On the Nature of lfheim (The Norse World of the Elves)

So, this is going to be a little messy, but is a torrent of thought to start the discussion. I think that magic is, among a lot of other things, a encoded system of practical knowledge. I dont think it is only a religious thing; I believe that magical practices, rituals, legends and myths have encoded information essential (in a given context) for survival (see Ests, Clarissa P.: Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories about the Wild Woman Archetype). Im gonna look at this from that perspective for the purpose of this thread. I am currently looking at the meanings with a new perspective. This thread by /u/Solmundarson presented very interesting points to me, that I feel are related to this very subject. I was reminded that these forces, these places, are things that exist in this very world. I mean: Light Elves and Dark Elves are things in nature, and their dwellings and halls may be the place where that thing dwells. What kind of things? Lets look at the hints:

In the Grmnisml we read (stanza 5):

dalir call they | the place where Ullr A hall for himself hath set; And lfheim the gods | to Freyr once gave As a tooth-gift in ancient times.

Other translation:
Ydalir it is called, where Ullr has himself a dwelling made. Alfheim to Freyr was given in days of yore by Tivar in Tannfe. So what we have here? We have a place: dalir, given to the god Ullr (well talk about him later), and we have a place called Alfheim that was given to Frey. This is the same place as Ljusalfheim. Freyr is the lord of this realm.

Ljslfar (Light Elves) live in a region of the sky. These regions of the sky trouble me. Maybe a constellation? A certain kind of aerial phenomena? A metaphor for a place in the human mind? I dont know. However, more clues can be found in the Alvssml. Let me quote from wikipedia: In the Poetic Edda, the poem Alvssml has a stanza that lists six worlds, clarifying each homeworld (heimr) is the realm of a dierent family of beings. rr asks: What is the wind named in every world (heimi hverjum )? lvss answers: Alvssml 20 It is named wind with the Humans. But waverer with [the sir] the gods. [The Vanir] the enchanting-rulers call it neigher [making sounds like a horse]. The Jtnar shrieker [during deadly arctic storms]. The lfar whistler. In Hel, [the dead] call it squall [a sharp increase in wind speed before a rain]. Vindr heitir me mnnum. en vfur me goum. kalla gneggju ginnregin. pi jtnar. alfar dynfara. kalla helju hviu. Thus there are at least six worlds, each being the homeworld of a particular family of beings. Inferably, they correspond to the following place names mentioned elsewhere in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. 1) Menn (humans): Migarr. 2) Aesir (gods): sgarr.

3) Vanir (gods): Vanaheimr. 4) Jtnar (giants): Jtunheimr.

5) lfar (elves): lfheimr.

6) Nir (corpses, the other world of the dead): Hel. The homeworld of the Dvergar is missing from the above list. Elsewhere, the poem mentions the Dvergar separately from the other families of beings. For example, Alvssml 14 lists the Dvergar as distinct from the lf. Moreover the two place names, lfheimr and Svartlfaheimr, conrm there are two separate heimar or homeworlds, one for each family. The byname Svartlfar or Black Elves refers to the Dvergar.[6] and likewise Svartlfaheimr or the Homeworld of the Black Elves is the home of the dwarf Brokkr (Skldskaparml 46). Alternatively, the home of the Dvergar is called Niavellir or the Downward Fields (Vlusp 37). Thus, these families of beings mentioned in the poem Alvssml are identied with seven of the nine homeworlds.[7] 7) Dvergar (dwarves): Svartlfaheimr. Seven homeworlds for seven families of beings. The last two of the homeworlds are less certain. Usually, the list adds the primordial realms of the elements of ice and re, counting them as homeworlds.[8][9] The place name of the element of ice, Niheimr, means the arctic Mist Homeworld, suggesting it is one of the Nine Homeworlds. 8) Primordial element of Ice: Niheimr. 9) Primordial element of Fire: Muspellsheimr. So, Ljslfar call the wind dynfara, The Whistler. What this tell us about the nature of those beings? For me is playfulness. The happy thoughts maybe, that make you whistle. Connect this with the words in Sturlusons Gylfaginning: The Light-elves are fairer to look upon than the sun. These guys, are light beings. Luminous things. Maybe even could be interpreted as the concept of light understood as something that is good; however this last interpretation is likely a late Christian inuence. It is very likely that the distinction between Light and Dark elves as good and bad was an interpretation supporting Christian beliefs made up by the uncle Snorri. The original interpretation is lost, and there is where the god Ullr is relevant. See, Ullr (meaning Glorious One), is the god of the bow and of the means of transportation like skis, boats and sleighs. He was given a dwelling place: dalir, the Yew-valley: The bow, the ski, the sleigh and the boat all live in (or can be found on) the Yew valley. Yew wood is the best wood for that kind of things. It works beautifully.

