Myths and Mythology in Iceland
Huldufólk, the Elves of Iceland
In Iceland, elves are known as Huldufólk, which translates to "hidden people". These elves live in enchanted rocks and cliffs, and they tend to resemble humans and their lifestyle almost exactly. This is mainly why Icelanders tend to believe that they are invisible most of the time. There are a few exceptions to this, where they become visible on nights like Midsummer Night and New Year’s Eve. The Icelandic elves are fiercely protective of their homes, and are known to unleash great harm onto those that disturb them. It is believed that the last manifestation of this myth occurred during a road-laying project in the Gálgahraun lava field in 2015. After many tries, with either machine breakdowns, or other issues along the way, the road ended up being rerouted to bypass the "hidden people's" realm.
Sources: Island Hotel and Guide to Iceland
Icelandic Trolls
The trolls of Icelandic myths are described as giant, greedy, and stupid, but some have been described as kind and wise. Similar to elves, trolls become angry when they are disturbed, but if you end up helping a troll in need, you can expect to be handsomely rewarded. Icelandic trolls can perform extraordinary magical feats, and are known to be able to cast terrible spells and enchantments. However, trolls are not very intelligent, and humans have been able to easily free themselves from these enchantments.
Trolls tend to live in mountains, caves, or remote areas far away from human settlements, and only come out when it is dark. This is because trolls turn to stone if they are exposed to the sun. It is believed that many natural rock formations all across Iceland are said to be petrified trolls.
Reynisdrangar Sea Stacks. Image Sourced from Magnific
The greatest examples of this are the Reynisdrangar Sea Stacks, whcih are located on the Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach. A story is told that the rocks were once trolls which were pulling a ship to shore, but stayed out too late and were caught by the sunlight, transforming them into stone.
Lagarfljótsormurinn, The Wyrm of Lagarfljot
The Wyrm of Lagarfljot is a large, snake-like creature that has been said to inhabit the Lagarflijot Lake located in East Iceland. Sightings dating back to the 14th century claim that the wyrm was said to have risen so high that a ship with full sails could easily sail beneath it.
The story of the wyrm originates, saying that a young girl once asked her mother how she could make most of the gold ring that was gifted to her. Her mother then told her a myth, where gold could grow on a worm. With this knowledge, the young girl trapped a worm inside a chest, alongside her gold ring. Instead of the gold growing, the worm grew bigger instead. The girl, frightened, threw the chest into the lake, then making it the worm's home for all eternity.
Today, you can supposedly still see the creature rise from the lake on occasion, where it terrorizes the local population and their animals by spewing poison at them. The most recently claimed sighting was in 2012, where a video was taken of what looks to be some sort of mysterious ship traveling through the Lagarfljot Lake, and it began to spark interest again in the legend of this creature.
Sources: (Island Hotel, Guide to Iceland, and MythFolks).