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Omega (God of War 2018)

This article contains lore based on real-life sources from Norse Mythology as introduced from the God of War Norse Era.


The Light and Dark Elves have been fighting for control of the Light of Alfheim for millennia. Staying neutral in the conflict is key to staying alive. The hive material of the Dark Elves should also be avoided due to its often explosive nature. Beware too the unpredictable Fimbulwinter light pulses that emanate from the Light. Sandstorms plague the wilderness surrounding the Light Temple, and are also best avoided.

–Description of Alfheim on the Field Notes

Alfheim, also known as Álfheimr, is one of the Nine Realms of the World Tree, home of the Light and Dark Elves and a major location in God of War (2018).

The Light of Alfheim is also where the Bifröst gets its power source to traverse the realms through Týr's Temple. While the Light is in the home of all Elves, the Light and Dark subraces have been at war for its possession for centuries, with the Light of Alfheim having changed masters back and forth over two hundred and thirteen times.

When the Light Elves have control of the Light of Alfheim, the Light shines free and the skies of their realm are adorned blue. When the Dark Elves have it, the Light is concealed by a large plant of some sort and their skies are tainted red.

However, the Vanir Freyr seemed to have been the one to give absolute control of the Light to the Light Elves for the longest they ever have, since the luminous beings named him their overlord and gave the God residence in their realm. It was most likely the Vanir's recent disappearance what gave the Dark Elves the advantage they needed to reclaim the Light for themselves.

Alfheim was already turning dim by the time Freyr's sister Freya brought Kratos and his son Atreus to the Elf realm in order to retrieve a portion of the Light for their own purposes. Since the Dark Elves were concealing the Light and any access to it, the outsider Gods were forced to oppose the Dark Elves in order to once again release the Light, a conflict that ended with the demise of the Dark Elf King.

With the Dark Elves defeated and the Light Elves released from their grip, Alfheim once again shone brightly.

Norse Mythology[]

Elves and their homeland, Alfheim, loom large in the popular imagination. Thanks to later folklore and their incorporation into modern media, the elves are often believed to have been prominent in Norse belief. The surviving literature, however, tells a different story. Elves are rarely mentioned and Alfheim is known to us through only a few short passages in later works.

Norse mythology often mentions the Nine Worlds that are inhabited by different races. Alfheim, which translates as “The World of the Elves,” is usually named among them. Although Alfheim is often listed as one of the Nine Worlds, however, there are no sources that directly name it as such. In fact, there are very few sources that mention Alfheim at all. The homeland of the elves is mentioned in passing only twice in Old Norse sources. The Poetic Edda and Prose Edda each contain just one passage that references Alfheim by name.

One line in the Poetic Edda says that Alfheim was given to the god Freyr as a tooth gift. These were gifts presented to an infant when their first tooth came in, meaning that the Vanir god was made lord of Alfheim when he was only a few months old. Snorri Sturluson had more to say about Alfheim in the Prose Edda, although he still gave an incomplete description of the land. He confirmed that Alfheim was the home of the elves. He specified, however, that the light elves, which he called ljosalfar lived there while the dokkalfar, or dark elves, resided below the earth.

The Prose Edda says that these two groups of elves were “unalike in appearance, but by far more unalike in nature.” Many have assumed that these dark elves were the same race as the svartalfar, or black elves, mentioned elsewhere. Although neither source described Alfheim itself, descriptions of the elves themselves likely provide insight into what their world would have been like. The light elves were said by Sturluson to be beautiful, radiant beings. Most interpretations of Alfheim suppose that the land these elves lived in would be similarly bright and fair.

Another passage in the Prose Edda is often assumed to refer to Alfheim, although the name is not specifically given. The text explains Norse cosmology and mythology explained through a character who recounts what he knows in a test of knowledge. When asked about the heavenly realms that will survive Ragnarok, the character names three and says that the highest of them is called Vidblain. Vidblain, “Wide Blue,” is where the character believes that the hall of Gimle lies. After Ragnarok, Gimle will become the heavenly abode of the honored dead. Now, however, the character says that only the light elves live in the land of Vidblain. Because the light elves live there, scholars believe that Vidblain and Alfheim may have been one and the same. Because the sources have so little information about either, however, this cannot be proven for sure.

In the God of War Series[]

The bright realm of Alfheim is adorned with abundant and colorful flora, alongside luminous fauna which glitter the lands and skies of the Elf realm. The Elves' artistic architecture includes their unique light crystals, sapphire colored stones fueled by the Light of Alfheim that are plugged to structures in order to create bridges made of solid light.

Plot[]

Backstory[]

God of War (2018)[]

God of War: Ragnarök[]

Missions[]

Regions[]

God of War (2018)[]

God of War: Ragnarök[]

Characters & Residents[]

Freyr † (formerly)

Beyla (formerly)

Byggvir (formerly)

Bestiary & Bosses[]

God of War (2018)[]

God of War: Ragnarök[]

Trivia[]

  • Time moves much slower inside the Light of Alfheim than it does outside it, since Kratos navigated inside it for just moments, but Atreus waited for him outside it for many hours.
  • Brok is not allowed back into Alfheim for offences he has committed. Brok refuses to tell the young Atreus about it "on account of all the swearin' and stealin' and fuckin' involved".
  • Some of Alfheim's flora seems to be sentient, since Atreus seemed to be able to listen to a specific type of Elf plant that has a pulsating heart, and showed pity the first time his father "killed" one.
    • That type of Elf plant can be seen in some parts of Midgard as well.
    • The large plant that the Dark Elves used to conceal the Light of Alfheim seemed to be sentient as well.
  • Alfheim also harbored an Ancient.
  • The rune of Alfheim is Sowilō (ᛊ), which means "sun".
  • The Realm travel door for Alfheim depicts the light of Alfheim being worshipped by the Light Elves while the Dark Elves rest beneath them, seemingly ready for war.

Sources[]

Gallery[]

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