself hath set; and Ãlfheim the gods &nbsp; &nbsp; to frey once gave as a tooth-gift in ancient times. a tooth-gift was a gift given to an infant on the cutting of the first tooth. in the 12th century eddic prose gylfaginning, snorri sturluson relates it as the first of a series of abodes in heaven: that which is called Ãlfheim is one, where dwell the peoples called ljÃ³sÃ¡lfar [light elves]; but the dÃ¶kkÃ¡lfar [dark elves] dwell 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 called gimlÃ© and the southernmost end of heaven 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 [andlangr 'endlong'] but the third heaven is yet above that, and it is called vÃ­dblÃ¡in [vÃ­dblÃ¡inn '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 Ãlfheim or distinct. some texts read vindblÃ¡in (vindblÃ¡inn 'wind-blue') instead of vÃ­dblÃ¡in. modern commentators speculate (or sometimes state as fact) that Ãlfheim was one of the nine worlds (heima) mentioned in stanza&nbsp;2 of the eddic poem vÃ¶luspÃ¡. ==popular culture== * j. r. r. tolkien anglicized Ãlfheim as elvenhome, or eldamar in the speech of the elves. in his stories, eldamar lies in a coastal region of the undying lands in the uttermost west. the high king of the elves in the west was ingwÃ«, an echo of the name yngvi often found as a name for frey, whose abode was in Ãlfheim according to the grÃ­mnismÃ¡l. * in a japanese series, sword art online, the setting for the second arc is based on Ãlfheimr. ==see also== * fairyland ==references== *wikisource:prose edda/gylfaginning (the fooling of gylfe) by s
Germanic_mythology Locations_in_Norse_mythology Mythological_places Saga_locations