The Village of the Elves is one of those stories that remind you of its great transformative potential. You have to go way back in time to get to the moment when in El Tiemblo, a village in Avila, a little more than 1 hour from Madrid, stories of elves began to be told. Small creatures that found in El Castañar of the municipality an ideal place to live in community among the bushes, stones, caves and roots of chestnut trees.
Jose Luján, a neighbor of the town, was born and grew up with them and they have reached our days thanks to all the people who, like him, continue to tell them as stories are told in a camp around a campfire or at a long after-dinner conversation: “Sometimes they mistook it for the howling of wolves. Also with the famous tawny owl of El Castañar or the cuckoo. But all the people of El Castañar knew very well that they were the elves of El Castañar,” he says on the other end of the phone.
In Luján’s case there is something more: he is a self-taught artisan – “Maybe it is more difficult that way, but at least you do what you are born and not what is imposed on you, whether it is better or worse”- and, inspired by those stories he has heard since he was a child, he has hand-carved in his garden the Villageof the Elves.
A village always under construction where there is room for everyone
Luján has been dedicating part of his time to building the Village of The Elves for the past three years: “I started making little houses in a corner of my garden among a chestnut tree, fig trees, a plum tree, laurel and thick ivy that covers almost everything. First by carving little houses and caves in a log and then among the natural stones, waiting for the first elves to come and live among us”.
At the beginning there were only four or five houses, but as time went by, new neighbors from “all over the world” arrived to the Village of the Elves: elves, dwarfs, fairies, forest animals… The growth has been such that the town is now divided into streets and neighborhoods with their own names.
And at this point, the artisan is clear that it is a sine die project, in perpetual construction: “Once you start there is no end to it. As long as elves keep coming I’ll keep making little houses to put them in.”
This arrival of new inhabitants would not have been possible without the contribution of those who most enjoy – and to whom this magical little corner is dedicated: the children. “Although I have made some out of clay, almost all the villagers have brought them themselves. They leave them there for other children to play with, and when they come back they look to see where they left them.
A sign painted on wood is an invitation to do so: “You can approach the village but be careful not to damage anything. And if you have any goblins at home and want to bring them to live with other elves you can do so and we will find homes for them in the village.”
For him the most satisfying thing, what pushes him to continue with this work without deadlines, without goals, is “that children come and play there and spend hours there. Especially when they don’t want to leave, in the end you have to nag them with their parents or grandparents,” he recalls with sympathy, “and that gives me to understand that they are happy to play”.
Visits to the Village of the Elves
Although it is in the garden of Luján’s house, in the upper part of the village (specifically on Velázquez Street), the Village of the Elves can be visited all day long: “My garden overlooks the street, there are no fences or anything, so it’s totally free and everyone who passes by can play,” explains Jose. And it can be reached in the line 551 of intercity buses from the center of the capital.
Sometimes, visits are also made at night: “In the summer I sometimes turn on the little lights I put in the houses. It’s very nice because it looks like a village in the mountains surrounded by forests, although I don’t give them much because it’s expensive,” he laughs.
Before hanging up the call, Jose insists on an idea – which is also a driving force – with which he would like to end the conversation: “Sometimes fantasy, magic and creativity come together to make the dreams of children young and old come true. That should never be lost, whatever age you are. Without that magic… we are nothing“.