Jenna Gottlieb of the Associated Press has a great story about elves.
“In this land of fire and ice,” she writes, “where the fog-shrouded lava fields offer a spooky landscape in which anything might lurk, stories abound of the ‘hidden folk’ – thousands of elves, making their homes in Iceland’s wilderness.
“So perhaps it was only a matter of time before 21st-century elves got political representation.
“Elf advocates have joined forces with environmentalists to urge the Icelandic Road and Coastal Commission and local authorities to abandon a highway project building a direct route from to the tip of the Alftanes peninsula, where the president has a home, to the Reykjavik suburb of Gardabaer. They fear disturbing elf habitat and claim the area is particularly important because it contains an elf church. …
“It’s not the first time issues about ‘Huldufolk,’ Icelandic for “hidden folk,” have affected planning decisions. They occur so often that the road and coastal administration has come up with a stock media response for elf inquiries, which states in part that ‘issues have been settled by delaying the construction project at a certain point while the elves living there have supposedly moved on.’ …
“Terry Gunnell, a folklore professor at the University of Iceland, said he was not surprised by the wide acceptance of the possibility of elves.
” ‘This is a land where your house can be destroyed by something you can’t see (earthquakes), where the wind can knock you off your feet, where the smell of sulfur from your taps tells you there is invisible fire not far below your feet, where the northern lights make the sky the biggest television screen in the world, and where hot springs and glaciers “talk,” ‘ Gunnell said.
” ‘In short, everyone is aware that the land is alive, and one can say that the stories of hidden people and the need to work carefully with them reflects an understanding that the land demands respect.’ ”
More.
John Bauer 1913 illustration found at nordicculturespot.blogspot.com
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Great story! I love it.
Do you know that John Bauer was Swedish and lived on Visingsö in the middle of Vättern? I grew up with his “sagor” and illustrations, and to a certain extent my children did.
I did not know that. I should do a post about him sometime. I adore that illustration and would like to know more.
” ‘This is a land where your house can be destroyed by something you can’t see (earthquakes), where the wind can knock you off your feet, where the smell of sulfur from your taps tells you there is invisible fire not far below your feet, where the northern lights make the sky the biggest television screen in the world, and where hot springs and glaciers “talk,” ‘ Gunnell said.
Now how can I not adore that!
I discovered Icelandic elves (fairies) from the movie Cold Fever–a fairy appears and starts the protagonist’s car, at one point.
I don’t know that movie. Will see if I can get it on Netflix.
Oh do: you would like it, I think.
Thanks so much, Asakiyume, for lending us your copy. Weird and wonderful! I hope someone releases it on DVD and Netflix picks it up so more people can enjoy it. We brought our old TV up from the basement and it worked like a charm with the videotape.