Norse Mythology: Álfar (elves) are close confederates of the Norse gods. In the story of creation, the elves and the gods are linked, as if the elves were only one step lower than the Æsir gods. The light elves live in a splendid place called Álfheim, while the dark elves live underground. A frequent refrain in poetry is "How fare the Æsir? How fare the elves?", a beautifully alliterative couplet in old Norse. While sacrifices to the elves (álfablót) are mentioned in the sagas (for instance, chapter 22 of Kormáks saga) the elves seem to be less important at the time of the sagas than they had been earlier. Elves are hard to deal with, rewarding generously, but attacking cruelly. #Norse #mythology #myculture #Viking #history