The Nine Realms
9 months, 22 poets and writers, 22 Artists, 3 composers, 1 Viking boat= a magical reworking of Norse Mythology for contemporary audiences
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Alfheim
(the realm of the Light Elves)
Vikings Ahoy!
Here we are in early June with the deadline for the poetry and writing for the 8th realm MidgardĀ having just passed onĀ Friday 5th JuneĀ ! Who’d have thought we would now be on the final realm!Ā
From this week onwards I will be posting out Midgard poetry.
This month we are outlining the final Norse realm of Alfheim. The finalĀ deadline for all writing, poetry and mp3s for this realm is Friday 19th JuneĀ 2015. I can hardly believe that this is the final realm. Congratulations to all the Viking poets for their creativity, interest and perseverance!!
These monthly posts will draw from a range of primary and secondary source materials and focus on selected gods, themes and stories that circle around the highlighted realm. They will not attempt to cover everything, and writers can embrace any other stories and characters within their writing which is not covered. Month by month we will be building our own magical, contemporary norse world whilst exploring the themes of POWER, NATURE and RELIGION. The project’s overall intention is to embrace orality, translation, storytelling and rhythm all of which are inspired by the origins of the oral tradition of the Norse Sagas.
I may well put out little mini-posts intermittently focusing on orality and poetic form as necessary. Ā
What is presented below is designed to inspire, present basic information and offer a starting point for individual creativity within the project inspired by the themes, characters and spirit of the myths and stories.
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1. A Brief Overview of Alfheim
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It is often said that there are two sorts of elves in Norse mythology: Ā the Dark Elves and the Light Elves. The Light Elves are said to live in Alfheim near the gods’ halls and palaces. In old Norse,Ā Älfheimr, is known as ‘Land of the Fairies’. Ā Alfheim is quite an elusive realm, and is only mentioned twice in the Norse Saga texts, making the realm quite hard, in actuality, to bring to life. The god Freyr is said to be the ruler of Alfheim. Ā Elves, along with Freyr, are generally associated with the sun Ā (Ellis Davison: 156). This derives from ‘aĀ kenning for the sun, Ć”lfrǫðull…to some suggestive of a close link between the elves’. Ā (Motz 1973, p.Ā 99; Hall 2004, p.Ā 40.)
Scholars of Old Norse mythology now focus on references to elves in Old Norse poetry, particularly the Elder Edda. The only person explicitly identified as an elf in classical Eddaic poetry, if any, is Vƶlundr, the Ā main character in theĀ VƶlundarkviưaĀ Ā However, elves are frequently mentioned in the sequence of words:Ā Ćsir ok Ćlfar (‘Ćsir and elves’). This sequence shows a strong tradition of an association between the elves with the Ćsir.
See:Ā http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lfheimr
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- Meadow Elves
- Freyr, The Fertility God
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The two references two elves within the Edda texts are as follows:
1. In the eddic textĀ GrĆmnismĆ”l, describing 12 divine residencies of the gods
in stanzaĀ 5 :
Ćdalir call they Ā Ā the place where Ull
A hall for himself hath set;
And Ćlfheim the gods Ā Ā to Frey once gaveAs a tooth-gift in ancient times.
nb. A tooth-gift was a gift given to a childĀ on the cutting of the first tooth.
You can find the wholeĀ GrĆmnismĆ”lĀ hereĀ
2. In the GylfaginningĀ of The Prose Edda:
‘That which is called Ćlfheim is one, where dwell the peoples called ljósĆ”lfar [Light Elves]; but the dƶkkĆ”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. There are in fact some references that there are three places within the heavens where the light elves live:Ā GimlĆ©,Ā AndlĆ ngrĀ andĀ VĆưblĆ”inn. This information is passed onto the king of Gylfi by a figure calledĀ High.’
You can find the whole GylfaginningĀ here.
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For more information on the history of elves see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf
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For more details on DökkÔlfar and LjósÔlfar see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%B6kk%C3%A1lfar_and_Lj%C3%B3s%C3%A1lfar
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2. Story Focus: Lovelorn Freyr
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- Freyr on Odin’s Throne
- Skirnir
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Freyr goes toĀ HlidskjĆ”lfĀ (the high seat of Odin which allows him to see all the realms~). He gazes across the realms and seesĀ GerưrĀ the giantess with whom he falls immediately in love. Rather than becoming full of joy he broods and ruminates. Opening up to his pageĀ SkĆrnir, he asks Skirnir to woo Geror for him.
