Huldufólk
In Nordic folklore, including the Northern Isles, hidden-folk, mound-folk, mountain-folk, subterraneans, among other names, are collective names for a loose race or conglomeration of elves, wights, brownies, trolls, and thereof. They are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world. They can make themselves visible at will. Konrad von Maurer cites a 19th-century Icelandic source claiming that the only visible difference between normal people and outwardly human-appearing huldufólk is, the latter have a convex rather than concave philtrum below their noses. An analog myth are the trolls being discerned by their large noses.
In Faroese folk tales, hidden people are said to be "large in build, their clothes are all grey, and their hair black. Their dwellings are in mounds, and they are also called Elves."
Some Icelandic folk tales caution against throwing stones, as it may hit the hidden people.
The term huldufólk was taken as a synonym of álfar in 19th-century Icelandic folklore. Jón Árnason found that the terms are synonymous, except álfar is a pejorative term. Konrad von Maurer contends that huldufólk originates as a euphemism to avoid calling the álfar by their real name.
There is, however, some evidence that the two terms have come to be taken as referring to two distinct sets of supernatural beings in contemporary Iceland. Katrin Sontag found that some people do not differentiate elves from hidden people, while others do. A 2006 survey found that "54% of respondents did not distinguish between elves and hidden people, 20% did and 26% said they were not sure."
Etymology
and Faroese Huldufólk, as well as, means "hidden people", compounding , and . The fore element stems from, past participle of . Beings within huldufólk may be called "hulder", or "huldra", etc.Related terms includes hulder, a related entity, and in Old Norse poetry, related forms can also be found in huldarhǫttr and huliðshjalmr, "hat-" and "helmet of invisibility" respectively. In Huldar saga, Huldr is the name of a witch.
Origins
Terry Gunnell writes: "different beliefs could have lived side by side in multicultural settlement Iceland before they gradually blended into the latter-day Icelandic álfar and huldufólk." He also writes: "Huldufólk and álfar undoubtedly arose from the same need. The Norse settlers had the álfar, the Irish slaves had the hill fairies or the Good People. Over time, they became two different beings, but really they are two different sets of folklore that mean the same thing."Precursors to elves/hidden people can be found in the writings of Snorri Sturluson and in skaldic verse. Elves were also mentioned in Poetic Edda, and appear to be connected to fertility.
The Christianization of Iceland in the 11th century brought with it new religious concepts. According to one Christian folk tale, the origins of the hidden people can be traced to Adam and Eve. Eve hid her dirty, unwashed children from God, and lied about their existence. God then declared: "What man hides from God, God will hide from man." Other Christian folktales claim that hidden people originate from Lilith, or are fallen angels condemned to live between heaven and hell.
In succession of Christianization, official opposition to dancing may have begun in Iceland as early as the 12th century, and the association of dancing with elves can be seen as early as the 15th century. One folktale shows the elves siding with the common people and taking revenge on a sheriff who banned dance parties. Aðalheiður Guðmundsdóttir concludes that these legends "show that Icelanders missed dancing".
In the 13th and 14th centuries, books from mainland Europe reached Iceland, and may have influenced folktales about elves.
Einar Ólafur Sveinsson writes: "Round about 1600 sources for hidden folk become so voluminous that we can readily define the beliefs and legends about them, and after that there is one source after another about them right down into the twentieth century." According to Árni Björnsson, belief in hidden people grew during the 17th and 18th centuries when Iceland was facing tough times.
According to Davide Finco Genoa, elves have existed in religious context as far back as the Stone age. He uses Swedish elf offering cups, known as "alvkvarnar," as an example.
Holidays
There are four Icelandic holidays considered to have a special connection with hidden people: New Year's Eve, Thirteenth Night, Midsummer Night and Christmas night. Elf bonfires are a common part of the holiday festivities on Twelfth Night. There are many Icelandic folktales about elves and hidden people invading Icelandic farmhouses during Christmas and holding wild parties. It is customary in Iceland to clean the house before Christmas, and to leave food for the huldufólk on Christmas. On New Year's Eve, it is believed that the elves move to new locations, and Icelanders leave candles to help them find their way. On Midsummer Night, folklore states that if you sit at a crossroads, elves will attempt to seduce you with food and gifts; there are grave consequences for being seduced by their offers, but great rewards for resisting.Icelandic and Faroese folklore
Several scholars have commented on the connections between hidden people and the Icelandic natural environment. B.S. Benedikz, in his discussion of Jón Árnason's grouping of folktales about elves, water-dwellers, and trolls together, writes:Ólina Thorvarðardóttir writes:
Michael Strmiska writes:
Pálsdóttir claims that in a landscape filled with earthquakes, avalanches, and volcanoes,
Alan Boucher writes:
Robert Anderson writes that syncretism
Terry Gunnell notes that hidden people legends recorded in the 18th and 19th centuries showed them to be
Anthropologist Jón Haukur Ingimundarson claimed that hidden people tales told by 19th century Icelandic women were a reflection of how only 47% of women were married, and
He goes on to say that these stories justified the differences in role and status between sisters, and
Anna Pietrzkiewicz contends that the hidden people symbolize idealized Icelandic identity and society, the key elements of which are seeing the "past as a source of pride and nature as unique and pure."
