Elves May Be Icelands Life Savers

I have never been a believer in human made climate change. I believe climate change is a natural occurrence that cycles through the years. But I do believe that humans can affect sections of the earth in small ways. An example may be the fish kills in Iceland. Some people complain that the building of a new bridge may have helped deplete the oxygen levels a fjord where the fish were found.

Because herring tend to "overwinter" in large populations they may have depleted the oxygen in the shallow fjord. Seems reasonable especially if the oxygen levels were lower to start.

Not a pretty sight!!

 

Iceland has hope in the form of Elves, "Huldufolk," Icelandic for "hidden folk", who many Icelanders want to protect through curbing road and bridge development. One road project has been halted until the Supreme Court of Iceland rules on a case brought by a group known as Friends of Lava, who cite both the environmental and the cultural impact - including the impact on elves - of the road project.  

 

Scandinavian folklore is full of elves, trolls and other mythological characters. Most people in Norway, Denmark and Sweden haven't taken them seriously since the 19th century, but elves are no joke to many in Iceland.

 

A survey conducted by the University of Iceland in 2007 found that some 62 percent of the 1,000 respondents thought it was at least possible that elves exist.

 

Sometimes development has advantages but not at the expense of folklore and history. Iceland is a pristine place with a small population and should be left that way.

"This is a land where your house can be destroyed by something you can't see (earthquakes), where the wind can knock you off your feet, where the smell of sulfur from your taps tells you there is invisible fire not far below your feet, where the northern lights make the sky the biggest television screen in the world, and where hot springs and glaciers `talk,'" Terry Gunnell, a folklore professor at the University of Iceland said.

 

This is the Iceland I would like to see.

I am cheering for the Elves!!

Randy

PS...Most of this blog was gleamed from the article, 'Iceland's Hidden Elves Delay Road Projects'.