Álfheimr, the Land Between the Rivers

“He was married to Alfhild, a daughter of King Alfarin of Alfheim, and got with her half the district of Vingulmark. Their son Olaf was afterwards called Geirstad-Alf. Alfheim, at that time, was the name of the land between the Glommen and Gotha rivers.”

In Ynglinga saga, Gudrod the Hunter marries Alfhild, daughter of King Alfarin of Alfheim, and receives half of Vingulmark with her. The saga adds a note that Alfheim was then the name of the land between the Glommen and Gotha rivers (Raumelfr and Gautelfr in Old Norse). Here Álfheimr is a stretch of country with a king, a daughter who is married off and a dowry in land. Nothing in the passage mentions elves.

This is the same name as the elves’ realm that Grímnismál and Gylfaginning describe, but in a different setting. The saga gives no link between the two, and this page does not claim one.

Other texts also know a human Álfheimr. A reference article lists Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar, which says the rivers and the land were named after King Álf the Old, and Hversu Noregr byggðist, which has its own account of a king Álf, also called Finnálf, as a son of King Raum. These genealogies differ from each other and from the Alfarin passage, so they are kept apart here.

The same reference article glosses the name as “elf home” or “land between the rivers”, noting that the element elfr is also a common word for “river” (as in the Elbe), and mentions a suggestion that the name has nothing to do with elves. These are readings of one name, not settled facts, and the sources do not say which one the saga writer had in mind. See also the realm page Alfheim.