A mare's field guide to monsters in Iceland

Horses came to Iceland with the first settlers in the ninth century. Exploring Iceland was a joint venture between horse and human. Isolated from the horse populations of Europe, the Icelandic horse is recognized as a distinct breed, small in stature but powerfully built and possessing a fifth gait. Horses are useful in agriculture and as a primary means of transport, but equally they have been and still are companions and guides to humans, trusted to convey a half asleep, drunk farmer safely home from a barn dance. In the first few springs of a foal’s life, foal and their dams are released from their home paddocks into the mountains, where grasses and herbs grow and horses roam and forage freely. Horses thus learn their land and mountains, and they know where the path is treacherous and where it opens to a lush valley. It is said that if you are on horseback and lost, drop the reins, and let the horse lead because she will know the way. Horses also learn that the mist may hide dangerous creatures and that caution should be taken in the vicinity of elf dwellings and in the places where trolls may camp. Because of this, a horse is a fitting author of this field guide to Icelandic monsters.