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huldufólk
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huldufólk

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Also known as huldufolk, hidden people

In Nordic folklore, including the Northern Isles, hidden-folk (Faroese and Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ), mound-folk (, ), mountain-folk (, ; ), subterraneans (, ; Gutnish: di sma undar jordi, "the small underground"; , roughly "grounders"), among other names (, Insular Scots: trow, drow), are collective names for a loose race or conglomeration of elves, wights, brownies (Nordic: nisse), trolls, and thereof. They are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world. They can make themselves visible at will. cites a 19th-century Iceland

Key facts

Mythical creature.name
Hidden-folk
Mythical creature.image
Jumping after Hildur.jpg
Mythical creature.caption
Engraving of a man jumping after a female elf into a precipice.
Mythical creature.Grouping
Mythological
Mythical creature.Similar_entities
Elf, hulder, fairy, mermaid, pixie, sprite, leprechaun
Mythical creature.Habitat
Various
Mythical creature.Country
Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Subclass of
elf
Country
Iceland
Image
Jumping after Hildur.jpg
Show 1 more fact
Commons category
Huldufólk
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~18 min read

Encyclopedic overview

16 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • Hidden folk
  • Finnic names
  • Origins
  • Holidays
  • Icelandic and Faroese folklore
  • Contemporary Iceland
  • Tourism
  • Recent incidents
  • Intentions
  • Significant sites
  • Modern cultural references
  • See also
  • Notes
  • References
  • Further reading

In Nordic folklore, including the Northern Isles, hidden-folk (Faroese and Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ), mound-folk (, ), mountain-folk (, ; ), subterraneans (, ; Gutnish: di sma undar jordi, "the small underground"; , roughly "grounders"), among other names (, Insular Scots: trow, drow), are collective names for a loose race or conglomeration of elves, wights, brownies (Nordic: nisse), trolls, and thereof. They are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world. They can make themselves visible at will. cites a 19th-century Icelandic source claiming that the only visible difference between normal people and outwardly human-appearing is, the latter have a convex rather than concave philtrum () below their noses. An analog myth are the trolls being discerned by their large noses.

In Faroese folk tales, hidden people are said to be "large in build, their clothes are all grey, and their hair black (the same description is also given for draugrs in Faroese folklore). Their dwellings are in mounds, and they are also called Elves." Some Icelandic folk tales caution against throwing stones, as it may hit the hidden people.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “huldufólk” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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