The Arctic is often associated with snow, ice, and tales of Santa Claus and his elves. But what if stories of Arctic elves aren’t just Christmas folklore? From ancient Norse sagas to modern-day encounters, the Arctic has a surprising history of little people—beings described as small, elusive, and mysterious. In our Elf Sightings in the Arctic Christmas special, we explore historical accounts, scientific discoveries, and eyewitness testimonies that blur the line between legend and reality.

Our journey begins with the Viking sagas of the 13th century, recounting events from around the year 1000. According to these sagas, Leif Erikson and his crew, after being blown off course, landed in Vinland—believed by some to be present-day Baffin Island. The Norse explorers documented encounters with people they called Skraelings, describing them as short, with tangled hair and broad faces. While historians have long assumed these were the ancestors of the Inuit, a 2008 study suggested the term Skraeling might be derived from an old Norse word for pygmy. If true, the Vikings may have believed they'd found the legendary dwarves described in ancient Greek myths—an association made even more compelling by a 1569 map labeling the North Pole as the home of pygmies, just four feet tall.

The Arctic mystery deepens with the 1631 expedition of Captain Luke Foxe. While navigating the Northwest Passage, Foxe and his crew came ashore on Southampton Island. There, they discovered a strange above-ground cemetery filled with tiny coffins. The bodies inside were adult-sized but no more than four feet long, with miniature bows, arrows, and bone lances placed alongside them. Foxe, unnerved by the discovery, wrote in his journal, "God send me better adventures than these." To this day, the identity of those tiny people remains unknown.

Fast forward to 1911, when Russian explorer Captain Yvolnoff led a scientific expedition into the Arctic. According to a newspaper article published in 1930, the team discovered small human footprints in the snow. Following the tracks, they found a burrow from which a tiny man emerged. He stood roughly three and a half feet tall, with an angular head and large ears. Soon, two dozen others followed, all dressed in fine animal-skin clothing. The group communicated in an unfamiliar language and lived by catching fish with their bare hands—eating only the backs and discarding the rest.

Inuit oral tradition has long spoken of these tiny beings. The Inuit call them Inuaguliks or Inuarutligak—legendary dwarves who live in underground burrows, wear two sets of clothes for different tasks, and have the ability to shapeshift into animals like seals or hares. Inuit elders say these little people are playful tricksters, known to tease hunters and travel incredible distances in impossibly short amounts of time.

Perhaps the most recent encounter occurred in 2017, when Anthony Roche visited his girlfriend’s family cabin near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. While napping, Roche and his girlfriend woke to the sound of footsteps on the deck. The door opened, and standing in the doorway was a tiny human figure, no taller than three feet, dressed in a ragged orange coat and caribou-skin pants. The being quickly vanished, leaving the couple bewildered. When they shared the story with their family, they were told they'd been visited by an Inuagulik.

So, are these Arctic elves simply the product of myths passed down through generations? Or are these sightings evidence of something more extraordinary? From ancient Viking records to modern-day encounters, the mystery of Arctic elves endures.

Join us for our festive Christmas special as we unwrap the mystery of Elf Sightings in the Arctic in our latest episode of Unsolved Canadian Mysteries, available now on Spotify and YouTube.