Elves in Modern Iceland

By Rolf Soderlind

REYKJAVIK (Reuter) - The trouble started last month when the bulldozers kept
breaking down during work on a new road. The mysterious accidents in front
of one particular stone brought work to a standstill at the construction
site at Ljarskogar, about three hours drive north of Reykjavik. The
contractors solved the problem in an unorthodox way but one which is fairly
common on Iceland. They accepted an offer from a medium to find out if the
land was populated by elves and, if so, were they causing the disruptions.

"Our basic approach is not to deny this phenomenon," Birgir Gudmundsson, an
engineer with the Iceland Road Authority, told Reuters. "We tread carefully.
There are people who can negotiate with the elves, and we make use of that."

About 10 percent of Icelanders believe in supernatural beings and another 10
percent deny them, but the remaining 80 percent on this windswept North
Atlantic outpost either have no opinion or refuse to rule out their
existence, a survey shows.

The medium, a woman named Regina, said the elves told her they no longer
lived in the stone but nearby. However, they wanted workers to remove it in
a dignified manner and not just try to blow it up. Regina was interviewed on
national radio, which found itself quoting elves, albeit indirectly, for the
first time in history, according to one radio journalist.

The supernatural never seems far away in Iceland, a wild moonscape of
volcanoes, geysers and lava rocks looking like trolls petrified by the first
rays of sunshine on a frosty morning. This is the land where Vikings, tired
of serving Scandinavian kings, settled more than a thousand years ago.

"I believe the elves want people to preserve nature," said Erla
Stefansdottir, another medium and part-time consultant to the road
authorities. "Elves are nice and sweet, the other side of nature, they are
like light on the trees and the flowers."

Erla, sitting in her Reykjavik living room with candles flickering on the
table and Handel's Water Music playing from the stereo, said elves lived not
just in the countryside but also in the city and they enjoyed music. "I see
elves on the table right now," the middle-aged piano teacher and mother of
three said matter-of-factly. "There, there and there. They look like small
human beings. I don't have to believe in these things, but I keep seeing
them. I have always been seeing too much."

Erla said elves were not always at fault when roadworkers ran into
unexpected problems. "You cannot blame it all on the elves," she said.
"Don't believe everything you hear. People are good at bungling things
themselves."

Being clairvoyant can apparently be an eerie experience. "When I walk down
the street I can't tell who is alive and who is dead of the people I meet,"
Erla said. "I must touch them to find out if they are alive. I can meet
myself on the highway 20 years ago. I can easily look back a thousand years.
"

Elves were first briefly mentioned in Iceland's mediaeval Saga literature --
filled with pithy, epic tales of the days when a man never left his home
without his sword. The Icelandic language, old Norse, has helped the
survival of folklore because it has been preserved virtually unscathed by
the passing of time. Icelanders still read the old Sagas in their original
version without trouble.

Iceland's President Vigdis Finnbogadottir once said her people loved telling
stories although few really believed in folklore. "But to lose it would be
to lose a jewel," she said. Arni Bjoernsson, head of the Ethnological
department of the National Museum of Iceland, said popular belief in elves,
gnomes, dwarfs, trolls and other beings often reflected the simple farmer's
dream of a better world alongside his own.

"The "huldufolk," or the hidden people, live a better life than human
beings," said Arni, whose interviews with fellow Icelanders have produced
a book listing 500 supernatural beings. "Their houses are nice and clean.
They often possess gold and other valuables. This is the wishful thinking
of the poor."

But Arni said Icelanders, whose first city was founded less than 200 years
ago, were less ashamed than other people in Europe to admit to superstitious
beliefs. "Icelanders are sceptical people, but they are also humble and they
do not want to rule anything out," he said. "I am a scientist. I am sorry to
disappoint you but I have never seen an elf or a troll. But who am I to
exclude their existence?"

While the elves and other serene beings may cause roadworks to make detours
around magic mounds, no story about Icelandic folklore would be complete
without the "skrimsli,"' or monsters.

"Unlike ghosts, who leave no trace, monsters seem to leave footprints in the
sand and disappear into the sea," said Thorvaldur Fridriksson, author of
a 1000-page work on Icelandic Loch Ness-style monsters that is soon to be
published. "Some of these monsters are dangerous. People are reluctant to
tell about them because others will laugh. But about 70 percent of Earth is
sea and who knows what the sea hides?"

At Ljarskogar, however, all seemingly came clear after road authorities
followed Regina's advice and removed the stone with due dignity. "As far as
I know, everything has been peaceful since then," said Birgir.

Reuters/Variety