Alfheim

Alfheim (アルヴヘイム) is the realm of fairies in ALfheim Online.

Geography
Alfheim is a continent surrounded by water from all sides. The continent is divided into 9 large fairy territories that surround the central area of the land, the Alne plateau.

Sylph


The Sylph territory, bordered by the Salamander territory to the south-east and the Cait Sith territory to the north, is a forest area called the Ancient Forest, located in the south-western corner of Alfheim. The capital city of the Sylphs is Swilvane, also known as the Emerald City due to its spires of varying green shades and brilliant dark green lights, located in a grassland area in the outskirts of the forest.

Salamander


The Salamander territory, bordered by the Sylph territory to the north-west and the Imp territory to the north-east, is a desert area located in the southernmost part of Alfheim. The capital city, called Gattan, is located in the southernmost point of the territory. The Salamander territory connects to the Alne plateau via the Dragons Valley.

Imp
The Imp territory, bordered by the Salamander territory to the south-west and the Undine territory to the north-east, is an alpine area located in the south-eastern corner of Alfheim. The Imp capital city is located inside one of the mountains in the area.

Undine
The Undine territory, bordered by the Imp territory to the south-west and the Spriggan territory to the north, is a wetlands area located in the eastern part of Alfheim. The Undine capital is a castle located in a small, round peninsula. The Undine territory connects to the Alne plateau via the Rainbow valley.

Spriggan


The Spriggan territory, bordered by the Undine territory to the south and the Leprechaun territory to the north-west, is an ancient ruins area, surrounded by a forest. The Spriggan capital is a village located around a ziggurat or pyramid-like structure.

Leprechaun
The Leprechaun territory, bordered by the Spriggan territory to the south-east and the Gnome territory to the west, is a reclamation area located in the north-east of Alfheim.

Gnome
The Gnome territory, bordered by the Leprechaun territory to the east and the Púca territory to the south west, is a frost area located in the north to north-western area of Alfheim. The Gnome capital is an underground mining city located in the northernmost part of the territory.

Púca
The Púca territory, bordered by the Gnome territory to the north-east and the Cait Sith territory to the south, is a grassland area located in the north-western corner of Alfheim. The Púca capital is a carnival or circus-like city consisting of tents around a large theatre tent.

Cait Sith
The Cait Sith territory, bordered by the Púca territory to the north and the Sylph territory to the south-east, is a plain area. The Cait Sith capital is a castle located in peninsula, slightly larger than the Undine peninsula. The Cait Sith territory connects to the Alne plateau via the Butterfly Valley.

Alne Plateau
The Alne plateau is located in the centre of the continent and is separated from the fairy territories via a surrounding mountain range, with mountains reaching above the altitude limit. The Butterfly, Rainbow and Dragon valleys, as well as the Legrue Corridor are the only known ways to access to the plateau from the race territories. The plateau itself has a mostly flat terrain and consists mostly of forest and grassland regions.

Legrue Corridor


The Legrue Corridor is a cave that connects the Sylph territory to the Alne plateau. Unlike all the other known entrances to the Alne plateau, the Legrue Corridor is an area that restricts flight due to no sunlight or moonlight reaching the insides of the cave and thus Sylphs usually take a longer route through the Butterfly Valley via the neighbouring Cait Sith territory, due to their good terms with the race. The cave is known to be infested with Orcs and has a water dragon-type monster inhabiting a lake in the middle of the cave that surrounds the neutral mining city Legrue.

Alne


Alne is the capital city of Alfheim during the events of the Fairy Dance Arc and is located at the foot of the World Tree. Alne is a neutral city that is divided into north, east, south, west and central districts and has 4 nearby dungeons, located to the north, east, south and west of the city, that connect to the realm of giants, Jötunheimr. After ALfheim Online was acquired by Ymir, the city lost its capital status to the newly established Yggdrasil City, but still remained the main raiding base for the dungeons in the Alne plateau, as well as the central market for all races.

World Tree


In the middle of the Alne plateau stands the World Tree, a giant ash tree that connects the nine realms of the world. During the events of the Fairy Dance Arc, the tree acted as a dungeon for the first Grand Quest.

Floating City


The Floating City was rumored to have been a city located at the top of the World Tree where the Fairy King Oberon and Fairy Queen Titania lived. The first fairy race to reach the city was rumored to be transformed into the ultimate fairy race, the Alfs, and given the ability of unlimited flight. However, in reality, the city was a research facility used by Sugou Nobuyuki and a special group of scientists as a ground to perform tests on the 300 captive survivors of Sword Art Online in their research on the control of the human soul and emotions.

The city was replaced with Yggdrasil City in the new ALfheim Online.

Yggdrasil City


Yggdrasil City is the new capital of Alfheim located at the top of the World Tree after ALfheim Online was acquired by Ymir. The city has a Teleport Gate that connects it to the Starting City in the realm of humans, Midgard (Aincrad), and has an elevator that connects it to the former capital, Alne.

Trivia

 * Alfheim was based on Álfheimr, the realm of elves in Norse mythology. In ALfheim Online, the realm is the home of fairies instead of elves, since Shakespeare uses the terms "elf" and "fairy" interchangeably in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" - a comedy which was used as one of the sources for the mythology in ALfheim Online.