BUREAU OF LOST CULTURE – The Hidden Folk (02/08/2025)
Iceland is one of the last remaining Western countries where a substantial proportion of the population believes in the presence of other beings – The Hidden Folk. Up until fairly recently, ghosts, revenants, trolls and elves were regarded as an integral part of everyday life. Stories of these beings were shared during the long nights of winter-evening gatherings, and these creatures felt just as real to Icelanders as the people sitting beside them.
Ethnologist Dagrún Ósk Jónsdóttir came to the Bureau to talk about these often-supernatural happenings in the context of Icelandic society
Her book ‘Ghosts, Trolls and the Hidden People: Icelandic Folktales’ opens the door to the astonishing and often eerie world of Icelandic folk legends in the settings of farm, wilderness, darkness, church, ocean and shore.
We hear about her own family’s ghost, how to recognise a magical being, how to scare a troll and how construction projects in Iceland can still be delayed or re-routed in order to take account of the Hidden Folk.
