Iceland is an eerily beautiful, beguiling place, so it’s no surprise the country boasts an impressive folk and fairytale tradition which is very much alive today. More than half the population refuse to deny the existence of huldufólk, or ‘hidden people’, which also includes elves, dwarves, trolls, spirits and gnomes. Stone piles marking hidden people’s homes are everywhere, and many a garden hosts an álfhóll (elf house) to keep invisible friends happy.
It is best not to ask locals if they believe, partly because it must get annoying, but also because there is more fun in embracing the imagination and enjoying a fairytale adventure in this magical country.
World ‘Tell a Fairytale Day’ is on February 26th this year, and there is nowhere better in the world to be to celebrate the realm of fairies, elves, witches and ghosts than Iceland, a fairytale come alive.
Start by brushing up on your lore at Elf School in Reykjavík, learning about the different types of hidden people, visit the museum of witchcraft in Hólmavik Town, and marvel at the sea stacks on Drangsnes, said to be petrified trolls. But the capital of all things otherworldly is Hafnarfjörður, ‘the town in the lava’, where hidden people gather.
Here, you can take a lovely walk through Hellisgerði, a park full of lava grottoes and a mecca for hidden people, or follow the Elf Walk around the town.
There is also a Hidden People guided tour, complete with map marking hidden people hotspots, but if you want a personal adventure, buy the map separately and go it alone. As with anything else that doesn’t want to be seen, you have to be quiet, and try to be at one with your surroundings – not difficult in such a magical land.
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