- "Long before the birth of light, there was darkness, and from that darkness, came the Dark Elves. Millennia ago, the most ruthless of their kind, Malekith, sought to transform our universe back into one of eternal night. Such evil was possible through the power of the Aether; an ancient force of infinite destruction. The noble armies of Asgard, led by my father, King Bor, waged a mighty war against these creatures."
- ―Odin[src]
The First Battle of Svartalfheim was a confrontation between the Dark Elves and the Asgardians and the final battle of the First Dark Elf Conflict.
Background
- "There are relics that predate the universe itself. What lies within her appears to be one of them. The Nine Realms are not eternal. They had a dawn as they will have a dusk. But before that dawn the dark forces, the Dark Elves, reigned absolute and unchallenged."
- ―Odin to Thor[src]
Long before the Nine Realms came into existence, the Dark Elves were an advanced race whose history predated even Asgard. When life and civilizations started to grow around them, the Dark Elves failed to adapt to this change in environment and sought a way to reverse the universe back to that which they preferred; the method of their choice was genocide.
Malekith, a leader of the Dark Elves, formulated a plan to use the Aether to destroy the Nine Realms. With the Convergence, the alignment of realms, approaching, Malekith saw this as the perfect opportunity to unleash the Aether against all of the realms at once.[1]
Battle
In 2988 B.C., the Convergence finally began, and the Dark Elves were prepared to begin their plan. However, an Asgardian army led by Bor confronted the Dark Elves at Svartalfheim, having learned of their intentions. A major battle ensued, exhausting many of the Dark Elves and the Einherjar. Seeing that his forces were being expended at a dangerous rate, Malekith chose to use the Aether quickly, only for the Asgardians to warp it from the battlefield using the Bifrost Bridge.
Realizing that they could not win, Malekith and Algrim with surviving Dark Elves fled in one of their Arks, leaving the rest of their people to die. Entering suspended animation, Malekith planned to awaken when the Convergence reoccurred, thereby allowing him to repeat his original plan. Believing Malekith to be dead, Bor hid the Aether away, as it could not be destroyed.[1]
Aftermath
- "Here's an interesting story, though, about the Aether. My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Scary beings. So Jane... Oh, there she is. That's Jane. She's... an old flame of mine. She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time, and then the Aether stuck itself inside her."
- ―Thor[src]
Nearly 5,000 years later, the Convergence finally began once more. Jane Foster accidentally stumbled upon the Aether after the Convergence warped her to its location from London, and became its unwilling host. Her unintended use of the Aether awakened Malekith and his crew, who pursued Foster across the Nine Realms before obtaining it on Svartalfheim.
Malekith then traveled to Earth, where he came dangerously close to completing his plan if not for the intervention of Thor, Bor's grandson, who did battle with Malekith and slew him, ending the Dark Elves' reign.[1]
Appearances
In chronological order:
- Thor: The Dark World (flashback)
- Avengers: Endgame (mentioned)