What is the name of the realm of the light elves?

The realm of the light elves is Álfheimr, also called Ljósálfheimr, meaning “home of the light elves” in Old Norse. It is one of the supernatural places described in Norse cosmological tradition.

The clearest account appears in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, especially Gylfaginning. There, the light elves are described as exceptionally beautiful—“fairer than the sun”—while the dark elves are said to dwell underground and differ from them in appearance and nature.

The poetic tradition adds another detail. In Grímnismál, the gods give Álfheimr to Freyr as a tooth-gift, a ceremonial present made when a child’s first tooth appears. Thus, the realm is associated both with elves and with the Vanir fertility god Freyr.

Álfheimr should not be confused with Midgard, the human world; Vanaheimr, the home of the Vanir gods; or Svartálfheimr, a name linked in later tradition with dark or black elves. Scholars also note that the surviving sources mention Álfheimr only briefly, so modern nine-world diagrams often add details not explicit in the Eddic texts.