I think a similar kind of interpretation can be weaved for Ljusalfheim and his inhabitants, the Ljslfar, ruled by Freyr, who is married to the jtunn Gerr, and is served by Skrnir, Byggvir, and Beyla. Lets examine those characters and places one by one.

Freyr
WARNING: High contents of wikipedia copypasta ahead Freyr (from frawjaz lord) was associated with sacral kingship, virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather, and was pictured as a phallic fertility god. Freyr bestows peace and pleasure on mortals. Sometimes referred to as Yngvi-Freyr, was especially associated with Sweden and seen as an ancestor of the Swedish royal house: the People of the Ingvaeones or the Ynglings. This name comes from Ingwaz or Ing, and so far as I have seen, it appears they are both aspects or representations of the same god. In the prose Edda, is written that Freyr: [] rules over the rain and the shining of the sun, and therewithal the fruit of the earth; and it is good to call on him for fruitful seasons and peace. He governs also the prosperity of men. (Gylfaginning XXIV) He is a Vanr, and I like to think as the Vanir as the Elder gods of the Norse. They are related to orgy, fertility, wisdon and the ability to see the future. Some scholars have speculated whether the Vanir originally represented pre-Indo-European deities or Indo-European fertility gods; in any case, it seems evident to me that the cult of Yngvi-Freyr must have been orgiastic in nature. It is related to drinking, eating, having sex and everything that is good in life. The fact that is a phallic deity also connects him to the consumption of psilocybe cubensis. So, I think is safe to assume that Yngvi-Freyr is a god of Pleasure (similar to Dionysius).

The jtunn Gerr

She was a jtunn of the earth, a chtonic deity. She, being called the most beautiful of all women, refused Freyr advances at rst, after being oered 11 golden apples, and the ring Draupnir, that produced eight similar rings every ninth night. She declines, because she has no lack of gold. In fact, Skrnir (the messenger and servant of Freyr) resorts to magic instead: he carves *thurisaz on Gerr and three unnamed runes with the meanings of lewdness, frenzy, and unbearable desire. Could be interesting trying to gure out what those could be. From all this, I would like to assume that she is the treasures of the earth, in some sense. The object of intense desire, may be gold, or beauty. That thing that you crave, and makes you do stupid/bizarre/dangerous things to get it.

Skrnir
His name means the bright one. He has the Gambanteinn sta, and the sword of Freyr as his weapons (he earned the sword as payment for convincing Gerr of marrying him). He is a cunning messenger, a bright one indeed.

Byggvir & Beyla

Patrons of agriculture in some sense, their roles are somewhat mysterious. According to Benjamin Thorpe, Beyla can be viewed as the manure that softens the earth and develops the seed, and Byggvir as the refuse of the mill, the cha. So they could be the representation of things needed for the agricultural process, or the concept of plant fertilization itself (the name of Beyla is associated with bee, and the Old Norse bygg means barley).

Conclusion
I think that lfheimr is the place where all sensuality dwell, a place of charm and sex, of gold and mead. This also can be viewed as superciality and dissipation. Is the land of the glamour and libation; orgy and hallucinogens. Drugs, sex and rock and roll.

Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lfheimr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lj%C3%B3s%C3%A1lfar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gylfaginning http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ger%C3%B0r https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sk%C3%ADrnir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byggvir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yngvi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ullr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Worlds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svart%C3%A1lfaheimr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Ddalir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanir