Feb 25, 2009: Icelandic Elf House

[sandypossum]

When I was in Iceland in 2002 I saw tiny little doors on rocks beside some hills in the countryside. My host explained that Icelanders put tiny doors or tiny houses on rocks to invite elves to live in the rock. (I think it was because having an elf live there was good luck, or maybe it was to persuade them not to live in your own home - can't remember that bit).

A 1998 survey found that 54.4% of Icelanders surveyed claimed to believe in elves, or the huldufólk (“hidden people”).

My own photos of the doors, taken from a moving vehicle, are rather blurry, so I found this in Wikimedia Commons, labelled “Elf houses near Strandakirkja in south Iceland”:

This Reuters article, Elves in Modern Iceland, describes how this belief in elves can affect building plans, even when it involves building roads.

And this article from the Iceland Tourist Board website, Hollywood May Joke, but Elves are Serious Business for Icelanders, explains more about their thoughts on elves.

(PS: am I jumping ahead of time? No! Here in Fish Creek, Australia it is already the 25th of February! )