Elf Stone

The Elf Stone in Grjótaþorp

On our CityWalk tour, we often choose to pass through Grjótaþorp, the oldest neighbourhood in Reykjavík. There you can spot an Elf Rock, looking like a meteor, left alone in the middle of a public park. Here is the detailed story of the stone

This picture was taken during one of our first CityWalks in 2014. Sadly, later the same summer the sign was removed. We are not sure who did it and why, but the City installed a few new ones, green in color in the following summer of 2015. Sadly the new signs didn’t include the story of the stone and thus it is likely to be forgotten. Thankfully we still hold this photo of the original sign that had been there for quite a long time as you can see on the tagging and the damage on the sign.

Remember to respect the elves 🙂

An elf rock

Most Icelanders don’t deny the existence of elves. The believe is that if you respect them they do you no harm. If you don’t they will use magic to punish you. So be good to them and their homes. An example of an elf home is this rock.

The story goes that this rock once stood in one of the city’s suburbs. During an expansion of the city the rock was due to be removed from the site as houses were to be built on it. None of the methods that were used to move the rock did work. You can see marks on it after the different equipment that was used on it. After several failed attempts a woman was called for help. This woman was known to be able to see and talk to elves and she could verify that this was indeed an elf rock. After a talk with the elves she said that they were willing to move if they got a week for preparation and if their home (the rock) would be close to the city center. A week later the rock was moved here without any trouble.