Changeling the Dreaming and Iceland

[Ebtard]

So apparently around 7–8% of icelanders claim to be certain that elves exist. And around 45% claim it is likely or possible. And there are reports about Icelanders doign very strange things to not distrub fae, such as cancellign building projects because the building would be built on fae ground.
How would this affect Changeling society? And is there any canon information about norse and scandinavian changelings in general

[No One of Consequence]

I don't think there was much from the old days, and I'm not familiar enough with Changeling20 to know if it talks about Scandinavia and/or Iceland anywhere.

Most of the Scandinavian/Nordic related stuff I remember (which wasn't a whole lot) was in the Trolls kith book and the House Aesin material in the book of Lost Houses. IIRC, the Sidhe of House Aesin consider themselves the Alfar (elves) of Norse mythology and folklore.

Just personally (and unofficially), my take would be that the local Changelings refer to themselves as Huldufolk ("hidden people") and their image of themselves tends to draw more from Norse folklore and myth than the Celtic themes from the more mainstream Changelings of Britain and North America. To this end, they divide themselves into courts of Light/Summer and Dark/Winter that roughly correspond with Seelie and Unseelie, with a few minor differences. And because of the issue of the length of days that far north, they've never had the problem of one Court trying to claim power all year round or anything.

As far as noble Houses, I always figured Liam was the most likely to settle there in any numbers, at least until the Aesin returned. If you accept that as the case, then House Liam is probably the majority of the local Seelie/Summer nobles, and probably congregate around Reykjavik and various towns, while Aesin are the majority of the Unseelie/Winter ones, and prefer to live in more rural areas.

As far as Kiths, they are probably mainly Sidhe (Alfur), Trolls, Selkies (Selkolla), Nockers (Dvergur), Boggins (Nisse), and the various fire, earth, air, and water Inanimae.

As far as local belief in huldufolk impacts Changeling, it likely makes it a little easier to gather glamour and resist Banality.

Incidentally, Iceland has a lot of interesting local folklore and faerie stories. The glacier Snaefellsjokull, for example, is apparently considered a place of mystical or supernatural significance and power. While it may be the site of some freehold or entranceway to the Dreaming, it might also be a stronghold for local Inanimae.

[MythAdvocate]

And let us not forget the (somewhat) stable portal to the Hollow Earth in the crater of Snaefellsjökull (Journey to the Center of the Earth)...

This is of great interest to me, as I LOVE Iceland. For my own use as a Storyteller, I would have it that the fae of Iceland held out fairly well during the interregnum, and have a fairly prosperous civilization. For my own use, I made a kinain bloodline called the Nidarvellim who are numerous in Iceland.

Overall, I would say that Icelandic people and areas have a -1 Banality (minimum base of 2). Extreme cases to the contrary are possible, and a great plot point.

[Black Fox]

How would this affect Changeling society?

From a Changeling perspective, I would say that this would reduce the overall Banality in Iceland. It would certainly reduce the Banality of any individual who truly believed in fairies, or who altered their behavior because they think they might be real. Glamour should be more available, and harvesting Glamour would be easier as a result.

Everything else would flow from there.