Hellisgerði, Hafnarfjörður — the elf town

OVERVIEW

Hafnarfjörður is a port town of about 31,500 people ten kilometres south of Reykjavík, built on and around a lava field. Hellisgerði is a small park of lava rocks in the centre of the town, laid out in 1922, which many Icelanders who believe in elves and trolls regard as one of their dwelling places; it is visited for that reason. The northernmost bonsai trees in the world grow in Hellisgerði as well.

HISTORY

Hafnarfjörður's association with the huldufólk is the strongest of any Icelandic town, and is taken seriously enough to have shaped planning decisions in the lava. The hill of Hamarinn above the park is named in the tradition as an elf dwelling.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

A living belief rather than a set of reported incidents. Guided elf walks have run in the town for decades; the tradition is that the rocks in Hellisgerði and Hamarinn are not to be disturbed, and they have not been. The entry records the place where the Icelandic hidden-people tradition is most visible in an ordinary modern town.

VISITING

A public park in the centre of Hafnarfjörður, open and free, with a small café in season. Do not move or mark the rocks.