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“Okay, so...I've just had a thought,” I said and turned my head to look at Loki who was lounging, because that was all it could be called, on the sofa with a book in his hands. Waiting for a response that didn't come, until I got a brief glance my way, before carrying on. “So. Asgard, the place. Has Asgardians the people, who call themselves the Aesir right?”
Loki blinked, then put a finger in the book before looking my way properly and nodded. “That would be correct.”
With a nod, I carried on. “Awesome. Alright, so for us lot...alright my lot. It's Earth, and we're Earthlings but we call ourselves Humans”
Loki blinked before his face crinkled up before laughing at me. Frowning I returned his laughter with a frown and the glare I'd learned from my mother.
“You expect the rest of the Nine Realms to call you Earthlings?”
I winced. “Mostly in pop culture and talking about aliens, rather than inter-dimensional beings who think themselves Gods” I snipped back. “What do your lot call us?”
After calming from his laughter he waved one of his long fingered hands in the air. “This realm is Midgard, so your people are Midgardians”
I rolled my eyes. “Alright alright. So Midgard, Midgardians and we call ourselves humans.”
Loki gave a small nod of his head. “Your point, or question?”
“Well... what of the other realms? So there's Jotunheim, and the people are the Jotuns....what do they call themselves? I mean I'm pretty sure no race ever in the whole of forever and everywhere is going to call themselves 'Frost Giants'”
Loki's face scrunched up in distaste. “I have no idea, and no desire to know. Was that the entirety of your question?”
I paused a moment then shrugged. “I guess that question applies to the rest of the realms. I mean, dark elves? Sounds kinda....corny.”
Loki paused before giving me a look “The name was given to them many years ago in the time of Bor, if not before. Their realm is known as Svartalfheim, and most likely should be called Svartalfar, but we have no way of knowing what they called themselves.”
I raised an eyebrow at Loki as I tried to wrap my tongue around the word ‘svartalfar’ but it didn’t come naturally to me.
“Alright, I’ll bite. Why?”
“Because they are no more. As a race, they are extinct.” His gaze went suddenly cold, his lips pursed, and he opened his book back up again and started to read once more.
“Oh.” I said quietly. Whilst the topic of the Jotuns had clearly upset him, apparently the thought of all the svartalfar being dead was a topic killer. Good to know.