From Alfheim, With Love

Lineart: openCanvas 4.06E Plus
Color: openCanvas 4.06E Plus


Scandanavian legend, as it is written in Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, tells of "one place that is called Alfheim. There live the folk called light-elves, but dark-elves live down in the ground, and they are unlike them in appearance, and even more unlike them in nature. Light-elves are fairer than the sun to look at, but dark-elves are blacker than pitch."

[Sá er einn staðr þar er kallaðr er Álfheimr. Þar byggvir fólk þat er ljósálfar heita, en dökkálfar búa niðri í jörðu, ok eru þeir ólíkir þeim sýnum en myklu ólíkari reyndum. Ljósálfar eru fegri en sól sýnum, en dökkálfar eru svartari en bik.]

Very quick doodle based on the idea of a halfbreed, neither Ljósalfar nor Dökkalfar, but a child borne of an illicit love between the two mystic races. I did this more to try out heavier lines and a purely B&W ink style. And to practice with digital toners. 'Twas much fun. :3

P.S. I know next to nothing about Scandanavian mythology, so I beg pardon if I've butchered the whole elf-lore bit.


Idea of ljósalfar/dökkalfar © Prose Edda (1230s), by Snorri Sturluson
Art © me.