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In the time before the pandemic, Here & Now spent a week in Iceland covering environmental issues.

But everywhere we went we also heard about elves: how they figured into building projects — you couldn’t disturb them — and how they sometimes played tricks on people like hiding your keys or glasses.

Even those who wouldn’t commit to believing in them (including the country’s environment minister) would also not commit to not believing in them.

As Christmas nears, we bring back our visit to Iceland’s elf region, and of course, it’s Elf School.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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