Hidden people often appear in the dreams of Icelanders. They are usually described as wearing 19th century Icelandic clothing, and are often described as wearing green.
In one version of modern Faroese folklore, the hidden people vanished in the 1950s when electricity was brought to the island.
"The Elf Maiden" is a Norse folklore about a young man who marries an elf woman. As their marriage progresses, the elf maiden begins to periodically, miraculously disappear from his sight. The elf maiden finally tells her husband that she will eventually disappear, permanently, and that the only way to prevent it is by hammering a nail into a threshold
According to Scandinavian Author Ármann Jakobsson,
In her book, Icelandic Folktales and Legends, Jacqueline Simpson provides two origins stories for the Huldufolk:
- The first story says the Huldufolk are some of the children of Adam and Eve. These children were not washed and therefore Eve avoided presenting them to God. In return, God said; "That which had to be hidden from Me, shall also be hidden from man," thus creating the "hidden people" / huldufolk / elves, out of the children and their offspring.
- The second folktale describing the origin of Huldufolk says that when the devil raised a revolt in heaven, the inhabitants who did not side with him, but also were not against him, were sent down to Earth. They would live in, "knowles, hills, and rocks" and "cannot live with other people." These people are the Huldifolk or Elves.
Contemporary Iceland
Several modern surveys have been made showing a surprising number of believers. Around 7–8% claim to be certain that elves exist, and around 45% claim it is likely or possible.
These surveys have been criticized as being misrepresentative, as journalists have claimed that they show that a majority of Icelanders believe in elves, despite belief not being that serious. Folklore professor Terry Gunnell has said: "Very few will say immediately that they 'believe' in such, but they won't deny it either." Different ways of asking could elicit very different responses.
Árni Björnsson claims the beliefs are simplified and exaggerated for the entertainment of children and tourists, and that it is a somewhat misrepresentative yet harmless trick used by the tourism industry to entice visitors. The stories of elves may have been fun tales rather than beliefs.
Tourism
The Icelandic Elf School in Reykjavík organizes five-hour-long educational excursions for visitors.Hafnarfjörður offers a "Hidden Worlds tour", a guided walk of about 90 minutes. It includes a stroll through Hellisgerdi Park, where the paths wind through a lava field planted with tall trees and potted bonsai trees in summer, and said to be peopled with the town's largest elf colony.
Stokkseyri has the Icelandic Wonders museum, where "Museum guests will walk into a world of the Icelandic elves and hidden people and get a glimpse of their life."
Information boards at Dverghamrar state that the local variety of dwarf is 20–30 cm tall.
Recent incidents
During road construction in Kópavogur in 1971, a bulldozer broke down. The driver placed the blame on elves living in a large rock. Despite locals not having been aware of any elves living in the rock, newspapers ran with the story, thus starting the myth that Icelandic road construction was often impeded by elves.In 1982, 150 Icelanders went to the NATO base in Keflavík to look for "elves who might be endangered by American Phantom jets and AWACS reconnaissance planes." In 2004, Alcoa had to have a government expert certify that their chosen building site was free of archaeological sites, including ones related to huldufólk folklore, before they could build an aluminium smelter in Iceland. In 2011, elves/huldufólk were believed by some to be responsible for an incident in Bolungarvík where rocks rained down on residential streets.
In 2013, proposed road construction from the Álftanes peninsula to the Reykjavík suburb of Garðabær, was stopped because elf supporters and environmental groups protested, stating that the road would destroy the habitat of elves and local cultural beliefs. According to G Pétur Matthíasson, head of communication at the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, " was interested in this one big rock that was in the line of the road. We then look at it, not through believing in elves, but believing that elves or hidden people are part of our cultural heritage. We looked at this big rock formation and saw that it was unique, and decided that because we could move , we would try to do that.”
In 2013, in Reykjavik, construction on a road was halted because a group of protesters showed up, including people who believed that the construction would "disturb the habitat of elves that live among the rocks."