Iceland Poster- Discover Iceland, Hidden Folk - Iceland Art, Hidden People, Icelandic, Huldufólk, Fairy Folk, Travel Poster, Visit Iceland

If you have visited Iceland or are thinking about visiting Iceland, likely you know the story of the Hidden Folk, or "Huldufólk". These are the lost children of Eve whose descendants invisibly inhabit Iceland's rugged landscape. According to legend, God paid Eve an unexpected visit while she was busy bathing her children. Aghast at the prospect of presenting filthy children to God Almighty, she hid her unwashed offspring and introduced her clean children as her only children. God—being omniscient—knew He was being deceived, and in a fit of classic Old Testament ill-humor, proclaimed that the hidden children would remain hidden to Eve and all the world forever. This may have been a good turn for the children. I like to think that, free from the influence of parents who would always mourn the loss of Paradise, these children were left to raise themselves with a naive sense of wonder for the natural world and freedom from the legacy of their parents' shame. I've therefore depicted them as happy sprightly souls uniquely at home in their landscape and bodies.