
#redirect Svartálfar
In Norse mythology, the svartálfar ("black elves") or dökkálfar ("dark elves") are supernatural beings (Old Norse "vættir," wights) that are said to reside in the underground world of Svartálfheim. They, like the trolls, are often corollated with the Norse dwarves ("dwarf") and their home is often considered to be the same as Nidavellir, the underground of Midgard, though not as far down as Helheim. == Dwarves as Black Elves == According to Kevin Crossley-Holland: "No valid distinction though can be drawn between the dwarfs and the dark elves; they appear to have been interchangeable." It should be noted that confusion between unrelated, mythologic entities often arises with the passing of time, as can be found in the stories of the trolls (ogre-like beings that are also confused with dwarves). Svartálfar have acquired their name because they were seen as the light-avoiding counterparts to the common elf, living in Álfheim. Snorri Sturluson, author of among other things the Younger Edda, at times refer to these elves as ''ljósálfar'' ("light elves"). The term black/dark elf might rather be suggestive of their place of residence than of their presumed nature, although they ''are'' described as greedy and troublesome for humans, in comparison to the angelic (light) elves. Besides their underground lives, svartálfar had many of the same traits attributed to them as the dwarves. These include growing from the maggots of Ymir's flesh, turning to stone when exposed to daylight, and being human-like, but ugly and misshapen. == Later Influences == [[Image:Fuseli_nightmare.jpg|thumb|280px|''The Nightmare'', by Swiss-English artist Henry Fuseli (1781) is probably influenced by the German idea of a wicked ''Alb'' (elf) sitting on a dreamers chest during sleep paralysis.]] Like many mythologic elves, regardless of morality (though much closer to the dire variaties in particular), dark elves are often said to be responsible for many of the maladies befalling humanity. In particular, bad dreams are said to be within the domain of the dökkálfar, as indicated by the German language word for nightmare, "Albtraum" (Elf Dream). It is said that the dark elves will sit upon the dreamer's chest and/or whisper the bad dreams into the sleeper's ears. In Scandinavia, the creature responsible for this is known as the ''Mara (folklore)''. A horde of svartálfar appears in Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and are contrasted with liósálfar (Light Elves). In this story, they dissolve under contact with iron weapons. == The Dualism of Light and Dark == The word álf (pl. álfar) derives from the same Indo-European root word from which the Latin ''albus'' (white) and Hebrew ''El'' (god, light) derive. The original meaning of the word is significant to the character of the álfar of Norse mythology, who retained their light-derived, divine status. Often related or compared to the Vanir (fertility gods) in nature, the elves can be found in association with divinities throughout the Eddas. The álfar are divided, as are faerie beings in many mythologies, between "Light" and "Darkness," which are often related to the dualistic principle "Good" vs. "Evil," though that is a leap of logic. From the parallelism, though, we derive the two forms of álf: Light (or High) Elves and the Black (or Dark) Elves (compare the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of the Sidhe in Celtic mythology, the Angels and Demons of Christianity, and the Devas and Asuras of Hinduism). Do note that Dark Elves, for being dark and/or light avoiding, are sometimes characterized as evil and so are sometimes maligned, but at the same time are said to aid both Light Elves and the Æsir at Ragnarök. Further, it should be noted that the dualism of Light/Darkness correllates to the "struggle between Good and Evil," the Light Elves are often made into the "good guys," while the Dark Elves (and even Dwarves) are the "bad guys." Such a simplistic view, however, fails to evaluate the Eddas correctly, for the Elves (both Light and Dark), Dwarves, Æsir, Vanir, and Jotuns are capable of "good" and "evil." The only truly "evil" beings in the Norse Mythos (if evil can be applied to a near elemental force) are the Fire Giants ("demons"), who are responsible for the destruction of the old, imperfect world at Ragnarök and the birth of the much better world in the space remaining (an ultimately good function). == See also == * Elf * Dark elf * Norse dwarves * Nightmare * Sleep paralysis ElvesNorse mythology
== Ideas for Improvement == This topic could use one of those wonderful contents menus, as its structure is present enough that by inserting subcategories, navigation could be made slightly easier. Further, Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare" should be added as the main topic picture. It depicts a crouching, rather non-dwarflike svartalf sitting atop a sleeping maiden's chest as well as one of the nightmare horses (see Pooka). I'd say if anything matches the idea of the svartalf closer than a dwarf, it's the dark elf in that piece. There are two versions of this piece, to be sure, both of which I think should be included: one has a lithe demon on the sleeper's chest and a white nightmare; the other has a black nightmare, a dwarf instead of a demon, and the positioning is reversed (the woman faces the opposite