25 Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales

by Jón R. Hjálmarsson, Anna Yates (Translator)

Iceland is rich in folklore; its mountainous landscape, wide-open spaces, harsh climate and long winter darkness must have made it easy, in bygone times, to imagine ghosts, trolls and other supernatural creatures lurking around every corner.
Educator and tale-teller Jón R. Hjálmarsson (1922–2018) retells many of the most famous of Iceland’s folktales and brings trolls and elves, wizards, mermen and a host of other mysterious beings to life.

Genres: Fiction, Folklore, Mythology, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Short Stories, Classics

113 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Jenna]

Interesting stories, but they’re rather dully told and often don’t offer full explanations. Only recommended if you travel to Iceland, as you can visit the location of each story thanks to a map.

[Laura]

Una colección sencilla y breve de folclore islandés. La mayoría de los cuentos tienen que ver con los elfos, los trolles o los curas, pero con todos dan ganas de viajar a ver los lugares en los que se gestaron las leyendas.

[Sara Weeks]

men turned into whales, tales of elf churches, and so so many troll-wives - what more could I want out of this book that I found in an Icelandic gas station. 10/10 for my morning commute entertainment

[Stefan Garland]

Priče su vrlo šture i zbrzane - tek što počnu, a već su se završile. Ne pomaže ni to što su geografski uvodi previše detaljni, a poneki put i duži od samih priča.

[rebecca]

shoutout troll wives 🧌 shoutout evil ginger whale 🐋 shoutout icelandic hotdog wrapper bookmark 🌭

[Leah]

3.5

[Elisabeth]

Similar collection of stories to the one about ghost stories - meticulously documented, more fantastical in nature, and including historical records and tales. I thought it a bit better than the ghost stories book though, as for example, the first story to be included, is about Hvalfjörður and Glymur waterfall, which is the second tallest waterfall in Iceland, an area known for its amazing beauty, and a place I was going to go to the following day of reading this! The book explains how many places have got their names based on the stories around the locations, so sort of similar again to the ghost stories, but this time trolls and elves featured a lot more frequently, as expected really.
Some stories were more engaging and fun, others felt less significant, but a nice balance overall.

[Charlie Smith]

lovely to read some Icelandic folk tales after our visit. fab to see how quirky the culture is. would recommend reading on a visit for info on the specific ares is particularly good.

[Theresa]

Nach etwa 1,5 Jahren endlich fertig mit diesem Buch 😄 Kurzgeschichten zu lesen zieht sich echt, schwierig in einen Leseflow zu kommen. Noch dazu war das Englisch ein bisschen zu schwierig für mich haha.

[Krzysztof]

Quite interesting, however, the stories are really short and not in-depth…

[Ashlee]

I read both of Jón R. Hjálmarsson books ‘25 Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales’ and ‘25 Icelandic Ghost Stories’ in quick succession whilst travelling around Iceland and marginally preferred this one. The maps in both novels made for a great experience, I won’t soon forget being able to stand in the place where these tales took place. The books provided an interesting insight into the country's history, and the daily lives of Icelanders and the presence of both religion and witchcraft at the time. This novel also explores the topography of Iceland, and the folklore surrounding the formation of the island's incredible terrain.

[Signe Altersten]

Jag är en SUCKER för mytologi, särskilt om den är nordisk🧌✨

Tyckte att den här var helt okej. Urvalet av sagor var kanske inte en riktig höjdare. Istället för kvalitet så satsa boken på kvantitet. Hade nog föredraget färre men längre sagor så man verkligen kunde gräva ner sig🤷‍♀️

Tyckte också kanske att språket var lite stelt till och från. När man läst Johan Egerkrans så blir han liksom en referenspunkt för nordisk mytologi, som denna bok inte träffade..🫣

Men den var fortfarande underhållande och en ganska mysig kvällsläsning😌

[Krystie Herndon]

Having enjoyed a 30th-birthday trip to Iceland, driving around the Ring Road in a camper van with a dear friend and fellow 30th-birthday celebrity, my daughter bought this book for me in a gift shop in Reykjavik. My favorite part about this book: the stories are based on named places around the island. As a trained folklorist, I love stories about specific places. I wonder how many of these places my daughter visited?

[Charlotte]

Highly recommend this if you're interested in the fairy tale, folklore, mythology, etc niche like I am for enjoyment like me (which I'm always looking for recommendations) or for educational purposes. It was nice to learn about the Icelandic folklore and fairytales, and I am considering reading more from Jon Hjalmarsson's books within this area for personal enjoyment as this is a special interest personally.

[Lily]

Some of the stories were interesting but the writing not so much. There were two exactly the same stories written a bit differently, and the length is way too short (2 pages on average). Some stories are told in a dry way like history.
It is quite interesting how the elfs are actually Christians.
Would like to read more stories like that from other authors.

[Stephanie Ricker]

A really fun, wacky collection! Iceland has some very strange folk tales. This edition is beautiful and has a very cool map at the front so you can see where each story took place. Reading it after our trip to Iceland was perfect since we visted or passed through so many of the locations. Sadly we did not see the giant wyrm of Lagarfljot, but I guess no trip is perfect. ;)

[Wynee Igel]

I liked learning about Icelandic folk and fairy tales. The author provided some geographical and historical context for each tale which was great. Unfortunately I couldn't always connect those facts to the tale itself. I think a map would have helped me. I would have like a pronunciation guide to give the names a try. This felt more factual and I was hoping for more of a bedtime story feel.

[Kathy]

I found it rather dry.

I heard many of these tales through an Icelandic tour guide. They were so rich, I wanted more. This book didn't provide that.

What I did like was the map linking the tale to a place in Iceland.

[Lyndsay]

I liked some of the stories, but a lot of them did not feel fleshed out enough. I don't know if this is due to the author condensing them or if the original folktales are really that brief. But I would've liked if the stories had a little more depth to them.

[Donté Jackson]

Good for qetting a quick insight to some folklore of Iceland. It would be great to visit each location that is mentioned as you read the book.

[José Poves]

Interesting, but relatively underwhelming.

[Lauren Methven]

A lovely wee book from my travels in Iceland! The wee map in the front is such a nice touch and even though there were some weird tales I enjoyed it all the same

[Sofia Leão]

Wish the tales were more detailed but it's the perfect read for traveling through Iceland

[Kelli]

2.7 if I could have. I enjoyed a few of the tales. I suspect there is quite a bit lost in translation.

[Victoria Arenas]

lots of trolls, churches/Christianity, the Devil, etc.
bought this while in a national park in Iceland

[Carian]

Bought this at a bookshop in Reykjavik. The tales were interesting, but not told in a story sort of way.

[Ellie]

A good plane read home from Iceland, very short and sweet

[Sammi]

The map inside made it really fun to read while driving around Iceland, but these stories are pretty concise and straight to the point

[Selma]

hadde sikkert vært bedre å faktisk lese på tur, noe jeg mistenker kommer til å gjelde hele denne serien

[Marlene Freitag]

Interesting little stories about iceland, but unfortunately not nice to read. It doesn’t captivate you.
Also contains some false information about Iceland’s geography.