1
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,440
Speaker 1: Two eleven year old girls trek up hill through rugged

2
00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:20,079
Speaker 1: Arctic tundra. It's late summer nineteen thirty two in Iceland.

3
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,040
Speaker 1: The girls, Nana and Carolina, have hiked for hours from

4
00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:29,360
Speaker 1: their homes in ascar Strunt in ayre Furture, close to

5
00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:34,280
Speaker 1: the northern Icelandic coast, on the hunt for wild bilberries.

6
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,680
Speaker 1: Together they continue up the valley, climbing high above the river,

7
00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,600
Speaker 1: and it's there that Carolina sees them. Two bedsheets spread

8
00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:50,040
Speaker 1: out over the grass and moss, both away down, with rocks,

9
00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,640
Speaker 1: one in each corner and a fifth in the middle

10
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,720
Speaker 1: to stop the wind blowing them away. The weather is

11
00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:02,520
Speaker 1: sunny and breezy, a perfect day for drying laundry, Only

12
00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,840
Speaker 1: there's no house or hut anywhere nearby where someone with

13
00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:12,480
Speaker 1: laundry might live. Wondering if she's seeing things, Carolina asks

14
00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:16,839
Speaker 1: Nana if she can see them too. Oh, yes, she replies,

15
00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 1: I see them all the time, really, says Carolina. Yes

16
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,600
Speaker 1: they belong to the elves that live nearby, replies Nana,

17
00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:32,000
Speaker 1: and with that she skips on ahead. I'm sure if

18
00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,880
Speaker 1: Nana is playing some kind of trick on her or not.

19
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 1: Carolina decides to leave it at that and trudges on

20
00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:43,480
Speaker 1: after her. The girls hike higher into the valley until

21
00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,920
Speaker 1: finally they find what they're looking for, endless bushes of dark,

22
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:53,000
Speaker 1: ripe bilberries. A couple of hours later, with their baskets full,

23
00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,000
Speaker 1: they make their way back down the way they came.

24
00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 1: But when they get back to where the bed sheets were,

25
00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:05,520
Speaker 1: the sheets are gone. See, said Nana. The elves must

26
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,280
Speaker 1: have taken them back home. Carolina lived until the age

27
00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,680
Speaker 1: of ninety one. Though this was the only time she

28
00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,720
Speaker 1: claimed to have ever witnessed evidence of elves, she never

29
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,960
Speaker 1: forgot that day, and she stood by her account of

30
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:26,320
Speaker 1: it right up until the day she died. You're listening

31
00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:39,720
Speaker 1: to Unexplained, and I'm Richard McLean Smith. Iceland's position just

32
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,960
Speaker 1: south of the Arctic Circle, with its long nights of

33
00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,520
Speaker 1: unbroken winter darkness, is dominated by the primal forces of

34
00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:52,760
Speaker 1: ice and snow. Wondrous displays of the northern lights regularly

35
00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:57,760
Speaker 1: flicker over landscapes dotted with volcanoes and twisted rock thickly

36
00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,000
Speaker 1: covered in moss. It's an environment that exerts a strong

37
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,840
Speaker 1: pull on the psyche, and Icelandic folklore is rich with

38
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,919
Speaker 1: stories of the supernatural of ghosts and trolls, and most

39
00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:16,640
Speaker 1: of all elves known in Iceland as the Huldefolk or

40
00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:21,200
Speaker 1: hidden folk. Icelandic elves have a nature all their own.

41
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,239
Speaker 1: They bear no resemblance to Santa Claus's diminutive little helpers

42
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,800
Speaker 1: from Christmas stories or the tall ethereal and point eared

43
00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:36,680
Speaker 1: immortals that feature in J. R. R. Tolkien's tales. Icelandic

44
00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:41,000
Speaker 1: elves are mostly described as being from around one foot

45
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,800
Speaker 1: high to the size of a typical seven year old child.