direction). I'm not sure which one Fuseli painted (if not both), but it could be an interesting work of compartive art as connecting to mythology. The other idea I have is to combine this article with "dark elf," though I'm not sure I'd go that far. Dark elf is more general, so the information for svartalfar would be subject to the wills of those working with the more general topic. Just a few ideas. : I've added headings (and thus a contents menu) and the picture by Fuseli found at the sleep paralysis page. The other picture is :fr:Image:Cauchemar-fuseli.jpg at French Wikipedia if anyone feels strongly about uploading it. And btw. the mare in nightmare is not a female horse, the nightmare ''is'' the black creature. See the nightmare article for more on that. User:Salleman 02:28, 19 May 2005 (UTC) ::Thank you so much, those edits were wonderful! I'm new to Wikipedia (though I've been monitoring it for a while), so I'm glad someone found my to do list. I'm going to have to upload that other picture, though (or a better scan of it, at any rate), as that was the one to which I was referring. ::...and as far as I had heard, the "nightmare" was the horse, not the "incubus" (elf) that provided a nightmare. Of course, that could simply be an association made at some point between the Mara and the pooka (which often assumes that form). It doesn't really matter, though, as neither the svartalf nor the pooka are nightmares, but the denizens/bringers of nightmares. ::Another thing I just thought of: should we connect this topic to other nightmare creatures, such as the bugbear/bugaboo/boggle/boogie man? :::As far as I'm concerned, svartálf is an Old Norse synonym to ''dvergr'' (dwarf) or perhaps including similar subterranean beings if they were seen as different. The German nightmare elf might be akin to the svartálf, but it was only seen as ''a'' elf in Germany. The elf#German folklore article has one or two lines about that. However, feel free to create an entry on Nightmare creatures or Nightmare beings or whatever you'd like to call it. That could certainly be a very interesting topic, since there seems to be bad critters causing nightmares and/or sleep paralysis all over the globe. I wrote some things on talk:Mara (folklore) about that if you're interested. :::(And btw. you can sign your discussion posts with four tildes, like this:~~~~ .) User:Salleman 16:51, 21 May 2005 (UTC)
Thanks for the idea, Salleman. I'll need to do a bit more research before I begin such an article (if we don't want another stub), but I like that idea.
User:Iro 22:11, 21 May 2005 (UTC)
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Words begining with Svartalfar:
Svartalfar
Svartálfar
Svartálfar
Svartalfar
#redirect Svartálfar
Svartálfar
In Norse mythology, the svartálfar ("black elves") or dökkálfar ("dark elves") are supernatural beings (Old Norse "vættir," wights) that are said to reside in the underground world of Svartálfheim. They, like the trolls, are often corollated with the Norse dwarves ("dwarf") and their home is often considered to be the same as Nidavellir, the underground of Midgard, though not as far down as Helheim. == Dwarves as Black Elves == According to Kevin Crossley-Holland: "No valid distinction though can be drawn between the dwarfs and the dark elves; they appear to have been interchangeable." It should be noted that confusion between unrelated, mythologic entities often arises with the passing of time, as can be found in the stories of the trolls (ogre-like beings that are also confused with dwarves). Svartálfar have acquired their name because they were seen as the light-avoiding counterparts to the common elf, living in Álfheim. Snorri Sturluson, author of among other things the Younger Edda, at times refer to these elves as ''ljósálfar'' ("light elves"). The term black/dark elf might rather be suggestive of their place of residence than of their presumed nature, although they ''are'' described as greedy and troublesome for humans, in comparison to the angelic (light) elves. Besides their underground lives, svartálfar had many of the same traits attributed to them as the dwarves. These include growing from the maggots of Ymir's flesh, turning to stone when exposed to daylight, and being human-like, but ugly and misshapen. == Later Influences == [[Image:Fuseli_nightmare.jpg|thumb|280px|''The Nightmare'', by Swiss-English artist Henry Fuseli (1781) is probably influenced by the German idea of a wicked ''Alb'' (elf) sitting on a dreamers chest during sleep paralysis.]] Like many mythologic elves, regardless of morality (though much closer to the dire variaties in particular), dark elves are often said to be responsible for many of the maladies befalling humanity. In particular, bad dreams are said to be within the domain of the dökkálfar, as indicated by the German language word for nightmare, "Albtraum" (Elf Dream). It is said that the dark elves will sit upon the dreamer's chest and/or whisper the bad dreams into the sleeper's ears. In Scandinavia, the creature responsible for this is known as the ''Mara (folklore)''. A horde of svartálfar appears in Alan Garner's The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and are contrasted with liósálfar (Light Elves). In this story, they dissolve under contact with iron weapons. == The Dualism of Light and Dark == The word álf (pl. álfar) derives