Scholars have commented that, as both attestations mentioning the beings and location appear to refer to dwarfs, svartálfr and dwarf may simply be synonyms for the same concept.
Forskere har udtalt, at som begge attester nævner væsener og beliggenhed synes at referere til dværge, svartálfr og dværg kan simpelthen være synonymer for det samme begreb.