46
00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:51,040
Speaker 1: One nineteenth century Icelandic source states the only visible difference

47
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,960
Speaker 1: between humans and human sized hidden folk is in the

48
00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,560
Speaker 1: vertical groove between the base of the nose and the

49
00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:03,360
Speaker 1: top of the upper lip, known as the filtrum. In elves,

50
00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,559
Speaker 1: that groove is said to be convex rather than concave

51
00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,120
Speaker 1: as it is in humans. The elves are said to

52
00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,080
Speaker 1: live in certain rocks and cliffs, which many local people

53
00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,560
Speaker 1: consider to be enchanted places, and often paint doors there

54
00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,360
Speaker 1: or set up tiny houses in their gardens for elves

55
00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:28,200
Speaker 1: to live in. Icelandic lore maintains that the hidden folk

56
00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:33,240
Speaker 1: inhabit a parallel universe, remaining invisible to humans most of

57
00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,920
Speaker 1: the time, rarely allowing themselves to be seen. When they

58
00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,080
Speaker 1: do become visible, they are said to look and behave

59
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:46,880
Speaker 1: very much like humans, keeping live stock, cutting hay, rowing boats,

60
00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:52,280
Speaker 1: going fishing, and picking berries, even going to church on Sundays.

61
00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 1: It's said that the best times to see an elf

62
00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,600
Speaker 1: are on New Year's Eve, a night when bonfires are

63
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,359
Speaker 1: lit a across the country, and when the elves are

64
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,960
Speaker 1: rumored to move their residence from one rock or hillside

65
00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,799
Speaker 1: to another. The other time it's Midsummer's night, when, according

66
00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,279
Speaker 1: to local law, if you sit at a crossroads where

67
00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,560
Speaker 1: all four roads lead to separate churches, an elf will

68
00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:23,000
Speaker 1: try to seduce you with gifts. Accept those gifts and

69
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,680
Speaker 1: you will go mad. Resist the temptation, and your wishes

70
00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,320
Speaker 1: will come true. The hidden folk are said to be

71
00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,800
Speaker 1: harmless if you leave them alone, but woe betide anyone

72
00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:41,880
Speaker 1: who disturbs or destroys an Elvish home. If an Elvish

73
00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,800
Speaker 1: dwelling is disrupted, the elves will get angry and may

74
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,839
Speaker 1: cause great harm to those who disturb them, or so

75
00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:54,800
Speaker 1: the legend goes. In the summer of nineteen seventy one,

76
00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,760
Speaker 1: a workman operating a bulldozer to move a pile of

77
00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:03,960
Speaker 1: rocks on the outskirts of Reykvik, Iceland's capital, accidentally broke

78
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:09,360
Speaker 1: some pipelines, destroying the excavator in the process. The workmen

79
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:14,520
Speaker 1: had only one explanation for the mishap. Clearly, the rocks

80
00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,280
Speaker 1: were home to a community of elves who'd become angered

81
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:23,400
Speaker 1: by the disturbance. It was they, not his incompetence, that

82
00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,560
Speaker 1: had caused the accident. Elsewhere in the northern part of

83
00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,320
Speaker 1: the country, around the same time, the Icelandic Road Administration

84
00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,839
Speaker 1: was considering smoothing out another piece of road where it

85
00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:40,520
Speaker 1: crossed an uneven boulder field known locally as the Trolls Pass,

86
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,839
Speaker 1: But when local residents, including some self described elf seers,

87
00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,839
Speaker 1: told them that supernatural beings resided in rocks beneath the pass,

88
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,479
Speaker 1: the agency were convinced not to blow it up. It

89
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,760
Speaker 1: is said that this placated the elves, and that no

90
00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,599
Speaker 1: road accidents have occurred at or near the pass ever since.

91
00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:18,680
Speaker 1: The road remains uneven to this day. In the autumn

92
00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,800
Speaker 1: of nineteen eighty six, the story of Iceland's fiendish and

93
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,400
Speaker 1: feisty elves began to spread more widely when their apparent

94
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:32,560
Speaker 1: existence was inadvertently brought to the attention of the international media.

95
00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,640
Speaker 1: That year, a summit took place between the United States

96
00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,679
Speaker 1: and the Soviet Union. Then U S President Ronald Reagan

97
00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,560
Speaker 1: and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union

98
00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:50,240
Speaker 1: Mikhail Gorbachev had met in Geneva, Switzerland, the previous year.

99
00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,960
Speaker 1: After months of delay, it was finally agreed that the

100
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,840
Speaker 1: two men should meet again in politically neutral Reykovic, Symbolic,

101
00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:04,600
Speaker 1: located more or less half way between the two world powers.

