The Concert Hall of the Elves of Iceland

Through the years I have shown you many locations in Iceland where the elves and hidden people of Iceland reside. We share Iceland with them and respect and cherish them. 

Some people see them or can hear them, but most of us don't. But we still acknowledge their existence, as our folklore is filled with stories about the hidden population of Iceland.  And our grandparents told us stories about them.

In this travel blog I am going to show you one such beautiful location, but due to wishes from the elves I had to change my travel blog and cannot reveal its location. This is a sacred place and cannot be visited.

Top photo: admiring the gorge

The Concert Hall of the Elves 

The beautiful waterfall in the gorge

I got permission to visit this gorge and to write about this location to show to other travellers. Even though it cannot be visited then it is a beautiful part of our country and merits a mention. And you can enjoy it through my travel-blog :)

My relatives Kristinn and Ragnar, live at the farm by the gorge and invited me to visit it. They are my father's first cousins.

Access through their land is not permitted though and the gorge has to be protected from traffic.

One of Ragnar's horses

They used to have travel services at their farm and a camping area, took people on a guided tour, and offered horseback riding and lodging. 

Ragnar told me that on their horse-riding tours they took people to the waterfall and also visited amazing volcanic plugs, which I also visited on my 3-hour-hike through their property.

Since I wrote this travel-blog a couple of years ago I see that they are now permanently closed.

Visiting my relative Ragnar at his farm. I am looking very worn out after travelling for 17 days around Iceland and hiking every day

I visit my relatives from time to time and had a look at the rooms Ragnar rented out when he invited me in for some coffee and homemade cakes.

My relative Steinunn, Kristinn's, and Ragnar's sister, told me that a medium had mentioned a big elf population in the gorge by the farm.

One of the rooms at the farm

And when Steinunn was a child she and some other children meant to push a big rock into the gorge. They then heard somebody shouting: "Mamma"! meaning mother.

The children got so startled that they ran as fast as they could back to the farm.

Maybe this was an elf-child, who was warning his mother about the oncoming danger of a falling rock.

The waterfalls in the gorge

According to my relative Kristinn then you will find one of the most spectacular concert halls of the elves in Iceland in the gorge. The singing hall is located by the cliffs by the waterfall.

I found this description from the medium Margrét at Öxnafell in one of Árni Óla's books called Huldufólk or The Hidden People.

Margrét has seen elves and hidden people in many places in Iceland, and I have written about her vision at Lóndrangar f.ex.

Inside the gorge

Árni Óla writes this in his book: "Margrét has seen the hidden people and their habitation in several places on the peninsula, and she said that it was especially memorable visiting this gorge.

In the gorge, she saw a large learning centre, beautifully built and perfect, in her opinion.

She saw a large concert hall in the gorge, a library, an art gallery, etc. 

A beautiful rock in the gorge - it was quite small, but I think it looks so beautiful enlarged like this

She especially noticed how everybody was happy and content, how everything was clean and elegant, and how everything was beautifully arranged in an organized way.

She saw both men and women and all the women were wearing long, blue dresses".

(Translated into English from the book Huldufólk by Árni Óla - RHR)

The fulmar nests in holes in the rock

Captivating singing and music can be heard from the gorge; if you are receptive enough to hear it.

I thought I was receptive enough as I sometimes hear the dwellers in waterfalls. But my vibration is not yet high enough to hear the hidden people. I would for sure love to hear elf music and singing :)

The only thing I could hear was the sound of the fulmar nesting in the cliffs and flying above my head.

And a flock of rock doves flew back and forth. I have never seen doves in gorges in Iceland, so it was quite special.

From my visit in 2008, when I camped on the campsite by the farm

It pained me to see trash in this beautiful gorge and I picked up an aluminum tray and some other trash that had either been left behind in the gorge or had blown into it.

On my 3-hour-hike on the land of my relatives, I found something that I know is a precious gift from the hidden people in this area. I will cherish it forever. 

The hidden people reward loyalty and helpfulness and they also revenge disrespect by their habitation as you can read about in my travel-blog about Pétursey in South Iceland.

My first photo of  the waterfall from 2008 

There are very many stories about misfortune happening to people who didn't respect the elves.

One traveller, who visited this area in 2024, contacted me and told me that she crossed the barbwire on the other side of the gorge and entered the gorge, only to experience the wrath of the elves. She wrote to me and told me about her experience.

