Description

Icelanders believe in elves Why does that make you laugh asks Nancy Marie Brown in this wonderfully quirky exploration of our interaction with nature Looking for answers in history science religion and artfrom ancient times to todayBrown finds that each discipline defines what is real and unreal natural and supernatural demonstrated and theoretical alive and inert Each has its own way of perceiving and valuing the world around us And each discipline defines what an Icelander might call an elf

Illuminated by her own encounters with Icelands Otherworldin ancient lava fields on a holy mountain beside a glacier or an erupting volcano crossing the cold desert at the islands heart on horsebackLooking for the Hidden Folk offers an intimate conversation about how we look at and find value in nature It reveals how the words we use and the stories we tell shape the world we see It argues that our beliefs about the Earth will preserveor destroy it

Scientists name our time the Anthropocene the Human Age Climate change will lead to the mass extinction of numerous animal species unless we humans change our course Iceland suggests a different way of thinking about the Earth one that offers hope Icelanders believe in elvesand you should too