102
00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:09,520
Speaker 1: The main topic of debate was the issue of nuclear disarmament,

103
00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,920
Speaker 1: and as the Many summit proceeded, the two leaders agreed

104
00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,560
Speaker 1: on more than they disagreed, with relations relatively amicable. Foreign

105
00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,520
Speaker 1: journalists who had converged on Iceland's capital from all over

106
00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:28,559
Speaker 1: the world became restless for a major news story. Before long,

107
00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,680
Speaker 1: they were alerted to the fact that many Icelanders were

108
00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:37,719
Speaker 1: said to believe in elves. The journalists pounced on Arnie Bejernsen,

109
00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:44,000
Speaker 1: director of the Ethnological Department of the National Museum of Iceland. Beyonsen,

110
00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,920
Speaker 1: who didn't believe in elves himself, was overwhelmed with the

111
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:53,400
Speaker 1: reporter's questions, keen not to offend any of his fellow Icelanders.

112
00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:58,080
Speaker 1: Bejonsen offered a nuanced response to the reporters that ultimately

113
00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:03,480
Speaker 1: fell on deaf ears, and so the supposed existence of

114
00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:10,000
Speaker 1: Icelandic elves became an international story for Icelanders. The fact

115
00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,319
Speaker 1: that many of them believed in elves, or rather were

116
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,760
Speaker 1: unwilling to dismiss the possibility that they exist, was old news.

117
00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,440
Speaker 1: The phenomenon had been examined by an Icelandic academic back

118
00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,679
Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies. Just a couple of years after

119
00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:31,079
Speaker 1: that bulldozer operator claimed elves had ruined his dig ellan der.

120
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: Haraldson was working as a research associate at the American

121
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:39,720
Speaker 1: Society for Psychical Research when in nineteen seventy three he

122
00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:44,720
Speaker 1: became a faculty member at the University of Iceland. Ostensibly

123
00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:48,680
Speaker 1: a professor of psychology on the Faculty of Social Science,

124
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:54,000
Speaker 1: Haroldson published in various psychology and psychiatry journals, but the

125
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:59,720
Speaker 1: learned professor had another interest less acceptable to mainstream academia,

126
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:04,920
Speaker 1: and that was in paras psychology. Haroldson wrote a number

127
00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,480
Speaker 1: of books, including one titled in English that Departed Among

128
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,200
Speaker 1: the Living, in which he described surveys and follow up

129
00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,760
Speaker 1: investigations that he conducted into alleged apparitions and related phenomena

130
00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:23,120
Speaker 1: in Iceland. In nineteen seventy four, he carried out a

131
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:28,640
Speaker 1: survey of Icelandic religious and folk beliefs. The results were striking.

132
00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,720
Speaker 1: Fifteen percent of respondents said they thought it very likely

133
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:38,040
Speaker 1: that elves existed, another seven percent were certain of this,

134
00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:43,360
Speaker 1: and five percent claimed to have even seen one. Overall,

135
00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:49,040
Speaker 1: roughly a third of Haroldson's survey respondents entertained the possibility

136
00:10:49,520 --> 00:11:02,160
Speaker 1: that hidden folk exist. Subsequent surveys have consistently confirmed Professor

137
00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:07,240
Speaker 1: Haroldson's findings. When a church historian questioned people with a

138
00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:12,679
Speaker 1: professed interest in mysticism, seventy percent believed that elves existed,

139
00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:16,880
Speaker 1: while only forty three percent thought that space aliens had

140
00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:21,760
Speaker 1: visited Earth. In nineteen ninety eight, while polling its readers

141
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,720
Speaker 1: on aspects of politics and government, an Icelandic newspaper slipped

142
00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:30,360
Speaker 1: a sneaky extra yes or no question into their survey.

