dark elf

English

Etymology

Back-formation from dark elves, a calque of Old Norse dǫkkalfar.

Noun

dark elf (plural dark elves)

  1. (Norse mythology) A member of the race of Dǫkkálfar or Dark Alfs, creatures who live underground.
    • 2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 20:
      Nidavellir, which is sometimes called Svartalfheim, where the dwarfs (who are also known as dark elves) live beneath the mountains and build their remarkable creations.
  2. (fantasy) A member of a race of elves that is evil, has a dark (often greyish or bluish) skin and/or lives in dark places.

Usage notes

Some scholars think that in Old Norse the term for dark elves was a kenning for "dwarves".

Translations

See also

References
  • Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology (1834; republished in 1970 by Harper & Row, →ISBN, page 348
  • Mythology of All Races volume 2 : Eddic (1930, Marshall Jones Company), pages 220-221

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