Book Review: Icelandic Folk Tales by Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson*

[Ad-gifted] Icelandic Folk Tales is written by Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson, illustrated by Tord Sandström Fahlström and published in hardback by The History Press. The book comes from, and is inspired by, a country whose stories are important as its history. A place where every hot rock, spring, and waterfall seems to have its own story and where almost every cave houses its own troll, the region is also home to the Golden Circle Reykjavik, a route that takes you through some of Iceland’s most iconic and storied landscapes.

Collected here are 25 stories of mythical characters and creatures in both fantastical and everyday settings. Many of the tales are as old as the Viking settlement in the country, some will be familiar to folk tale readers while others are completely new to English translation.

What I thought of the book

A further eye-catching volume of tales from The History Press, the cover of ‘Icelandic folk tales’ is decorated in appropriately chilly tones of silver and blue. An illustration of the story appears at the end of each piece and rune-like shapes are dotted throughout the pages, adding to the mystical appeal of this book. Story titles featuring ghosts, skeletons, ‘the demon on the beam’ and ‘the laughing merman’ give the reader a hint of the strange characters hidden amongst the pages.

Many of the folk tales I’ve read before feature animals, places or people – such as the prince, blacksmith or woodcutter – that I remember from the fairy tales from my childhood in the British Isles. If you’ve read Celtic folk tales, you may be familiar with the selkie – a haunting siren who appears as a seal and reveals herself to be a woman of enchanting beauty. Her story in this collection is called ‘Seven on land, seven in sea’. She was the only creature I recognised in this compilation and made a link to the supernatural elements and mystical beings of the other tales. Mischievous elves; terrifyingly huge troll-wives, as strong as several oxen, and shape-shifting demons cause the trouble here.

It seems fitting, in the setting of a land of sometimes perpetual night, that these stories seem to start out very dark in tone. Characters steal away – or are stolen – under the cover of the moon, are driven crazy by night-time visitations from awful creatures or meet their charmers and challengers in rugged landscapes as the light fades. This darkness means the collection is definitely not suitable for children (even one of the characters has a name that made me blush!) One of the oddest tales – which eventually made me laugh, after it had turned my stomach – features a dog surviving being cut in half, so queasy adults may even want to think twice before reading.

In contrast to this eerie atmosphere, many of the tales are also rooted in the farming landscape of Iceland, with sharp scythes as the weapons and plentiful food as the rewards. The witches of other cultures are replaced with older women with healing powers (who are often ‘lightmothers, or midwives) and the wisdom to remedy whatever has gone wrong – at a price. As surely as light follows dark, the endings of many of these tales seem hopeful. Evil is often banished and marriage, childbirth and a long, rural life among their community comes to the human characters as they see the error in their ways. Knowledge, kindness or love causes the creatures to flee, ensuring that the humans live “for a long time, in good health and much wealth.”

Icelandic Folk Tales is a definite must-read for any collector of folk tales, ghost stories or feminist readings. It would also be hugely enjoyed by any reader with a taste for the weird, wonderful and ultimately heart-warming.

How much is the book and how can you buy it?

Icelandic Folk Tales is written by Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson, illustrated by Tord Sandström Fahlström and published by The History Press. The hardback and ebook versions can be purchased via this link. The hardback usually retails for £12.99 but can be purchased via the link for £10.05 at the time of writing.

About the Author

Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson was raised in Iceland, on the farm built by his great-grandfather. His grandparents lived a stone’s throw away and provided a second home during his upbringing.  His Amma (grandmother) had the open, warm heart of an artist and Afi (grandfather) was a farmer by nature and nurture. Both taught Hjörleifur much about the past through their own ways of life and he has always been deeply interested in the rich lore of his island. Although he lives on the family farm, Hjörleifur also spends a lot of time in Scotland, where he is becoming renowned on the story-telling circuit, breathing fresh life into the stories he loves.

Hjörleifur can be seen reciting a traditional Icelandic song on the YouTube channel of the Orkney story-telling festival Orkneyology

About the book

Title: Icelandic folk tales
Author: Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson
Illustrator: Tord Sandström Fahlström
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 9780750993142
Trim Size: 198x129mm
Pages: 192 pages, 30 b&w illustrations

Review by Sharon Corbally

You may also want to read this:

Book Review: Cast the First Stone by C.B. Hanley

Book Review: Woodland Folk Tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau

Book Review: Telling the Bees and Other Customs by Mark Norman

*Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of this book for the feature. All opinions are our own