143
00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,760
Speaker 1: The question inevitably was do you believe in elves? Of

144
00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,480
Speaker 1: the ninety percent of people who completed the survey, fifty

145
00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,040
Speaker 1: four percent of them replied yes. In two thousand and seven,

146
00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:50,199
Speaker 1: researchers at the University of Iceland's Department of Folkloristics decided

147
00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,400
Speaker 1: to Readminister Professor Horoldson's nineteen seventy four survey. The new

148
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:59,520
Speaker 1: survey results were, if anything, even more emphatic than what

149
00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,480
Speaker 1: Harold and found in his original study. While only two

150
00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,600
Speaker 1: percent of respondents claimed to have seen a UFO, five

151
00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,520
Speaker 1: percent again said they'd seen an elf, but fifty percent

152
00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,440
Speaker 1: said they were open to the possibility that elves exist.

153
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,080
Speaker 1: If you arrive in Iceland today, there are numerous locations

154
00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,760
Speaker 1: to visit where elves are said to reside. One of

155
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:28,439
Speaker 1: the most well known is the Elfstone in gryotfofv Rekvik's

156
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,840
Speaker 1: oldest neighborhood, and like many such stones in Iceland, it

157
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:37,360
Speaker 1: has many strange stories attached to it. One such story

158
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,800
Speaker 1: is that when the city was expanding, it said that

159
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,280
Speaker 1: builders wanted to move the large rock to make way

160
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,880
Speaker 1: for a house. They tried numerous methods to do it.

161
00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,719
Speaker 1: The rock still bears the marks from their various removal attempts,

162
00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:57,280
Speaker 1: but nothing the builders tried would shift it. In the end.

163
00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,760
Speaker 1: A woman said to be able to see and speak

164
00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:05,640
Speaker 1: with elves was called in after supposedly making contact with them,

165
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:09,200
Speaker 1: she confirmed that the rock was in fact home to

166
00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,080
Speaker 1: some elves, but they would be willing to let it

167
00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,760
Speaker 1: be moved if they were given a week to prepare

168
00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,440
Speaker 1: and if the rock was relocated closer to the city center.

169
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,160
Speaker 1: The conditions were agreed, and a week later the giant

170
00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:28,880
Speaker 1: stone was apparently moved without any further trouble. Then, in

171
00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:34,240
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, another crop of Elviy stones, located ten minutes

172
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:39,880
Speaker 1: outside Reykievic, became the center of national intrigue. The lava

173
00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:44,160
Speaker 1: field known as Galcaroun is where two liquid lava waves

174
00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:50,640
Speaker 1: once clashed. As they cooled, they froze into dark, contorted shapes, which,

175
00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:53,560
Speaker 1: if you squinch your eyes just right, looked like a

176
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,400
Speaker 1: scattering of weird and grotesque creatures just waiting to emerge

177
00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:03,200
Speaker 1: from a deep and ancient slumber. In twenty thirteen, a

178
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,240
Speaker 1: new road project was instigated by the Icelandic Road and

179
00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:12,920
Speaker 1: Coastal Administration along with the nearby municipality of Caravabiche, to

180
00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,440
Speaker 1: provide a more direct route between the capitol and the

181
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,840
Speaker 1: tip of the alf Tenesh Peninsula, where just over two

182
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,400
Speaker 1: and a half thousand people live. In picturesque hamlets of

183
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,400
Speaker 1: red roofed homes. The plan was to raise a path

184
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,360
Speaker 1: right through the lava flow to make way for a

185
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,360
Speaker 1: new two lane road, a plan that some believed would

186
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:45,000
Speaker 1: have dire consequences. When the new road was announced in

187
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,960
Speaker 1: twenty thirteen, a group of Icelanders known as the Friends

188
00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:53,280
Speaker 1: of the Lava aghast at the planned construction started a protest,

189
00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:57,560
Speaker 1: camping out in makeshift tents and shelters among the gnarled

190
00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:01,920
Speaker 1: black volcanic rocks. They claimed that building the planned road

191
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,280
Speaker 1: would not only destroy some beautiful lava formations, but also

192
00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:11,000
Speaker 1: a habitat for birds and small plants. One protester, however,

193
00:15:11,480 --> 00:15:17,640
Speaker 1: was concerned about more than the tangible visible environment. Ragnhilda Jonsdotte,

194
00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,440
Speaker 1: a bespectacled, middle aged woman with a kindly face, long

195
00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:27,520
Speaker 1: graying hair, and typically dressed in several layers of sensible

196
00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:31,600
Speaker 1: woolen scarves and sweaters, is a self described elf seer.

