Encounter Atlas
Dwarfs (or dwarves) are supernatural beings of Germanic folklore. In the Old Norse poems and the Prose Edda they are master smiths who live in rocks and mountains and forge the gods' greatest treasures, including Thor's hammer Mjölnir and Odin's spear Gungnir. Oddly, the earliest Norse sources never say they are short; their small size becomes a fixed feature only in later sagas and folk tales.
In medieval German stories dwarf kings such as Alberich guard hoards of treasure and can be as strong as twelve men. In later folklore dwarfs live inside hills, borrow and lend tools, and reward or punish people depending on how they are treated. Some, like Alvíss in the Norse poems, turn to stone in daylight.
The Brothers Grimm's Snow White, first printed in 1812, fixed the image of dwarfs as small, bearded miners for the modern world. Iceland still has named dwarf rocks; information boards at Dverghamrar say the local dwarfs are 20 to 30 cm tall.
What witnesses report
- Hammering inside a hill
- Small bearded figures near rocks or caves
- Tools or treasures that appear or vanish
- Voices from under the ground
Famous cases
Seen the Dwarves?
Tell us what happened. Every report is read by a person before it goes on the map, and you can stay anonymous.
