An interesting thread

[YR7]

I run into a thread in another forum that I thought people here might find interesting. It is written by a guy highly-interested in medieval history, and contains all kinds of gems. While directed at D&D, I'm sure ArM players will find it interesting. The main thread is

History, Mythology, Art and RPGs: enworld.org/forum/general-rp ... -rpgs.html

For an example of interesting stuff, how about...

Álfheimr was a real place
There's the first shocking fact. Strange yes, but apparently true. The early Viking Sagas describe the actual location of Alfheim as a specific place in Scandinavia, which later evolved into another world on another plane

The land governed by King Alf was called Alfheim, and all his offspring are related to the elves. They were fairer than any other people...
-The Saga of Thorstein, Viking's Son

From the wiki:

Quote:
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 historical Swedish province of Bohuslän.
The name Álfheim here may have nothing to do with Álfar 'Elves', but may derive from a word meaning 'gravel layer'.
However the 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, a unique and possibly corrupt reference to giants being especially good looking. The Sögubrot af Nokkrum also mentions the special good looks of the kindred of King Álf the Old.
and

Quote:
Álfheimr or Alfheim (Elf-home) is the abode of the Álfar "Elves" in Norse mythology and appears also in northern English ballads under the forms Elfhame and Elphame, sometimes modernized as Elfland or Elfenland. It is also an ancient name for an area corresponding to the modern Swedish province of Bohuslän.
(and also apparently the neighboring Norweigen province of Østfold) Østfold - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Bashar]

Interesting.
Then Elves would be Faeries from this Regio.
What would make the country disappear (or rather the Regio level move away from the mundane) ?

Xa

[LuciusT]

I've seen suggestions that increasing Divine auras can cause neighboring strong Magic and Faerie auras to "pop up" into regios rather than just overwhelming them.

[Vycos]

The name Álfheim here may have nothing to do with Álfar 'Elves', but may derive from a word meaning 'gravel layer'.

This seems very unlikly to me. Álf means elf and heim home in norse, so Álfheim translates directly into Elf-home. However this isn't the home of the elves, but the home of King Álf. Álfheimr - the dwelling of the light-elves are another place. Completely unrelated, but King Álf's grandson was none other then Gandalf according to Snorre Sturluson...

[Cuchulainshound]

@Vycos

This seems very unlikly to me. Álf means elf and heim home in norse, so Álfheim translates directly into Elf-home.

If (as I guess) you have studied linguistics and are familiar with etymology, then you are aware of both false-cognates and the tendency for names to migrate towards common or colorful words, especially if the original term is archaic or forgotten.

That is to say, we all know that "words change over time". Simply because it, currently, can be "directly translated" does not mean it originated from that same word.

(But nor do I put any perfect faith in a Wiki article, not without having read the citations... and even then, depending.)

[Vycos]

OK, I must admit that (as I wrote) this was from my gut-feeling. I'm Norwegian, and as you said, I've studied some linguistics, so the guess was somehow qualified. Now I've done some research and I think I've found the source of the wiki-article:

books.google.no/books?id=KlT7tv3 ... &ct=result

As you can see it seems it's correct that Alf in this particular placename is derived from some kind of gravel layer beneath a field, so my assumption was wrong.

However the Alfheim in Norway seems to have very little to do with the home of the elves.