197
00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,320
Speaker 1: She was convinced that the lava field was densely populated

198
00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,800
Speaker 1: not only by hidden folk, but also by dwarves, another

199
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,920
Speaker 1: folkloric creature said to live in the region. Unmoved by

200
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:50,400
Speaker 1: these arguments, as standoff ensued between the protesters and the

201
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:55,840
Speaker 1: Icelandic Road Administration and their bulldozer crews. Yon's Dotter and

202
00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,200
Speaker 1: the other protesters were eventually arrested forcibly, removed from the

203
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:04,600
Speaker 1: site and for a short time jailed. But unwilling to

204
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,680
Speaker 1: give in, Yon's Dotter wrote a letter speaking on behalf

205
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 1: of the elves to the mayor of the local town

206
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,359
Speaker 1: and all its council members, as well as to Iceland's

207
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:21,240
Speaker 1: president and several ministers in the Icelandic Parliament. Soon the

208
00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:26,280
Speaker 1: international media got wind of the story. Potentially facing an

209
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:31,960
Speaker 1: international publicity disaster, the Icelandic Supreme Court decided to halt

210
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:37,160
Speaker 1: the road construction, citing not just environmental and cultural reasons,

211
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:42,520
Speaker 1: but also the impact on elves. Eager to find some

212
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:47,200
Speaker 1: kind of resolution, the local town officials and two representatives

213
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:51,160
Speaker 1: of the road administration asked Yon's Dotter for her guidance

214
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,680
Speaker 1: on how they might get around the issue of the elves.

215
00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,880
Speaker 1: Yon's Dootter took them on an ELF walk around the

216
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:04,040
Speaker 1: proposed construction site. There she pointed out the key landmarks,

217
00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:08,000
Speaker 1: including one large rock which she claimed was in fact

218
00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:12,360
Speaker 1: an ELF church, and another smaller rock which she described

219
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,600
Speaker 1: as a kind of chapel. In the end, the road

220
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:21,280
Speaker 1: was built, but in accordance with what Yon'sdotter said were

221
00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:25,399
Speaker 1: the wishes of the elves. The highway was narrowed where

222
00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:28,880
Speaker 1: it passes the Elf church to avoid impinging on it,

223
00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:32,640
Speaker 1: and a large crane was used to move the seventy

224
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,520
Speaker 1: five ton Elf chapel out of the path of the highway.

225
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,480
Speaker 1: Yon's Dotter was reported as saying that the elves were

226
00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,600
Speaker 1: satisfied with the compromises and would no longer block the

227
00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:51,080
Speaker 1: road's construction. Despite assuming the role as the key mediator

228
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,720
Speaker 1: between the elves and the authorities, Yonsdotter still struggled with

229
00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,000
Speaker 1: the development. As the workers began plowing through the lava,

230
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,800
Speaker 1: she was seen screaming and crying as one after another

231
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,960
Speaker 1: rock was bulldozed out of the way, looking for all

232
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,840
Speaker 1: the world, as if it were her own home that

233
00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:25,800
Speaker 1: was being demolished. Early in the morning of the twenty

234
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:30,800
Speaker 1: eighth of August twenty fifteen, sven and zokon Nierson, owner

235
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,200
Speaker 1: of a construction and roadwork company on the north coast

236
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,720
Speaker 1: of Iceland, was enjoying a cup of coffee when he

237
00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:41,040
Speaker 1: received a call from the police. They told him that

238
00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:45,760
Speaker 1: his services were required urgently. One of the local roads

239
00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:49,600
Speaker 1: running along a narrow fjord, had become blocked at a

240
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,919
Speaker 1: place called kavannera stunt. The area had been experiencing unusually

241
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,679
Speaker 1: heavy rainfall, which triggered a large MUDs light onto a

242
00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,719
Speaker 1: road into siglaf Fjurdiga, a small fishing town of about

243
00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:07,760
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred inhabitants. When Svenna and some of his workers

244
00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:12,159
Speaker 1: arrived at the site, they couldn't believe their eyes. The

245
00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,439
Speaker 1: road was covered by around twelve thousand cubic meters of

246
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,359
Speaker 1: muddy slurry that had washed down from the hillside above.

