WHEN ROADS RUN INTO ELVES AND TROLLS: PLACES IN ICELAND WHERE FOLKLORE INFLUENCED REAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
In Iceland, there is a peculiar kind of road story. It usually begins quite ordinarily: a new road is planned, an existing one is to be widened, or an obstacle needs to be removed. Then something happens that you would not necessarily expect in a modern country.
Someone points out that huldufólk – the Hidden People live inside a rock. Or that a boulder belongs to trolls. And sometimes someone appears who claims to be able to communicate with these beings. The result can be a change to the project, the preservation of a stone, or even the relocation of part of a road.
It is not true, however, that Icelanders routinely stop construction projects simply because they “believe in elves.” Some of these stories are pure folklore, others have a real historical basis, and in some cases belief in the Hidden People genuinely became part of a public dispute.
And it is precisely the boundary between legend and reality that makes these stories so fascinating.
LAUFSKÁLAVARÐA: STONES THAT SHOULD NOT BE DISMANTLED
Iceland is home to thousands of stone cairns and other stone formations. One of the best known is Laufskálavarða in the south of the island.
According to tradition, anyone passing the site for the first time should build their own small stone cairn. In the past, it was believed that doing so would bring good luck on the journey.
Laufskálavarða is therefore not directly a story about a road being stopped because of elves. But it belongs here as a fitting introduction.
It shows how deeply travel, landscape and superstition have been intertwined in Iceland.
For centuries, travelling across Iceland was difficult and dangerous. People followed trails that often crossed lava fields, rivers and remote wilderness. Stone cairns were therefore not simply decorative. They helped mark the route, while various traditions gradually became attached to them.
Today, as roads are built across Iceland, these old stories enter the modern landscape.
And sometimes they even make their way directly into construction plans.
ELVES AND TROLLS IN ICELAND: WHEN SOMETHING IS HIDING INSIDE THE ROCK
Icelandic folklore knows beings called huldufólk, or the Hidden People. According to tradition, they live in places such as rocks and lava formations.
They are not quite the same as the “elves” familiar from European fairy tales. In Icelandic tradition, they have their own character and form part of a much broader world of supernatural beings.
And rocks feature prominently in these stories.
It is therefore hardly surprising that, as Iceland's road infrastructure developed, conflicts sometimes arose between the old landscape and new roads.
One of the best-known stones associated with such a story is Álfasteinn.
ÁLFASTEINN: THE STONE OF THE HIDDEN PEOPLE
The name Álfasteinn itself means “elf stone.”
According to Icelandic tradition, the site is associated with the Hidden People. Such stones are not merely abstract elements of folklore, however. Some have historically been treated with respect when changes were being made to the landscape.
That distinction is important.
It does not mean that Icelandic authorities officially recognise the existence of elves. Rather, in some cases, the cultural significance of a particular site can be a reason for modifying a project.
And sometimes it is simply easier to build around a stone than to turn it into the centre of a lengthy dispute.
TRÖLLASKARÐ: THE ROAD THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO AVOID THE TROLLS
An even more unusual story comes from Tröllaskagi in northern Iceland.
The name of the peninsula itself means “Troll Peninsula.” It is a rugged mountainous region where high peaks rise between fjords – the kind of landscape where legends about creatures hiding in the rocks can easily take root.
One of the places that became part of Icelandic stories about roads and the supernatural is Tröllaskarð.
Stories connected with road construction tell of problems that supposedly accompanied attempts to alter the rock formation. There were also stories that Hidden People or trolls lived in the rocks and would object to the planned work.
According to Icelandic accounts, the well-known Icelandic clairvoyant Hafsteinn Björnsson also became involved in the story and was supposedly able to communicate with the Hidden People living in the area.
Today, it is difficult to separate historical fact from later legend.
What is certain, however, is that Tröllaskagi remains one of the places where the Icelandic idea of a living, inhabited landscape has survived particularly strongly.
GRÁSTEINN: THE STONE THAT SURVIVED ROAD PLANS
One of the best-known Icelandic stones associated with elves is Grásteinn on Álftanes, near Reykjavík.
Grásteinn is what is known as an álagasteinn, a stone surrounded by legends. Marks from an attempt to remove it can still be seen on its surface. According to tradition, people once tried to move or break the stone during road construction. When they did so, they apparently saw the nearby farm Eyvindarstaðir engulfed in flames. When they went to investigate, they discovered that the farm was not actually burning. The work was therefore abandoned, and Grásteinn remained in place.
