Alfheim- Norse LocationLocation · Realm"Land of the Light Elves"
Also known as: Álfheimr
Description
The gods gave Alfheim to Freyr as a tooth-gift when he cut his first tooth. The Light Elves who dwell there are fairer than the sun, and Snorri counts their realm among the Nine Worlds on Yggdrasil.
Mythology & Lore
Freyr's Realm
Grímnismál 5 records the gift: "Alfheim the gods to Freyr gave, in days of old, as a tooth-gift." The tooth-gift was a customary present given when a child cut their first tooth. That the gods' tooth-gift to Freyr was an entire world says something about the scale of their generosity, or about Freyr's standing among them.
Snorri describes the Light Elves in the Gylfaginning as beings fairer to look upon than the sun. They are grouped with the gods in the old formula "Æsir ok Álfar," Aesir and Elves, paired as though the two kinds shared rank. The álfablót, a private autumnal sacrifice to the elves recorded in Sigvatr Þórðarson's Austfaravísur, was guarded so jealously that Sigvatr was turned away at the door when he tried to enter a farmstead during the rite.
Beyond this, the sources say almost nothing. No geography, no landmarks, no stories set within its borders. Alfheim is a bright name on the map of the Nine Worlds, and Freyr's lordship over it is all that anchors it to the myths.