247
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,480
Speaker 1: The crew immediately began clearing debris off the road with

248
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:30,399
Speaker 1: heavy equipment, dumping it on the slope below, including on

249
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,199
Speaker 1: top of an unusually large rock part way down the slope.

250
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,600
Speaker 1: The rock, unknown to the workers, was known locally as

251
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:44,879
Speaker 1: alf Conistone or the elf Lady's Stone, and was reputed

252
00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:49,160
Speaker 1: to be inhabited by elves. No sooner had it been

253
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:54,480
Speaker 1: covered by debris, events took a turn for the worse. First,

254
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:59,000
Speaker 1: one worker fell and hurt himself badly, leaving him unable

255
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,639
Speaker 1: to work for se several days. Even when the rest

256
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:06,800
Speaker 1: of the team wanted to resume excavations, the weather became

257
00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:12,600
Speaker 1: so bad they had to suspend operations indefinitely. Then a

258
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:16,680
Speaker 1: nearby river flooded over not just that road, but another

259
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:21,080
Speaker 1: road in town. Arriving with its bulldozer at the site

260
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,680
Speaker 1: of the second mud slight, Svenna had just climbed into

261
00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,240
Speaker 1: the vehicle when he saw another mud slight coming straight

262
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:33,119
Speaker 1: toward him as it roared down the hillside. Savenna jumped

263
00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,840
Speaker 1: out just in time as the mud slide crashed into

264
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,679
Speaker 1: the flooding river, sending an explosion of muddy water and

265
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,160
Speaker 1: rocks in all directions. The next day, the rain had abated,

266
00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:50,439
Speaker 1: so Svenna and his crew resume clearing the road close

267
00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:56,200
Speaker 1: to the Lady Elfstone. That afternoon, their main bulldozer broke down,

268
00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,720
Speaker 1: causing them to stop work yet again. Only then did

269
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 1: it occur to someone that it might not have been

270
00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,960
Speaker 1: a good idea to shovel the debris onto the supposedly

271
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:13,000
Speaker 1: enchanted rock. Meanwhile, a reporter from a national TV network

272
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,199
Speaker 1: arrived to cover the unfolding story. When he attempted to

273
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:20,720
Speaker 1: climb up the Elf Lady's Stone to shoot some footage,

274
00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 1: he slipped and sank into a pit of mud up

275
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:28,439
Speaker 1: to his waist and had to be rescued. It was

276
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,520
Speaker 1: then the local council decided to remove all the debris

277
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 1: covering the stone, and then power hosed it clean. Over

278
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,760
Speaker 1: the next ten days, the road was cleared and repaired

279
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 1: without further incident. The belief that misfortune falls on those

280
00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:56,359
Speaker 1: who try to build in Elf territory is now so

281
00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:01,960
Speaker 1: widespread that today the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration as

282
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 1: a five page standard reply for press inquiries about the issue.

283
00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: The administration refuses to say whether its own employees believe

284
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 1: in the hidden folk. However, it does say that it

285
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:20,719
Speaker 1: values the heritage of the ancestors and that of oral traditions.

286
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:25,080
Speaker 1: Say that a certain location is cursed, or that supernatural

287
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,919
Speaker 1: beings inhabit a certain rock, then quote this must be

288
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 1: considered a cultural treasure. Some Icelanders see elves as a

289
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:41,119
Speaker 1: reminder of simpler times before cities, industry, and other developments

290
00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:46,160
Speaker 1: began leaving a permanent imprint on the island. Alaric Hall,

291
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 1: a lecturer at the University of Leeds whose researched medieval beliefs,

292
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:55,879
Speaker 1: has argued that Iceland's elves were actually invented by the

293
00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 1: earliest Viking settlers. According to Hall, when they arrived there

294
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,320
Speaker 1: in the eight hundred and seventies, they didn't encounter any

295
00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 1: indigenous people, so to feel like true conquerors, they made

296
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:14,160
Speaker 1: them up in the form of elves. Professor Hawker Ingi

297
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:19,680
Speaker 1: Yonisen of Raykovic University rites that elves are a ritualistic

298
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:24,639
Speaker 1: attempt to place significance on Iceland's many mountains, hills and

299
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 1: rivers as a way of imbuing the landscape with extra

300
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: worth in a place so at the mercy of erupting volcanoes,

301
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:40,719
Speaker 1: shifting glaciers and shaking ground. Magnus Scapyardincent has been running

302
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:45,240
Speaker 1: the Elf School in Raykovic for over thirty years, Operating

303
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:49,359
Speaker 1: out of a living room packed with books and elf figurines.