The message was that the elves didn't want people trespassing in the gorge and were angry at her for having disobeyed and crossed the barbwire and that she had to apologize to them.

All kinds of misfortune happened to her on her way back to her country, which was, apparently caused by the elves.

Admiring the waterfall in the gorge

And the message from the elves to me was to remove the location of the gorge in my travel-blog. Not to remove my travel blog, only the location.

If the message had been to remove the travel blog I would for sure have done so, as I respect the privacy of the elves and the hidden people of Iceland and wish them only well, and they know that.

The waterfall in the gorge as seen from above

The strangest thing though is that when trying to update my travel-blog without the location it never got updated, no matter how many days in a row I tried. So I ended up deleting it and writing a new travel-blog. 

I got permission to enter the gorge and showed utter respect during my visit, as I always do when visiting such sites. Respect is the keyword when entering such sites.

This is very real and we have to respect the privacy of the elves and never to trespass on their sacred places.

The painting of the waterfall which my grandfather got for his 70th birthday. and now belongs to me

Whenever I visit elf locations in Iceland I quietly tell them that I am coming and that I will only show respect, and ask if they allow me to visit and take photos. If I don't sense any strong opposition then I enter and always thank them when I leave.

I have a painting of the waterfall hanging in my living room. It was given to my grandfather by his sisters on his 70th birthday back in 1973. And my aunt later gave it to me.

One of his sisters, Jarþrúður, was living at the farm and two of her sons live here now, the abovementioned Ragnar and Kristinn.

My grandfather was raised in this fjord and we visited his home turf with him when I was little. The photo above is from one of these visits with him. I am sitting on his lap (I am 1 year old) and my sister and my cousin are with us in this photo.

My grandfather, Kjartan, moved away when he was in his teens, as his father, Ásmundur, drowned in the bay just outside of their home.

It was not easy for his second wife who was left alone with many children plus being pregnant at the time her husband drowned :(

Five men drowned on this day, but my great-uncle, Einar Ásmundsson, was rescued. 

Visiting my relative Kristinn 

Later on, I visited it often with my parents, so I have fond memories and a lot of feelings for this part of Iceland.

I have written many other travel blogs about elf locations in Iceland if you are interested in knowing more about them. Here is a selection of the travel-blogs:

Bjartmarssteinn Rock in the Westfjords Region of Iceland - the Market Town of the Elves

Drangurinn in Drangshlíð and the Elves in South Iceland - Icelandic Folklore

Tungustapi in Sælingsdalur - the Church of the Elves in West-Iceland - Icelandic Folklore

The Elf-church Álfakirkja at Laugarvatnsvellir plains in Iceland

Huldumannssteinn í Reykjavík - The Elf Rock in Reykjavík, the Capital City of Iceland

Grásteinn Rock in Reykjavík - is this Rock the Home of the Icelandic Elv​​​​​​​es

Volcanic plugs close to the gorge

Álfaborg - the City of the Elves in Borgarfjörður-Eystri in East-Iceland - Icelandic Folklore

The Magical Snæfellsnes Peninsula in West-Iceland - Part II - Lóndrangar and the Elves 

Mt. Pétursey in South Iceland and the Elves - Icelandic Folklore

The Sheriff's Wife at Bustarfell and the Elf-Rock in East-Iceland - Icelandic Folklore

Tales of the Elves of Iceland - Tungustapi in Sælingsdalur - the Church of the Elves in West Iceland

Bjartmarssteinn Rock in the Westfjords of Iceland - the Market Town of the Elves - Icelandic Folklore

The Elf-city and Elf-church by Hotel Laki at Efri-Vík in South Iceland

One of the waterfalls in the gorge

And some elf stories:

An Elf Woman catches a Ride across Skjálfandafljót River - Icelandic Folklore - Álfkona reidd yfir á

Úlfhildur the Elf-lady at Lake Mývatn in North Iceland - Icelandic Folklore

The Sisters and the Elves - Icelandic Folklore - New Year's Eve & Christmas Customs​​​​​​​

The Daughter of the Minister - Prestsdóttirin frá Prestbakka á Síðu - Icelandic Folklore​​​​​​​

The Farmer at Reynistaður and the Elf who built the Reyniskirkja Church - Icelandic Folklore​​​​​​​

and many more...

Have a lovely time in Iceland :)