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ĆĆ” svarar SkĆrnir, sagưi svĆ” at hann skal fara sendiferư en Freyr skal fĆ” honum sverư sitt. Ćat var svĆ” gott sverư at sjĆ”lft vĆ”sk. En Freyr lĆ©t eigi þat til skorta ok gaf honum sverưit. ĆĆ” fór SkĆrnir ok baư honum konunnar ok fekk heitit hennar, ok nĆu nóttum sĆưar skyldi hon þar koma er Barey heitir ok ganga þÔ at brullaupinu meư Frey. Gylfaginning 37, EB’s edition | Then SkĆrnir answered thus: he would go on his errand, but Freyr should give him his own sword-which is so good that it fights of itself;- and Freyr did not refuse, but gave him the sword. Then SkĆrnir went forth and wooed the woman for him, and received her promise; and nine nights later she was to come to the place called Barrey, and then go to the bridal with Freyr. Gylfaginning XXXVII, Brodeur’s translation |
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As mentioned above, Skrinir asks for Freyr’s sword in return. This request has apocalyptic consequences as Freyr does not have his sword to fight Surt atĀ Ragnarƶk .
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3.  Völundr, the main character in the Völundarkviða in the Poetic Edda (see overview above)
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Volundr is an artisan andĀ is said to be one of the three sons of the king of the Finns. He is calledĀ Ā “prince of the elves” (vĆsi Ć”lfa) and “one of the Ć”lfar” or “leader of Ć”lfar”.Ā
So the story goes, his wife Hervƶr-Alvitr, a valkyrie (“chooser of the slain”), abandons him after nine years of marriage. He is then captured by NĆưuưr, a cruel-king of NƤrke (Sweden) who is out to getĀ Vƶlundr’s gold. Vƶlundr is put to work on an island making artifacts for the king. Eventually he finds means to take revenge and escapes. Ā He kills Niưuưr’s sons, impregnates his daughter and then flies away laughing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%B6lundarkvi%C3%B0a
You can find the full Völundarkviða here
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4. Fertility Ceremonies and the Elves
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There is a story of an early King of Norway called Olaf, to whom, In a times of scarcity, men sacrificed. Ā This is stated Ā in Flaseyjarbok, one of the largest medieval manuscripts. At times of famine they also sacrificed to Freyr as the god of fertility. ‘When Olaf the Holy was born, he was named after the earlier Olaf. He was christend ‘Olaf, Elf of Geirstad’ [11, 106]. Viking burials quite often seemed to be connected with elves, right into the late Viking age (Ellis-Davidson: 155-156). This is seen to be evidence of the connection between fertility, elves and Freyr.
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Another mention…Sigvat, a poet who served under King Olaf the Holy, Ā in 1018, Ā describes how the king could not find a place to stay because everyone was too busy sacrificing to elves.
Cupmarks on rocks and stones are found in association with sunwheels. Farmers have often poured milk into similar cups as offerings to the elves.
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Themes, Relevance and Questions
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Good versus evil
It has been suggested that this classification of the two types of elves has come in as part of the influence of Christianity. A division of good and evil, light and dark. Ā To consider this in relation to notions of power, fairness and spirituality within The Prose and Poetic Eddas is an interesting notion.
Exploration Point:Ā What other examples of dualism, or contrasts can you find in the Eddas and how are they used to comment on the world and the heavens?Ā
Things of Interest:
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1. The Speech of Elves
Ā J. R. R. Tolkien anglicized Ćlfheim 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 IngwĆ«, an echo of the name Yngvi often found as a name for Frey, whose abode was in Ćlfheim according to the GrĆmnismĆ”l.
For an Interview with Tolkien from 1968 go to: https://youtu.be/DFcjBzP7H-E
Ā 2.Ā Light-elves, Dark-elves, and Others:Ā Tolkien’s Elvish Problem byĀ Tom Shippey
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/tolkien_studies/v001/1.1shippey.html
Ā 3.Ā Norse Elements in the work of J.R.R. Tolkien
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4. Drawing Lessons: How to draw Elves
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5. Prospero’s Speech from The Tempest : ‘Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves’
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6. Ā Words For Sentient Beings From Norse Texts
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elf#Old_Norse_texts
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Optional Poetry and Writing Prompts:
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Luc Bat
A Vietnamese verse form. Where lines of 6 syllables alternate with lines of 8 syllables. The name Luc Bat means six-eight. The rule is that each rhyme occurs three times – first at the end of an 8-syllable line, then at the end of the next 6-syllable line, and finally as the sixth syllable of the next 8-syllable line.Ā The end loops back to the beginning. They can be both long and short.
See here for more details.
Writing Word Prompts:Ā Song, Hope, Motion, Contempt, Time, Darkness, Haunting, Magic, Heavens, Memory
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To confirm,Ā the deadline for all writing, poetry and mp3s for the AlfheimĀ realm is Friday 19th JuneĀ 2015.
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Ā Thank you so much for your interest. Do keep an eye out for more of The Nine Realms project updates.Ā
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References
Ā Allan, T (2010) Vikings, The Battle at the End of Time, London: Watkins Publishing
Crossley-Holland, K (1993) The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings, London, Penguin Books
Ellis Davidson, H.R. (1990) Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Penguin Books
Hollander, L.M. (1996) tr. The Poetic Edda, Austin: University of Texas Press
Larrington, C. (1996) tr. The Poetic Edda, Oxford University Press
Sturluson, S. (2005) The Prose Edda, Penguin Classics, tr. Jesse L. Byock