Euro 2016: Half of Iceland's population still believe in FAIRIES

ICELAND have been roared on to success at Euro 2016 – but half of their fans still believe in fairies. 

By Alex Hickson

ELVES: Icelander's actually believe in elves and fairies

It's not only fairies, they also believe in trolls, elves and other monsters.

Opinion polls conducted in Iceland asked the question: "Do you believe in elves?"

A whopping 54% of people said they exist or that it's possible that they exit.

WIN: Iceland beat England 2-1 in the match on Monday

Favorite thing about Iceland so far: people believe little "elves" run around in the lava fields so they put out tiny houses for them all over the place #socute #iloveiceland #icelandelves

A photo posted by Lucy Larsen (@hairlessrat) on Jul 16, 2015 at 6:53pm PDT

When Daily Star Online spoke to Urdur Gunnarsdottir at the Icelandic Foreign Ministry, she said: "Many are not ready to fully deny their existence.

"It is correct that occasionally, planning of roads is changed in order to not disturb the elves."

In Iceland they call fairies the "álfar" or "Huldufolk" meaning "hidden folk".

Their beliefs are so strong that in some cases planning permission has been changed to avoid areas where supernatural folk live.

In 2015, a large rock which was considered by some to be an "elf church" was the subject of a legal battle when a highway project threatened to move it.

Work on the highway project near Iceland's capital of Reykjavik, was halted by the Supreme Court in 2013.

Campaigners claimed it would disturb a protected area if untouched lava and a culturally important "elf habitat".

In the end the legendary 70 tonne Ofeigskirkja was moved to make way to build a new road, but it was done with great care.

Lecturers and Folkloristics at the University of Iceland even started a database mapping legends in 1999.

The database has detailed maps showing the number of places where folk legends are thought to have taken place.

And Twitter users have been "trolling" Icelanders for their deeply held beliefs.

TRACKING: Map tracking Elf legends in Iceland

One user, @Liam_Foster222, said: "Think about this: 6 out of every 10 Iceland fans at the game believes in fairies."

Another user, @DWHauthor, joked: "Guys the reason Iceland is doing so well in soccer is that fields 11 men and 37 invisible elves that cling to opponents."

A large part of Iceland's tourism appears to depend on "supernatural tourism".

TROLLS: Supernatural tourists appear to contribute a lot to Iceland's economy

#Iceland #icelandelves #solotraveller #canadianiniceland

A photo posted by - Jennifer Chow - (@nostalgiclinks) on Feb 22, 2016 at 7:02am PST

Visitors can go to an "Elfschool" to learn about the mythical beings, go on "Elfwalks" and get their picture taken with trolls.

Some people are not so superstitious though.

Terry Gunnel is a leading professor in Folkloreistics at the University of Iceland.

SIGHTINGS: A map tracking troll legends

When the Daily Star Online asked if Iceland's success in the Euro 2016 competition was down to the elves he said: "By no means."

But either way you look at it, England were beaten by a country that believes in trolls.

What a fairytale story Iceland are having.