what if the dark elves’ gods are celestial and represented by constellations
and the moon is obvi the bestest god
and the sun is the worst
and then there are the ancestors that actually interfere with things that happen and they too are viewed as gods. the best best bestest gods that only a few have direct contact with
the gods of asgard and vanaheim are terrible and not to be followed by any elf ever. throw knives at them
the dark elves need a legend about an elf who only wanted to be nice to outsiders but was betrayed over and over again and so dark elves came to be very not nice to outsiders bc they cant be trusted
i think the religion is widespread in the community and a majority of elves practice it, and then there are members who ofc don’t care at all and some active nonbelievers
religious leaders do not have any more influence over the community in any way except for personal guidance and leading rituals, buT their ~wisdom~ can be quite good to listen to anyway when the elves decide things that affect the whole community
they’re not worth more than other elves, but since they’re generally well liked by the community, they can afford nicer things
nature is ofc sacred, but the “circle of life” applies to everything. using reusable sources for building stuff and clothes and food and what not is fine. ruining things forever is not. thus elves are against mining to get metals and minerals, for example. chopping down trees to plant other things would not be considered okay either. harming nature just for the sake of harming is a crime, no matter how small.
svartalfaheim’s weather is nasty and dry and windy, so rituals for good weather and rain are common
whenever there’s a kill for food, animal or plant, gratitude and some form of saying is expressed
it is believed that the elves’ magical powers were first derived/given from a divine power and it just is. no divine power will take the magic back “if angered” or anything.
rituals and sacrifices are always preformed during full moon. super moons and blood moons and other weird moon shit have their own holidays with special rituals and feasts.
other things going on in the night sky can also be a reason to celebrate - alignment of planets and stars, meteor rain, northern lights, etc.
so a couple of moral thingies that probably come from religion is
family/tribe/friends come first and don’t trust outsiders
hurting or even killing others is no big deal
honesty!!!11
protect nature at all costs
