Dark Elves: Do They Have Souls?

After having rewatched Thor: The Dark World (willingly) I began to think about how much of a convenience it is that Heimdall is unable to perceive Dark Elves with his all-seeing abilities. It’s never explained in the movie why this is the case. Now, given the amount of problems this film has, and me being a fan of the MCU, I just had to find a way of turning this plot convenience into something a bit more substantial. And I think I’ve succeeded! It seems entirely possible that Dark Elves are in fact soulless.

So rigorous was my effort to decrease the flaws in this film that I translated Norse runes for an hour.I’ll be using those translations here as evidence as to why the Dark Elves don’t have souls. To kick off, the first page of the Book of Yggdrasil states that the universe was born out of a spark of golden energy that saw the creation of Yggdrasil brought about. If you’re familiar with my Infinity Cycle theory, you’ll know that I believe Yggdrasil to have been constructed as a means of connecting pre-existing worlds inhabited by intelligent life. The Dark Elves predate the creation of Yggdrasil by a substantial amount. The Dark Elves are said to have been born out of eternal night and in the Book of Yggdrasil we’re told that the light shattered the darkness and brought Death to the Dark Elves. The reason I capitalised the “D” is because I believe the book is referring to Mistress Death, as she’s otherwise known. The Dark Elves most certainly did not die at the dawn of Yggdrasil. On the contrary, they lasted for at least another five thousand years. I believe Death came to the Dark Elves in their time of need and gave them the ability to manipulate dark matter using the Reality Stone. That’s my interpretation of the book. That’s not entirely on topic, but I promised I’d explain my wording. It’s important that the Dark Elves predate Yggdrasil, and it’s also important to note that the light that gave way to Yggdrasil’s eventual creation is noted as a “golden energy” by the Book of Yggdrasil.

In the MCU, gold or orange tend to be synonymous with souls. Heimdall’s irises have a gold hue and his eyes allow him to hone in and see people by tracking their souls. He says himself that he can see trillions of souls. The soul forge in Asgard projects golden energy. The soul forge is also, scientifically speaking, a quantum field generator capable of transferring molecular energy from one place to another. Molecular energy makes up matter and the Reality Stone / Aether turns matter into dark matter. It makes sense that Death would come to the Dark Elves with a weapon capable of destroying what the MCU construes as a soul. The Dark Elves also have a faction of brutes they refer to as the Kursed.

The Kursed undergo a transformation that involves them crushing a grenade-like object in their hand, which engulfs them in orange energy and turns them into hulking creatures much stronger than the average Dark Elf. They increase their mass with these, possibly by using the same sort of technology as a soul forge. They draw molecular energy into themselves, causing them to undergo a surge in power and an increase in size. The Kursed are named as such because they’ve given in and gained a soul. It seems as though any creature born out of light rather than darkness is capable of having a soul. These are beings who have emerged during a time when actual matter was more prevalent in the universe than dark matter. As a result, the Dark Elves are incapable of sustaining themselves in a universe of light. That is why becoming one of the Kursed is considered such a great sacrifice. To a Dark Elf, it is giving up one’s Elvishness and giving into the light, but for the good of all elvenkind.

Heimdall cannot detect Dark Elves because they don’t have souls. Algrim became Kurse while he was in the dungeon and by that point, the Dark Elf ships were already closing in on Asgard. So, when you give it a lot of thought, it’s not too convenient that Dark Elves just so happen to be invisible to Heimdall’s extra senses. There’s a basis for it there, the film just doesn’t explain it outright.