The elf dwellings of Icelandic rural storytelling culture and traditional folk belief appear to follow recurring, reasonably fixed patterns in their visual appearance, location, and ways in which local populations engage with them. This article presents a study of elf dwellings in the Strandir region of the Icelandic Westfjords, outlining these patterns through an in-depth engagement with a geographically limited but extensive dataset. The article shows how elf dwellings tend to be identified with erratic boulders and rocky hills of a particular size and appearance, generally located not in the ‘wilderness’, but close to places of everyday activity, especially near farmhouses, historic travel routes, and agricultural land. It highlights patterns of negative (avoidance) and positive (emotional attachment) engagement with such places. This makes a contribution not only to the study of traditional rural folk belief, but also to research discourses on the materiality of religion and spatiality of belief and storytelling.