Lieber in Iceland
Travelling in Iceland is going to the edge of the Arctic Circle, it’s walking in the bowels of the earth, it’s playing melodies of nature and solitude. The notes crackle, lift, smoke and upset.
From my trip, I remember driving without stopping, my eyes lost into the sky, inseparable from the natural plains. The car was shaking in the storm, and it was only in an infinite fog that I could perceive an isolated farmhouse in the middle of the fields. The beautiful building was built as if to withstand the winds and tides… its owner too: she was a peasant woman marked by age and hardship, who offered me hospitality and this story:
“I remember as if it was yesterday, of the day when men wanted to build this road. There was a rock on the edge of my meadow, and they decided to dig it up. None of their machines managed to do it. It was like a damnation. My husband always told me that it was the Huldufólk people who lived there and protected our home and property. To thank them, he had built a small hut for the gnomes. He defended them until he died, and on that day it was they who sheltered him under their rock. Every day he’s still there thanks to the song he wrote for me:
“Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know
She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I’ll share her home“…
Happy to have shared this moment of peace and confession with her, I went to the magic stone. The blowing wind was broken by its shape and size: it was supernatural! I took Lieber, twirled him around in my arms and started to play the very special melody of Ed Sheeran, which I dream of seeing in concert next year.
A white light shone on me like a stage projector. I knew it was one of the gnomes from the hidden people. I saluted the goodness of the Icelanders; he offered me a cube of fairy rosin.
Information about Island
Huldufólk People
Legend
One day, God came to meet Adam and Eve. They welcomed Him in their home with respect and showed Him everything they owned. They also presented their offspring to Him. God asked Eve if she wanted more children. She answered in the negative. Actually, she had not had time to bathe her other children, and preferred to hide them because of their dirt. God perceived this and said, « What is to be hidden from me will be hidden from men. » In retaliation, these children became invisible and took refuge in the hills and rocks.
– The Origin of Elves (Huldumanna Genesis), Jón Árnason
The ‘hidden people‘ occupy an important role in the life of Icelanders. Indeed, more than half of the population lives with the imagination of these invisible beings.
According to their beliefs, these elves, trolls, or gnomes, preserve nature and look after human beings, by protecting their homes and helping the dying.
In return, the locals show consideration for these magical creatures. There is for example a tradition of having a stone in one’s garden, so that the elf can use it as its dwelling. Álfhól, a small village of wooden houses, was also created by humans for the elves. There’s even a church inside to convert them to religion. At Christmas, the most celebrated of the Christian holidays, the Icelanders make offerings to them.
If many Icelandic roads take strange detours, or suddenly change from two to one lane, it is precisely to protect the dwellings of the Huldufólk… because these mischievous beings warn the builders who want to construct on their stone shelters by entering their dreams, or by cursing the laborers working on the construction site.
For example, a pile of stone blocked the field where the highway was to be built. A company came to destroy the rocks, but all went wrong. The machines broke down, the workers were injured… it was then that the foreman realized that they had to go around the sacred homes of these powerful beings.
The remnants of the trolls are also explained in the maritime fantasy. Legend has it that Vik’s trolls were caught by the light while trying to wreck a ship on the shore, and they immediately turned to stone. You will see these giant rocks from Reynisfjara beach, whose black sand gives an impression of thrill and ecstasy.
For Midsummer’s night (date near the summer solstice), they say that if you sit at a crossroads, the creatures will come to you to offer you gifts. But beware, you must not accept them, or you will be unlucky for the rest of your life!
If you are traveling in Iceland, or are simply interested in the myths of the country, you can purchase Jón R. Hjálmarsson‘s book, The Traveller’s Guide to Icelandic Folktales.
Erla Stefánsdóttir
Pianist and fortune teller, this Icelandic woman is also renowned for her knowledge of the Huldufólk people. She was able to communicate with those fantastic beings, and helped site managers to carry out their projects while remaining respectful of natural creatures. She has made many maps, drawings and books to explain the phenomenon of these people.
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