Looking for the Hidden Folk

Advance praise for Looking for the Hidden Folk:

"Nancy Marie Brown reveals to us skeptics how rocks and hills are the mansions of elves, or at least what it takes to believe so. Looking For the Hidden Folks evocatively animates the Icelandic landscape through Brown's past and present travels and busts some prevalent clichés and myths along the way -- this book is my reply to the next foreign reporter asking about that Elf Lobby."

"Using ideas and stories about the hidden folk in Iceland as a stepping stone into the human perception of our homes in the world where stories and memories breathe life into places, be it through the vocabulary of quantum physics or folklore, Nancy Marie Brown makes us realise that there is always more to the world than meets the eye. And that world is not there for us to conquer and exploit but to walk into and sense the dew with our bare feet on the soft moss, beside breathing horses and mighty glaciers in the drifting fog that often blocks our view."

“Nancy Marie Brown is a scholar and a pilgrim, and Iceland (plus much else) is here illuminated through her knowledge and passion.”

"This is a sweeping and moving journey across time and space – through myth and theory, language, and literature – into the world of wonder and enchantment. Beautifully written, Looking for the Hidden Folk offers a compelling and surprising case for the recognition of forces and beings not necessarily 'seen' in everyday life but nevertheless somehow sensed, exploring their complexity and why they matter."

“Astonishing, lyrical, and thought-provoking. Yes, I am a scientist, but this book makes me consider a new reality. I am captivated.”

"A love song to the living landscape of Iceland and the cultural history in which it is clothed, inspired by the author‘s numerous encounters with the country and its people over the last decades"

"Nancy Marie Brown's Looking for the Hidden Folk is an elegantly written and wonderfully individualistic exploration of Icelandic culture through the ages, combining a shrewd appraisal of traditions with an acute interest in the modern world and all its intellectual quirks."

"In this fascinating book Nancy Marie Brown shows how the stories of Iceland’s hidden people are a natural human response to the island’s extraordinary landscape, and makes the reader question whether dismissing such belief as irrational is itself irrational.”

Praise for Nancy Marie Brown:

“I eagerly pursued this book, which is as much about Brown’s adventures as Gudrid’s, for the very same reasons.”

“Full of exciting detective work, along with absorbing excursions into the history of the Vikings, of chess in the Middle Ages, and of walrus ivory (known as arctic gold).” 

“A stirring reexamination of Viking history. Passionate and well-researched. Giving archaeology and history equal time with folklore, Brown makes a convincing case that Viking women played a prominent public role.”

“This book is a delight for chess players, of course, but also for gamers of all sorts as well as anyone interested in the intricacies of the provenance of art and in endlessly fascinating minutiae.”

"For readers who've long sensed that older winds blow through the works of their beloved Tolkien, Song of the Vikings is a fitting refresher on Norse mythology. Nancy Marie Brown shows how mere humans shape myths that resonate for centuries.”

"This truly enjoyable and very well researched book is a must-read for anyone interested in Viking Age history and the history of women."

“A lively, eye-opening portrait of a sophisticated Europe whose intellectual leaders showed genuine interest in learning.”

"This amazing book offers nothing less than a paradigm shift. Carefully researched and beautifully written, this journey into the distant past has a lot to offer for current discussions of gender bending, the instability of scholarly “facts,” the dynamics of misogyny, and the legacy of slavery."

“Beautiful. A fascinating tale of science and religion, one that provides further perspective on the plight of Islamic science today.”

“Brown’s enthusiasm is infectious as she re-teaches us our history.”

“Rivetingly told.”

"Combines archaeology, history, and literature. So cool.”