Alfr is Old Norse for “River” and “Elfr” is the Anglicized name for “Alfr” meaning “River folk.” The Old Swedish term for River is “Alv.”

Alv…Alf…Elf…River.

“Alfheim” means “home of the river folk.”  In Old Norse, most river names end in “-elfr” literally “river.”

Klarelfr = Clear River in Varmland, Sweden

Raumelfr = Thunder River (Raum was named for King Raum in the pre-ancient Norway)

Here are two excerpts from the Wikipedia article on “Alfheim (Region):

Alfheim (Old Norse: Álfheimr, “elf home” or “land between the rivers.”) is an ancient name for an area corresponding to the modern Swedish province of Bohuslän and the eastern half of the Norwegian province of Østfold.

and also…

Álfheim, at that time, was the name of the land between the Raumelfr [‘Raum river’, lower parts of the modern Glomma river] and the Gautelfr [‘Gaut river’, the modern Göta älv].

 

But something else drew my attention while I was researching elves, alfar, and alfheim: The Aryan Race.

Pulled from Wikipedia article Aryan Race: 19th Century Physical Anthropology

The division of the Caucasian race into Aryans, Semites and Hamites is in origin linguistic, not based on physical anthropology, the division in physical anthropology being that into Nordic, Alpine and Mediterranean. However, the linguistic classification of “Aryan” later became closely associated, and conflated, with the classification of “Nordic” among some archaeologists and anthropologists.

This claim became increasingly important during the 19th century. In the mid-19th century, it was commonly believed that the Aryans originated in the southwestern steppes of present-day Russia. However, by the late 19th century the steppe theory of Aryan origins was challenged by the view that the Aryans originated in ancient Germany or Scandinavia, or at least that in those countries the original Aryan ethnicity had been preserved. The German origin of the Aryans was especially promoted by the archaeologist Gustaf Kossinna, who claimed that the Proto-Indo-European peoples were identical to the Corded Ware culture of Neolithic Germany. This idea was widely circulated in both intellectual and popular culture by the early twentieth century,^[19] and is reflected in the concept of “Corded-Nordics” in Carleton S. Coon‘s 1939 The Races of Europe.

This was the archeological politics and theories leading up to Naziism and WWII. According the the article I found, The Aryan Race “originated” out of Alfheim in Sweden. Yes, Alfheim is a real place. It is the land in Sweden south of Lake Vanern known as Bohuslan today (where Beowulf took place).

In my research, I learned that the Aryan Race (Tall Scandinavians/Swedes with blond hair/blue eyes) related to the people of Alfheim.  If you look at Alfheim on a map it is riddled with rivers. Literally meaning “River folk” or “Elves.”

Think about it. In a way, Hitler’s “Master Race” or “Aryan Race” were “elves.”

And yes, Ancient Norsemen bleached their hair to mimic those who lived in Alfheim. I found an entire article dedicated to Norsemen hair. Interesting.

Side topic!

Harald Fairhair was a 9th century king from Viken (The region that included Alfheim). He was renowned for his tall height and beautiful long blond hair. He also killed the legendary King Gandalf Alfgeirsson who was reported to be the last king of the elves. No joke. That is what the “history” books said. Keep in mind that the “history books” were written 1,000 years ago by Icelandic monks relaying what they believed was their history.

But look at the name. Gandalf. “Grand Alf”…”Grand Elf.” I think this is more a title than a name. I use it as a title in my book and call Gandalf “Lodewuk” in my book to avoid every fantasy fan suddenly blurting out, “You shall not pass!”

So yes, Hitler’s “Master Race” were elves. I am not making light on this topic. I am very serious about my theory. 

This is my own speculation and I can give no historical fact on any of this. Just my own hypothesis I drew while researching all this stuff.