304
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:55,160
Speaker 1: Students are taught about elves as well as gnomes, dwarfs, fairies,

305
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,840
Speaker 1: trolls and nature spirits, including where they live, what they

306
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 1: look like, their ideas about humans, and the other dimensions

307
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,439
Speaker 1: that elves are said to live in. Magnus claims to

308
00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 1: have met more than nine hundred Icelanders, as well as

309
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 1: five hundred foreigners from forty countries. Who have seen elves.

310
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 1: Of those, three hundred and eighty say that they have

311
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: talked with elves, while sixty odd claimed to have had

312
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:28,240
Speaker 1: a lifetime friendship with an elf. Around fifteen of these

313
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,639
Speaker 1: told Magnus that they'd even been invited into elf houses

314
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:37,320
Speaker 1: in another dimension. He asked them what the elves said

315
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: to them. Invariably, they replied that the Hidden folk were

316
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 1: concerned about the environment, pollution and global warming. They told

317
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 1: the people, you have to stop destroying the atmosphere. You

318
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:55,480
Speaker 1: will kill yourself and you will kill us and all

319
00:24:55,520 --> 00:25:06,879
Speaker 1: of the other dimensions too. When writer Mary Anne Eloise

320
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,600
Speaker 1: made a visit to Iceland in twenty twenty two, she

321
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 1: was skeptical about tales of the Hidden Folk. After a

322
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,720
Speaker 1: few hectic days traveling around the country, she decided to

323
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,160
Speaker 1: wind down by visiting a quiet park in Half near

324
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:26,639
Speaker 1: Fjordida on the southwest coast. Although it was said to

325
00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,840
Speaker 1: be home to some elves, she found the location a

326
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,600
Speaker 1: quiet and low key tourist trap. It did have a

327
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: scattering of tiny, human built elf houses and a gift

328
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:41,159
Speaker 1: shop selling vials of what were labeled as elf dust,

329
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,600
Speaker 1: but the only other visitors she saw were a few

330
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 1: Icelandic families. As Eloise explored the broken surfaces of the

331
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,399
Speaker 1: lava flow. There, she peered down a crack in the

332
00:25:54,520 --> 00:26:00,240
Speaker 1: dark twisted volcanic rocks. There she saw a thick, hard,

333
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 1: and layer of clear slime which appeared to be colored

334
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: like a rainbow. It made her think of elves placing

335
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:13,159
Speaker 1: a flower at the spot. She inwardly thanked the elves

336
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: for the peace and quiet she was experiencing, and then left.

337
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: As it turned out, someone had surreptitiously taken a photo

338
00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:27,199
Speaker 1: of Eloise at the exact moment she settled by that

339
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 1: break in the rock. In the image, despite the fact

340
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,679
Speaker 1: it hadn't been raining. As Eloise is seen crouched down

341
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 1: staring into the gap, she is encased entirely within a rainbow.

342
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:47,960
Speaker 1: Relating the incident to an Icelandic professor. Later on, Eloise

343
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 1: was told that she'd just had an encounter with the

344
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 1: elves and that what she'd seen was elf slime. The

345
00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:01,199
Speaker 1: professor left her with a stern warning, do not follow

346
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 1: the elves, no matter what they offer. This episode was

347
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 1: written by Diane Hope and produced by Richard mc lean Smith.

348
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 1: Unexplained is an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard

349
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,440
Speaker 1: mc lean smith. All other elements of the podcast, including

350
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 1: the music, were also produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Unexplained.

351
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,200
Speaker 1: The book and audiobook, with stories never before featured on

352
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 1: the show, is now available to buy world wide. You

353
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and other bookstores.

354
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get

355
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:47,119
Speaker 1: your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with

356
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,560
Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on

357
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 1: the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own

358
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,040
Speaker 1: you'd like to share. You can find out more at

359
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online through twigs

360
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 1: at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward

361
00:28:05,000 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 1: Slash Unexplained Podcast m o o M