Alfheim, More og Romsdal, Norway
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Alfheim is a wilderness hut in Møre og Romsdal. Alfheim is situated southwest of Løstølhøa, and southwest of Litjhøa.
Alfheim (Old Norse: Álfheimr, "elf home" or "land between the rivers.") is an ancient name for an area corresponding to the modern Swedish province of Bohuslän. The Ynglinga saga, when relating the events of the reign of King Gudröd (Guðröðr) the Hunter relates: Álfheim, at that time, was the name of the land between the Raumelfr ['Raum river', lower parts of the modern Glomma river] and the Gautelfr ['Gaut river', the modern Göta älv]. The words "at that time" indicates the name for the region was archaic or obsolete by the 13th century. The element elfr is a common word for 'river' and appears in other river names. It is cognate with Middle Low German elve 'river' and the name of the river Elbe. The Raum Elf marked the border of the region of Raumaríki and the Gaut Elf marked the border of Gautland (modern Götaland). It corresponds closely to the former Norwegian province of Bohuslän, now in Sweden. The name Álfheim here may have nothing to do with Álfar 'Elves', but may derive from a word meaning 'gravel layer'. However, the Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son claims that the two rivers and the country was named from King Álf the Old (Álfr hinn gamli) who once ruled there, and that his descendants were all related to the Elves and were more handsome than any other people except for the giants, one of several references to giants (jotnar and risar) being especially good looking. The Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum also mentions the special good looks of the kindred of King Álf the Old. According to The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son, King Álf the Old was married to Bryngerd (Bryngerðr) the daughter of King Raum of Raumaríki. |
Álfheimr was both the name of the supernatural world of the elves and the name of a kingdom whose legendary kings were related to the elves. This is a stone ship in the former kingdom.
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But according to the Hversu Noregr byggðist, Álf, also called Finnálf, was a son of King Raum who inherited from his father the land from theGaut Elf river (the modern Göta älv river) north to the Raum Elf river (the modern Glomma river), and that the land was then called Álfheim.
Finnálf married Svanhild (Svanhildr) who was called Gold-feather (Gullfjoðr) and was the daughter of Day (Dagr) son of Dayspring (Dellingr) by Sun (Sól) daughter of Mundilfari. Dag as a personification of day and the sun-goddess Sól are mentioned elsewhere, but only the Hversu mentions their daughter. Svandhild bore Finnálf a son named Svan the Red (Svanr inn Rauðr) who was father of Sæfari, father of Úlf (Úlfr), father of Álf, father of Ingimund (Ingimundr) and Eystein (Eysteinn).
According to the eddic poem Hyndluljóð (stanza 12), Óttar, whose genealogy is the subject of this poem, was son of Innstein (Innsteinn), son of Álf the Old, son of Úlf, son of Sæfari, son of Svan the Red. So the Innstein of the Hyndluljód and Eystein of the Hversu are presumably identical.
Finnálf married Svanhild (Svanhildr) who was called Gold-feather (Gullfjoðr) and was the daughter of Day (Dagr) son of Dayspring (Dellingr) by Sun (Sól) daughter of Mundilfari. Dag as a personification of day and the sun-goddess Sól are mentioned elsewhere, but only the Hversu mentions their daughter. Svandhild bore Finnálf a son named Svan the Red (Svanr inn Rauðr) who was father of Sæfari, father of Úlf (Úlfr), father of Álf, father of Ingimund (Ingimundr) and Eystein (Eysteinn).
According to the eddic poem Hyndluljóð (stanza 12), Óttar, whose genealogy is the subject of this poem, was son of Innstein (Innsteinn), son of Álf the Old, son of Úlf, son of Sæfari, son of Svan the Red. So the Innstein of the Hyndluljód and Eystein of the Hversu are presumably identical.