According to Icelandic tradition, álfar – elves, or the Hidden People – live inside the stone. One legend even says that anyone who passes the stone disrespectfully or mockingly may incur their displeasure.
Grásteinn is therefore more than an ordinary boulder beside a road. It has become part of the local landscape, folklore and stories about the occasional clash between modern infrastructure and ancient ideas about hidden inhabitants.
KLOFASTEINAR: WHEN CUTTING INTO THE ROCK IS NOT SO SIMPLE
Another place we came across while looking into these stories is Klofasteinar.
It is another example of rock formations around which stories about hidden inhabitants have developed.
Such cases show why it is problematic to reduce all Icelandic stories to the simple statement:
“Icelanders believe in elves, and therefore they don't build roads.”
The reality is much more complicated.
A rock can simultaneously be a geological formation, a place associated with local history, part of folklore, and a symbol to which the local community has a strong connection.
And if a project can be modified so that the formation remains intact, there may simply be no reason to destroy it.
GÁLGAHRAUN: THE BEST-KNOWN MODERN CASE
The best-known modern case dates back to 2013.
A new road was planned through the Gálgahraun lava field near Reykjavík, connecting Álftanes and Garðabær.
Environmental activists opposed the project. Their main argument concerned the protection of the lava field.
But another stone also became part of the dispute: a rock known as Ófeigskirkja, or “Ófeigur's Church.”
According to some traditions, the stone was a place associated with the Hidden People.
The dispute over the new road became so well known that it was reported in international media.
Protesters blocked construction work and some were arrested. At the same time, legal disputes concerning nature protection continued.
Here, however, it is important to avoid a frequently repeated oversimplification.
The elves did not stop the road.
The project became the subject of a genuine environmental and legal conflict. The story of the Hidden People was only one layer of the dispute.
Nevertheless, it became prominent enough to form part of the public debate.
WHEN A 70-TON BOULDER BECOMES A PROBLEM
And Gálgahraun contains another remarkable detail.
One of the stones that had to be considered in connection with the new road was a boulder weighing approximately 70 tonnes.
According to local tradition, it was associated with the Hidden People.
Iceland's Road Administration therefore considered the possibility of moving it.
From a purely technical point of view, there was nothing supernatural about it.
If a boulder stands in the path of a road, it can be removed or relocated.
But in Gálgahraun, the technical problem was accompanied by the site's cultural significance.
And so an ordinary boulder became a stone described in the media as an “elf church.”
WHERE DO FACTS END AND LEGEND BEGIN?
That may be the most fascinating part of these Icelandic stories.
When someone writes today that “elves stopped the construction of an Icelandic road,” it can sound like a fairy tale.
But reality is more complicated.
In some cases, there really was a construction project.
In some cases, the route really was changed.
In some cases, a stone really was preserved.
In some cases, people really did protest.
And in some cases, all of this became intertwined with traditions about the Hidden People.
Modern Iceland is not a country where construction projects are approved by elves.
But it is a country where old stories still meet the modern landscape.
ICELAND, WHERE SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO MOVE THE ROAD
Perhaps that is the best way to understand the stories about elves and trolls.
The question is not really:
“Do Icelanders believe in elves?”
A much more interesting question is:
“What is a society willing to respect when it changes the landscape?”
In Iceland, that may mean a lava field.
Sometimes a historic site.
And sometimes a large stone that local people say is inhabited by the Hidden People.
The road may ultimately run a few metres farther away.
The stone can remain where it is.
And the legend survives.
Perhaps that is a perfectly reasonable compromise.
Because if you are not sure whether someone might actually live inside the rock, why destroy it?
O autorovi
Island mě fascinuje už řadu let. Během mnoha cest jsem na ostrově najel desítky tisíc kilometrů, zažil bouře, které změnily plány během několika minut, i dny, kdy správné rozhodnutí o trase znamenalo vidět místa, která většina návštěvníků mine. Zkušenosti z těchto cest jsem zachytil také v dokumentárním filmu Ostrov na severu.
Na tomto webu sdílím praktické rady, aktuální informace a zkušenosti z terénu, které pomáhají ostatním cestovat po Islandu bezpečněji a s větším porozuměním místní krajině.
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