[3] Both the svartálfar and Svartálfaheimr are primarily attested in the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.
Scholars have noted that the svartálfar appear to be synonymous with the dwarfs and potentially also the dökkálfar ("dark elves").
As dwarfs, the home of the svartálfar could possibly be another description for Niðavellir ("dark fields").
[6] Svartálfaheimr ("world of black-elves") appears in the Prose Edda twice,[3][7] in each case as the place where certain dwarfs can be found to be living:[8] In Gylfaginning 33, the "world of black-elves" is where the dwarfs are sought by the gods to craft the fetter Gleipnir to bind the wolf Fenrir.
[11] Scholar John Lindow comments that whether the dökkálfar and the svartálfar were considered the same at the time of the writing of the Prose Edda is also unclear.