Iceland's Hidden People & Mythical Beings – Ep. 35

Many people think that the hidden people in the land of fire and ice are just elves. However, hidden people actually includes the many different types of beings that are rarely, if ever, seen here. In addition to elves, there are trolls, dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, mountain spirits and ghosts. There are also a variety of monsters. Icelandic folklore includes many fascinating and frightening stories that I plan to talk about in future episodes of this podcast. As a primer for future shows, I have decided to give you an overview of these different hidden beings in this episode. Elves - The Most Popular of the Hidden People in Iceland Elves are by far the most well-known of the hidden people here because media sources have printed that the majority of the population in Iceland believes that they exist. The funny part is thing is that while many Icelandic people won’t say they absolutely do believe in elves, a good chunk of them won’t say outright that elves do not exist. It is as if they don’t want to make a decision just in case elves really do exist. I find it amusing.  The story of how elves came to be hidden people is quite sad and is related to Christianity. Iceland became a Christian nation in the 11th century. With the religion came fascinating stories and there a couple of scenarios that explain the origins of elves. How Elves Came Into Existence The first is that Adam and Eve had many children in the Garden of Eden. In preparation for a visit from god, Eve tried to clean all of her children. Unfortunately, she didn’t finish cleaning all of them in time. She hid the dirty ones away from god and lied about their existence because she was ashamed. According to Jón Arnarsson, who wrote Icelandic Legends, god knew that Adam and Eve had more children that were hidden. God said to Eve, "What man hides from God, God will hide from man.” Those unwashed children then became invisible. It is believed that the children that were not hidden from god are us, the people that you see all over the world. The 2nd scenario of how elves originated is that they come from Lilith, a figure in Jewish mythology that appears as a dangerous demon in the darkness.  She is said to be sexually wanton and steals babies in the night. According to Jewish mythology, she was Adam’s first wife but she left him because she didn’t want to become subservient to him. She left the Garden of Eden and became involved with an archangel Samael. The last scenario is that elves are fallen angels that are condemned to live between heaven and earth. These beings looks like humans and they live in rocks and hills. Icelandic people have a lot of respect for the homes of elves and they generally do their best to avoid disturbing them. Roads have been built around areas or rocks that elves are said to live. Sometimes a medium that can communicate with elves is consulted before construction is done in an area that might be inhabited by elves. Where to Find Elves in Iceland If you are wondering where you can find elves, there are many places around the country where they are said to dwell. One very popular place is the Elf Stone in Grjótaþorp, the oldest neighborhood in Reykjavík. Another is along the south coast. It is quite a huge rock near Skógafoss that has some incredible stories attached to it.