FORGET taking a tour of the Hobbiton Movie Set in New Zealand.
When it comes to hobbits, those pint-sized Middle-Earth creatures of literary lore, some J.R.R. Tolkien fans would do well to venture off to Iceland.
It’s believed the author got much of his inspiration for Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit and his other amazing tales from Iceland — he studied the Icelandic language and heard of the trolls in Iceland from an Icelandic au-pair who worked with the Tolkiens in Oxford in the 1930s.
And if you have the chance to travel around Iceland it’s easy to see how Tolkien could have been inspired by its folk stories and otherworldly landscapes.
In the fields of this Nordic island nation there are hundreds of mound-like huge molehills concealing tiny Hobbit-like houses built into the earth.
In countries such as Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Greenland turf houses were built by people who couldn’t afford anything else. But in Iceland, however, the practice was more egalitarian.
It was the material of choice for residences of chiefs and peasants alike, as well as other buildings such as churches and stables.
Time to head home for dinner.Source:istock
It’s a little dark in this one.
One of the best places to see these turf-houses is at the wonderful Skogar Museum, near the small town of Vik, about two hours from the capital Reykjavik. Once a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town, Vik has become more famous since becoming the setting for many scenes in the TV series Games of Thrones.
The vast collection at the Skogar Museum includes a collection of turf-roofed buildings, plus a farmhouse, cowsheds and a school, dating from the 18th to early 20th century.
For Australians, Iceland it’s an extremely long haul — but its astonishing natural phenomena and creative locals won’t disappoint. For the adventurous there are glaciers, geysers, the Northern Lights, waterfalls and volcanoes.
Culture fiends will discover a country with a capital city that is energetic and home to artists, musicians, writers and designers (Reykjavik is a hotbed of activity year-round, playing host to around 30 festivals annually that focus on everything from the Icelandic horse to metal music).
Meanwhile, foodies will discover restaurants in the laid-back capital that are slowly grabbing the attention of the culinary world.
Here I am — I just stumbled upon some glaciers as I was driving along the main highway — Route 1.
And for travellers who love uncovering unusual things, Iceland will not disappoint. Besides turf-house, other strange “dwellings” that you might spot in the countryside are “houses” for elves.
Surveys suggest that more than half of Icelanders believe in, or at least entertain the possibility of the existence of, the Huldufolk — the hidden people.
Many families have small wooden elf houses in their gardens for the tiny travellers.
Icelanders have built comfy homes for the elves.
Icelanders leave offerings for the elves.
This house is all warm in a blanket of turf.
With its eerie landscape of frozen lava fields, smoking geysers and barely dormant volcanoes, Iceland certainly seems the sort of place that elves, dwarfs, fairies and trolls would inhabit.
To find out more about these hidden peeps, you can enrol in a course on all things elfish at Reykjavik’s elf school.
“What students in the Elfschool gain and learn is everything that is known about elves and hidden people, as well as gnomes, dwarfs, fairies, trolls, mountain spirits as well as other nature spirits and mythical beings in Iceland and in other countries,” the 26-year-old school says on its website.
If you love all things Tolkien, it might be time for a student-exchange to Iceland.
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