Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.08.2014, Blaðsíða 20

Elfschool wou-
ldn’t be Elfschool
without its quirky
and selfassured he-
admaster. Magnús is
a charismatic man
with an unfaltering
certainty when ex-
pounding some of
his more dubious
claims. Among
those is the idea
that the Vikings
had a good rela-
tionship with elves
upon first contact
in Iceland, but
human evolution
has made them
suspicious of us
ever since. “Elves
refer to humans
as ‘jerks’ today,”
Magnús tells us before taking some
time to defend our species, citing the
formation of the European Union and
the end of Apartheid in South Africa
as examples of human evolution that
should inspire optimism. Though his
opinions can sometimes be prickly
and seemingly indisputable, he often
follows them with
the assertion “I may
be the only one in
the country who has
this opinion—but,
I’m convinced I’m
right.”
Magnús is an
unparalleled story-
teller. It is at about
the same time that
he starts sharing
stories that the
stack of warm pan-
cakes makes its en-
trance at our table.
Through bites of
gooey deliciousness,
we hear elaborate
tales of witnesses
all over Iceland who
have encountered
hidden people: a boy
in Skagafjörður taken in by hidden
people in a winter storm in the ‘60s;
a fishing community near Vík that
decides whether or not it goes to sea
each day by confirming that the neigh-
bouring hidden fishermen have done
the same (Magnús claims that this is
the only fishing community in Iceland
that has never lost a man at sea); a cow
whose udders had run dry, only to be
abducted by hidden people and then
returned with its milk mojo back.
Learning about oursElves
“I was once said to be an irregular
teacher,” Magnús chuckles as he ad-
mits to his frenetic ways as a lecturer.
Irregular, however, may be putting
it lightly. He jumps from one topic to
another like a Whac-A-Mole and en-
tertains diversions
in a way that makes
him a difficult man
to follow. Perhaps
it’s his fondness for
the Socratic meth-
od—asking questions
of his scholars and
inspiring inquiry from them—that al-
lows for class discussion to stray so far
off topic. In between Magnús’s theories
on elves, we delved into topics as con-
tentious as Israeli-Palestinian relations
and Nazi Germany, leaving me wonder-
ing if, in fact, we were learning about
elves or about ourselves through an elf-
ish perspective.
By the end of class, I took pause
for reflection about the mission of Elf-
school. Throughout my time there, I
had learned to appreciate and respect
Magnús’s commitment as an oral his-
torian. “I’m not in this for business,” he
asserts. “We’ve never advertised Elf-
school beyond our website.” Magnús
believes his purpose as a researcher
is to collect as much data as possible,
share it with others, and let them come
to their own conclusions about elves
and hidden people.
“It’s simply a pri-
vilege and an obli-
gation to share this
knowledge with the
rest of the world,”
he says. “Even tho-
ugh we’ve received
more and more in-
ternational atten-
tion about the elf issue in Iceland, our
own beliefs are easily and slowly dying
out. One of the things that could save
this is to record these stories and put
them on the web for everyone to ac-
cess.”
And, perhaps, he’s right. My class-
mates were quick to cite the prolifera-
tion of magic displayed in our Western
media (think ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Lord Of
The Rings’) as a sign that as our na-
tions become more developed, we lack
the imaginations to believe in the para-
normal that was once so central to life
everywhere. Once again, I found that
studying hidden people was, in fact, a
catalyst to better understanding our
own shortcomings as human beings.
I walked away from Elfschool with
a more open mind, a desire to stretch
my imagination further, and the cre-
dentials to do so. Did I leave Elfschool
a believer? Not completely, no. But, I
did leave Elfschool with a few profound
questions for our Western pedagogy
(and let’s not forget the belly full of pan-
cakes).
Who knew I would’ve reflected on
my own life while researching hidden
people? I sure didn’t. And while I’m
still working on spotting my first hid-
den person in the lava around my home,
I leave you with the words of one of
my sage classmates: “You can only see
what you believe in.”
Class dismissed.
20
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2014
Education | Higher
THE NUMBER 1 MUSIC STORE
IN EUROPE ACCORDING TO
LONELY PLANET
SKÓLAVÖRÐUSTÍG 15, 101 REYKJAVÍK AND HARPA CONCERT HALL
The study book, ‘Icelandic Fairy-
tales and Icelandic People’s Experi-
ence of Elfs [sic] in Modern Times’
is handed out upon enrolment in
Elfschool. It is replete with informa-
tion, stories and “some philosophi-
cal comments about life in general”
from the headmaster. In addition,
an “Elf and Hidden People Studies”
degree is included in the tuition fee.
The term “álfar” is used in Icelandic
and adopted by Elfschool as a blan-
ket term to describe various species
of paranormal beings. These in-
clude elves, hidden peoples, faeries,
gnomes, dwarfs and mountain spir-
its, among others.
Magnús has met with and inter-
viewed more than 700 Icelandic
witnesses and over 500 internation-
al witnesses in roughly 40 countries
around the world. His stories and
theories are based on the archive
he has built through those visits.
Magnús explains that most stories
are actually about hidden people, as
other paranormal sightings are far
more rare.
The most common question asked at
Elfschool is: Why are there so many
elves and elf-sightings in Iceland?
To this, Magnús cites the late arrival
of the Enlightenment to Iceland,
which allowed for a certain preser-
vation of belief in myth that was lost
in other Western nations.
Class meets every Friday and usu-
ally lasts three hours though the
duration can vary depending on the
involvement of the students. The
cost of Elfschool is 6,200 ISK. Please
see the Elfschool website for more
information: www.elfmuseum.com
Elfschool
Facts
“It’s simply a privilege
and an obligation to
share this knowledge
with the rest of the
world.”
INTER
VIEW