Svartálfaheimr

"Home of black elves." The realm of the svartálfar, the black elves, as opposed to Álfheimr, the realm of the light elves. It appears be synonymous with the land of the dwarfs. The name appears twice in the Prose Edda. In Gylfaginning, Odin sends Skírnir to Svartálfaheimr to fetch the fetter Gleipnir. In Skáldskaparmál, Odin sends Loki to the land of the black elves to procure gold so that they can pay their blood debt to Hreiðmarr for the slaying of his son Ótr. There, Loki encounters the dwarf Andvari and forces him to hand over all his gold.

References

Sources

  • Gylfaginning, 34.
  • Skáldskaparmál, 39.