Elves in Iceland

[zooterkin]

I heard about this story this week on the News Quiz (BBC radio topical comedy panel show), but a bit of searching shows the story has been around for some time.
What was reported on the programme was that 80% of Icelanders believe in elves, which seems astonishingly high (then again, maybe such credulity explains the state of their banking system). A bit of digging found references to a survey (http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/elf.html) (published by the Iceland Tourist Board, so perhaps their motives are not entirely pure), which rather said that 80% either have no opinion or refuse to rule out their existence, and only 10% strongly believe in elves and other supernatural beings. That page was last updated in 2006.

There's a reference to a number of surveys on another wikipedia page (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulduf%C3%B3lk), which also show what I'd regard as very high levels of belief for such things.

What is it about Iceland that explains such apparently high levels of belief in elves? Is it just an elaborate joke at the expense of tourists? And was there a more recent story or did someone just stumble across the old results on the web, making the subject topical again?

[RoboTimbo]

Josh Gates on his show, "Destination Truth" covered this very subject this past Wednesday. IIRC he didn't find any definitive proof of elves. We may have seen one flit past the camera, but it was invisible.

They did get to drive by the President of Iceland's home. They stopped and knocked on the door but nobody answered. Coincidence?

[Fiona]

Oh well done, Zooterkin. I heard it on the news quiz too, but did not bother to check. I know nothing about Icelandic culture or mythology except for some glancing acquaintance with the sagas, but I gather they became independent in 1944 - judging from Ireland it may be that the native culture becomes very important when nationalism is successful. Not sure if that it relevant, nor which comes first if it is, but it might be in play?

[Professor Yaffle]

Of course Icemanders believe in elves.

You didn't think Bjork was human did you???

[jimbob]

Your wiki link seemed broken

There's a reference to a number of surveys on another wikipedia page, which also show what I'd regard as very high levels of belief for such things.

here is one that should work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huldufólk)

[Cuddles]

What is it about Iceland that explains such apparently high levels of belief in elves?

I doubt it's really any higher than anywhere else. Take the conspiracy theories about 9/11 for example. The more reliable polls show that around 5% of Americans actually believe that the US government was actively involved in the attacks. However, other polls have been claimed to show over 80% of Americans believing this. There are two main problems with this sort of thing - the polls themselves and how to interpret them.

For the actual polls, the exact questions are important. If you ask "Do you believe the US government organised the 9/11 attacks?", very few people will say yes. On the other hand, if you ask "Do you think the government's account of events is 100% accurate?", very few people will. If you ask leading questions, the answers you get will tend to have been led.

The next trick is to include answers like "Not sure" with the option you prefer, or to only give options of yes and no, but word the answers so that anyone unsure will choose the one you want. This means that you may only get 40% of people who actually say they don't believe the government's account, but another 40% who say they're not sure get included when the results are reported, since obviously if they believed the government they would have said so.

This makes it important to know exactly what questions were asked, what answers were possible, how and where the poll was conducted and what the actual raw data is. Without all of that, people can get polls to say pretty much anything they like. Even if not done deliberately, the results of a poorly constructed poll really won't mean anything.

When it comes to elves, I have a little more difficulty thinking up leading questions and answers, but I have no doubt it would be possible. For example, the issue of certainty of knowledge can lead to endless debates on this forum, but "Not ruling it out" is something that a lot of people would say no matter how ridiculous the claim is. The different claims about what 80% actually say certainly suggests that someone is doing some rather creative interpreting of the results.

Finally, there's the question of just how silly this belief actually is. How many people would be suprised at a poll showing 80% of people believe in some kind of god? I consider that just as silly a belief as elves. What about homeopathy, psychics, bigfoot, aliens, conspiracies and so on? The specifics vary from country to country and culture to culture, but the vast majority of people believe in something that most other people would consider silly. Maybe 80% of Icelanders really do believe in elves. I'd be a lot happier living in a country where that was the case than one in which the government funds and protects homeopaths and religious schools.

[millwallfan]

I heard about this story this week on the News Quiz (BBC radio topical comedy panel show), but a bit of searching shows the story has been around for some time.
What was reported on the programme was that 80% of Icelanders believe in elves, which seems astonishingly high (then again, maybe such credulity explains the state of their banking system). A bit of digging found references to a , and only 10% strongly believe in elves and other supernatural beings. That page was last updated in 2006.

.

What is it about Iceland that explains such apparently high levels of belief in elves? Is it just an elaborate joke at the expense of tourists? And was there a more recent story or did someone just stumble across the old results on the web, making the subject topical again?

now we know whos responsible for the bankrucy

[jimbob]

I thought that was Gnomes?

[Nomada]

OK, own up, who else misread the thread title as 'Elvis in Iceland'?