Iceland's Elves Totally Exist

At least, that's the opinion of Icelandic anthropologist Magnus Skarphedinsson, who has spent much of his adult life collecting witness accounts of the creatures. Belief in the existence of elves is widespread in Iceland, where construction projects routinely are modified so as not to disturb them or the places they call home. Many people living in Iceland also claim to have seen and interacted with them, up to and including accounts of elf sex.

Construction sites have been moved so as not to disturb the elves, and fishermen have refused to put out to sea because of their warnings: here in Iceland, these creatures are a part of everyday life. But honestly, do they really exist?

Anthropologist Magnus Skarphedinsson has spent decades collecting witness accounts, and he’s convinced the answer is yes. He now passes on his knowledge to curious crowds as the headmaster of Reykjavik’s Elf School. “There is no doubt that they exist!” exclaims the stout 60-year-old as he addresses his “students”, for the most part tourists fascinated by Icelanders’ belief in elves.

What exactly is an elf? A well-intentioned being, smaller than a person, who lives outdoors and normally does not talk. They are not to be confused with Iceland’s “hidden people”, who resemble humans and almost all of whom speak Icelandic. To convince sceptics that this is not just a myth, Skarphedinsson relays two “witness accounts”, spinning the tales as an accomplished storyteller.

It's hard to say how true the accounts listed in the article are, though if they are accurate they sound like something weird is going on in Iceland. Whether or not elves are the cause is unclear - the various insights about fishing in a couple of the accounts could be a manifestation of psychic vision, and the various problems encountered during the construction project that wound up blamed on elves could have been simple bad luck.

My guess is that the elves are not necessarily physical, but spirits of some sort indigenous to the land that people with psychic awareness can perceive and which have some limited ability to influence the physical world. That still doesn't really explain how one would go about having sex with them, though. If I'm ever in Iceland, this is one thing I want to check out. Because if elves do exist anywhere, it's probably there, and if they are indeed paranormal creatures I would like to meet one.