Huldufolk

In Iceland, Huldufólk are the hidden people: elves, trolls, gnomes, faeries, etc., who cannot be seen by humans unless they want to be. I’m not Icelandic, but I have always loved Iceland and their folklore, and I have been wanting to create this design for a long time. For this image, I incorporated two of their folktales with my own artistic spin (please forgive me if I butcher any of these tales in my short descriptions).

 

Jónsmessa (Midsummer’s Eve): If you sit at a crossroads where all roads lead to a church on this night, the elves will attempt to seduce you with food and gifts. If you break down and give into temptation at any time during the night, woe will fall upon you. You will belong to the elves forever, go insane, or experience bad luck. However, if you resist their offers until the sun rises (which isn’t until 11:00am), the elves will leave and reward you will all of the gifts they offered throughout the night.

In this image, I am clearly about to regret my decision to give in to their offers!

 

Reynisdrangar (The Trolls of Vik): These are basalt sea stacks in the ocean off the black sand beach near the town of Vík í Mýrdal. According to legend, the rocks were once two trolls. The trolls were standing in the water dragging a ship to shore, when they got caught in the sunlight at dawn and turned to stone, which is what happens to trolls if they stay out after dark. The trolls of Vik do not have the appearance of a person, like the one in my image.

My idea behind my troll was that he got his feet stuck in a geothermal pool and, as he attempted to hack his way out, the sunlight touched him and he turned to stone.

 

For the landscape, I combined 8 stock photos from Iceland to create a unique and magical crossroads scene. I also used a more traditional perspective on faeries and elves, though they do appear different in Icelandic lore.

 

Sorry for the long description and for not posting in a long time; I have been really busy with coursework. I hope you like it! Thank you for all the wonderful stock photos below!

 

 

Landscape Images

 

Cave:

Cave Iceland

 

Lava hill with the cave:

Old Lavafield Stock

 

Mountains, hot springs and forest on right:

Vulcanic Landscape Stock

 

Foreground right:

Iceland Photos 141

 

Foreground left:

Iceland 18

 

Mountains & hills on left:

Iceland 1

 

Road:

Iceland 34

 

Crossroad:

Iceland Landscape 9

 

Aurora Borealis:

Public domain image: Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights shine above Bear Lake in Alaska

 

 

 

People

 

Stone Troll (I'm sorry for turning you into a troll!):

Barbarian Warrior J 5

Model: Josh P

 

Female elf in white:

Drac Bride 14

Model: LTC

 

Fairy in peach:

Pastel Sunset 7

 

Fairy in blue:

Silver Girl 18 stock

 

Male elf squatting:

Sitting in the forest 3

 

Male elf inside cave:

Wandering Archer 1

 

Fairy wings:

Blue Fairy Wings

 

Elf Ears for the three elves:

Elf Ears PSD

 

Foolish human:

Me! (because I find it humorous to use myself)

 

 

Objects

 

Sextant:

Pirate Supplies 4

 

Mirror:

Mirror Pack

 

Wooden bowl:

Wooden Bowl

 

Blueberries inside bowl:

Stock 1

 

Bottle:

Wine II

 

Books:

Book 7 and Book 8

 

Closed chest:

Dark Chest 1

 

Open chest:

Treasure Chest 3

 

Gold coins inside chest:

Nadija Stock 22 Coins