TEUTONIC MAGIC - Awaken Video

ALFAR
The Alfar are divided into three races: Ljosalfar, Dokkalfar, and Svartalfar, or Light Elves, Dark Elves,
and Black Elves, the last being also called dwarves.
The word Alf may be derived from a root meaning "shining" or "white," being related to the Latin
albus and Sanskrit rhbu. Ingvisson suggests here that a connection may also exist between the original
Celtic name for Scotland, Alba, and the Alfar-folk. It is also possible, however, that "alf" is derived from
the Indo-European *lbh-/*lehb-/*lobh-, which means "to cheat" or "to be cunning."5 At different times
and in different forms the Alfar fit both of these descriptions. They are commonly thought to be the cause
of sickness; their arrows (elf-shot) cause stroke and paralysis, and the Anglo-Saxons had a number of
charms which were meant to heal the ills given by elves. All the Alfar are wise magicians. They will
frequently take an interest in individual humans, as shown by such names as Aelfrede (Elf-counsel),
Aelfgifu (Elf-gift), and so forth. The Alfar are also unpredictable, taking pleasure or offense at the
slightest things; your manners and bearing are exceedingly important in dealing with these wights.
The first distinction made between the races of the Alfar must be between the Ljosalfar and
Svartalfar, who are created independently of humankind, and the Dokkalfar, the mound-elves, who have
much in common with the disir, being thought to be in some aspects the masculine counterparts of these
beings. The clearest account of a human becoming numbered among the mound-elves is the story of Olaf
Gudrudsson, a minor king who, after his death, was called the Elf of Geirstadhir and to whom sacrifice
was made for good harvests. Other accounts, however, show that the mound-elves were not wholly
masculine nor wholly human in origin, and it is likely that what occurs in cases such as Olaf's is similar to
what occurs with the disir: when a human has become altogether identified with the land and its
fruitfulness in life, that person, if buried in a mound, may remain with the Vanic spirits who dwell there
and rule over those things, becoming one of the Doickalfar. It is these elves to whom blessings are made
for healing and good harvest, and probably these elves to whom the autumn alfablot (held, like the
disablot, at Winternights) was given.
The Dokkalfar dwell in mounds, hillocks, and rocks. They are great magicians and teachers of
magic, and it may have been to their abodes that Odhinn refers when he says that he learned his wisdom
from the "men, very old men, / who dwell in the wood of the home."6 Blessings may be made to the
Dokkalfar in one's own home, or one may seek out a place where they dwell if one wishes to ask a favor
from them. The best time to approach them is at sunset for they are not fond of daylight. They appear as
very beautiful, though pale, humanlike wights in noble clothes (the term "Dark Alfar" refers to their
abodes, not their appearance or moral character, despite the attempts of modern fantasy writers to attach it
to one or the other of the latter characteristics). They may be seen at their dwellings or in dreams after one
has made a sacrifice to them, The Dokkalfar at times need the help of humans, and they always repay
such help richly.
The Ljosalfar are wights of light, air, and thought who dwell in Ljosalfheimr, the upper reaches of
Midgardhr's atmosphere, which is ruled by Freyr. It is these Alfar who are often spoken of together with
the Aesir, whose spiritual dwelling borders on Asgardhr. Unlike the Dokkalfar and Svartalfar, they love
the brightness of the Sun, and they are sometimes seen at the festival of Ostara as white- clad women in
the far reaches of the hills. They are often, though not always, personified as feminine, in contrast to the
Svartalfar, who are almost always masculine. The Ljosalfar are the keepers and teachers of wisdom, and
they are the source of earthly inspiration, as the Svartalfar are the source of earthly manifestation. It is
probably from these wights that the Anglo-Saxon adjective aelfsciene, "bright as an elf," was first
derived.
The Ljosalfar communicate with humans in dreams and sudden bursts of inspiration. They may
appear as shining4air humans or as flashes of light-colored brightness.
Of the Svartalfar or Dvergar, there has been more written than about their kin. They were created by the
gods out of the maggots that had crawled through the flesh of the slain Ymir. They are very clever smiths,
who forged Freyja's necklace, Thor's hammer, Sifs hair, Freyr's ship, and a hoard of other treasures of the
gods. Their dwelling, Svartalfheim, is beneath Midgardhr's surface, and it is there that they hoard their
gold and jewels. The dwarves are the earthly craft and power which give shape and being to the
inspiration of the Ljosalfar. It was Svartalfar who slew Kvasir and made the mead Odhroerir from his
blood (kenaz), transforming the raw material of wisdom into the craft and art of poetry from which any
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