from the same Indo-European root word from which the Latin ''albus'' (white) and Hebrew ''El'' (god, light) derive. The original meaning of the word is significant to the character of the álfar of Norse mythology, who retained their light-derived, divine status. Often related or compared to the Vanir (fertility gods) in nature, the elves can be found in association with divinities throughout the Eddas. The álfar are divided, as are faerie beings in many mythologies, between "Light" and "Darkness," which are often related to the dualistic principle "Good" vs. "Evil," though that is a leap of logic. From the parallelism, though, we derive the two forms of álf: Light (or High) Elves and the Black (or Dark) Elves (compare the Seelie and Unseelie Courts of the Sidhe in Celtic mythology, the Angels and Demons of Christianity, and the Devas and Asuras of Hinduism). Do note that Dark Elves, for being dark and/or light avoiding, are sometimes characterized as evil and so are sometimes maligned, but at the same time are said to aid both Light Elves and the Æsir at Ragnarök. Further, it should be noted that the dualism of Light/Darkness correllates to the "struggle between Good and Evil," the Light Elves are often made into the "good guys," while the Dark Elves (and even Dwarves) are the "bad guys." Such a simplistic view, however, fails to evaluate the Eddas correctly, for the Elves (both Light and Dark), Dwarves, Æsir, Vanir, and Jotuns are capable of "good" and "evil." The only truly "evil" beings in the Norse Mythos (if evil can be applied to a near elemental force) are the Fire Giants ("demons"), who are responsible for the destruction of the old, imperfect world at Ragnarök and the birth of the much better world in the space remaining (an ultimately good function). == See also == * Elf * Dark elf * Norse dwarves * Nightmare * Sleep paralysis ElvesNorse mythology
Svartálfar
== Ideas for Improvement == This topic could use one of those wonderful contents menus, as its structure is present enough that by inserting subcategories, navigation could be made slightly easier. Further, Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare" should be added as the main topic picture. It depicts a crouching, rather non-dwarflike svartalf sitting atop a sleeping maiden's chest as well as one of the nightmare horses (see Pooka). I'd say if anything matches the idea of the svartalf closer than a dwarf, it's the dark elf in that piece. There are two versions of this piece, to be sure, both of which I think should be included: one has a lithe demon on the sleeper's chest and a white nightmare; the other has a black nightmare, a dwarf instead of a demon, and the positioning is reversed (the woman faces the opposite direction). I'm not sure which one Fuseli painted (if not both), but it could be an interesting work of compartive art as connecting to mythology. The other idea I have is to combine this article with "dark elf," though I'm not sure I'd go that far. Dark elf is more general, so the information for svartalfar would be subject to the wills of those working with the more general topic. Just a few ideas. : I've added headings (and thus a contents menu) and the picture by Fuseli found at the sleep paralysis page. The other picture is :fr:Image:Cauchemar-fuseli.jpg at French Wikipedia if anyone feels strongly about uploading it. And btw. the mare in nightmare is not a female horse, the nightmare ''is'' the black creature. See the nightmare article for more on that. User:Salleman 02:28, 19 May 2005 (UTC) ::Thank you so much, those edits were wonderful! I'm new to Wikipedia (though I've been monitoring it for a while), so I'm glad someone found my to do list. I'm going to have to upload that other picture, though (or a better scan of it, at any rate), as that was the one to which I was referring. ::...and as far as I had heard, the "nightmare" was the horse, not the "incubus" (elf) that provided a nightmare. Of course, that could simply be an association made at some point between the Mara and the pooka (which often assumes that form). It doesn't really matter, though, as neither the svartalf nor the pooka are nightmares, but the denizens/bringers of nightmares. ::Another thing I just thought of: should we connect this topic to other nightmare creatures, such as the bugbear/bugaboo/boggle/boogie man? :::As far as I'm concerned, svartálf is an Old Norse synonym to ''dvergr'' (dwarf) or perhaps including similar subterranean beings if they were seen as different. The German nightmare elf might be akin to the svartálf, but it was only seen as ''a'' elf in Germany. The elf#German folklore article has one or two lines about that. However, feel free to create an entry on Nightmare creatures or Nightmare beings or whatever you'd like to call it. That could certainly be a very interesting topic, since there seems to be bad critters causing nightmares and/or sleep paralysis all over the globe. I wrote some things on talk:Mara (folklore) about that if you're interested. :::(And btw. you can sign your discussion posts with four tildes, like this:
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
S
SB | SC | SD | SE | SF | SG | SH | SI | SJ | SK | SL | SM | SN | SO | SP | SR | SS | ST | SU | SW | SX | SY | SZ |Words begining with Svartalfar:
Svartalfar
Svartálfar
Svartálfar
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