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Through the Labyrinth: Designs and Meanings Over 5,000 Years
Labyrinths and mazes are found all over the world, and have been a source of intrigue and wonder throughout history. This richly illustrated and carefully documented standard work explores the manifold aspects of labyrinths - from their architectural, astrological, and mythological significance, to their iconographical, mathematical, amd artistic fascination, while also examining their socio-historical context.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2015
I'm sure this book's not 100% definitive but it sweeps through the ages and places with enticing design and iconography. I really enjoyed the history of the labyrinth as dance and other manifestations of it as games and play around the world.
May 24, 2023
I was working on making a game related to the movie Labyrinth, and wanted to read something about the origin and history of labyrinths, see some examples, and learn what kinds of things they were associated with. This book more than fit the bill. It has photos and diagrams of every labyrinth worth mentioning from all over the world, along with scholarly guesses about their uses and meaning, and how those changed over time.
Kern draws a distinction between mazes, which have branching paths and appear much later, and labyrinths, which are essentially all copies of a single non-branching meandering path design. It was a drawing meme, like the "cool S": there was an easily learnable trick to drawing it, and it spread from person to person for thousands of years.
He believes that the original function of the labyrinth was as a kind of dance guide on the ground, and an initiation rite. A line of dancers would trace out the path through the labyrinth, weaving back and forth and passing each other until they reached the center, where the movement was reversed.
This same pattern was drawn in neolithic times, and spread all over the world-- including to Brazil and the Hopi, by 1300 AD! How exactly that happened is quite mysterious.
The only medieval labyrinth I recall having seen in person was at Glendalough, Ireland. They were very popular throughout northern and western Europe at that time. Of course, when you talk about THE Labyrinth, the idea that comes to mind is a particular mythical story about Crete, and there is plenty in the book about the connection with bronze age Crete and Knossos in particular.
There is an association between labyrinths and fortresses. The labyrinth pattern, I think, is reflected in Minas Tirith (tower of Minos?), with its seven concentric defensive walls, and the stone like a ship that divides the rings, forcing an attacker to weave back and forth to get to the inner circle. “but the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so the paved way that climbed toward the citadel turned this way and that and then that across the face of the hill.” And that should remind you of another fortress city, that was attacked by soldiers marching around seven times-- Jericho, an association that was made by people throughout the middle ages. They also saw it as Troy, which was circled by a dragged body... They also used the image of the labyrinth as a type of the world, with all its confusions, with the horned, hoofed minotaur/devil in the center ruling it, and a holy thread as a perfect guide to escape, all tracing out a pattern of a tree.
The Icelandic version calls it Wayland Smith's house, connecting Wayland the maker with Daedalus the inventor.
I could go on and on. It's a very thorough and beautifully illustrated look at a fascinating topic. Used copies are ridiculously expensive on Amazon, but you can read it for free at the Internet Archive, renewing your checkout every hour, which is what I did. I read an English translation that had extra addenda as a 20th anniversary thing.
Kern draws a distinction between mazes, which have branching paths and appear much later, and labyrinths, which are essentially all copies of a single non-branching meandering path design. It was a drawing meme, like the "cool S": there was an easily learnable trick to drawing it, and it spread from person to person for thousands of years.
He believes that the original function of the labyrinth was as a kind of dance guide on the ground, and an initiation rite. A line of dancers would trace out the path through the labyrinth, weaving back and forth and passing each other until they reached the center, where the movement was reversed.
This same pattern was drawn in neolithic times, and spread all over the world-- including to Brazil and the Hopi, by 1300 AD! How exactly that happened is quite mysterious.
The only medieval labyrinth I recall having seen in person was at Glendalough, Ireland. They were very popular throughout northern and western Europe at that time. Of course, when you talk about THE Labyrinth, the idea that comes to mind is a particular mythical story about Crete, and there is plenty in the book about the connection with bronze age Crete and Knossos in particular.
There is an association between labyrinths and fortresses. The labyrinth pattern, I think, is reflected in Minas Tirith (tower of Minos?), with its seven concentric defensive walls, and the stone like a ship that divides the rings, forcing an attacker to weave back and forth to get to the inner circle. “but the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so the paved way that climbed toward the citadel turned this way and that and then that across the face of the hill.” And that should remind you of another fortress city, that was attacked by soldiers marching around seven times-- Jericho, an association that was made by people throughout the middle ages. They also saw it as Troy, which was circled by a dragged body... They also used the image of the labyrinth as a type of the world, with all its confusions, with the horned, hoofed minotaur/devil in the center ruling it, and a holy thread as a perfect guide to escape, all tracing out a pattern of a tree.
The Icelandic version calls it Wayland Smith's house, connecting Wayland the maker with Daedalus the inventor.
I could go on and on. It's a very thorough and beautifully illustrated look at a fascinating topic. Used copies are ridiculously expensive on Amazon, but you can read it for free at the Internet Archive, renewing your checkout every hour, which is what I did. I read an English translation that had extra addenda as a 20th anniversary thing.
June 28, 2025
This was a difficult book to rate.
In the end I gave it four stars because I had a question, which is why I picked up the book in the first place, and I’ve found an answer. It lost a star because I didn’t like the answer. Maybe I’m being unfair, but the author is constantly disagreeing with others so I feel justified in disagreeing with him.
If you are only mildly interested in labyrinths, this would get ⭐️⭐️ instead. This book is not for the idle curious. This book dives deep into the topic, attempting to not only catalogue every known labyrinth, but also every thing that was mistakenly called a labyrinth too.
In the end I gave it four stars because I had a question, which is why I picked up the book in the first place, and I’ve found an answer. It lost a star because I didn’t like the answer. Maybe I’m being unfair, but the author is constantly disagreeing with others so I feel justified in disagreeing with him.
If you are only mildly interested in labyrinths, this would get ⭐️⭐️ instead. This book is not for the idle curious. This book dives deep into the topic, attempting to not only catalogue every known labyrinth, but also every thing that was mistakenly called a labyrinth too.
October 8, 2018
An exhaustive overview of the labyrinth image.
A bit dogmatic about the unicursal form being the only labyrinth and some of the interpretations are dubious, but very thorough.
A bit dogmatic about the unicursal form being the only labyrinth and some of the interpretations are dubious, but very thorough.
March 19, 2013
THE book on labyrinth design and history -- except i just discovered Kern seems to have no mention of the couple dozen supposedly neolithic labyrinths on Russia's Solovetxkiy islands. an article about these just popped up on my facebook today.
March 25, 2016
Ginormous, in-depth book on labyrinths with some amazing pictures, unforunately out of print and rare. Was able to read enough after checking it out from my local library to know that I'd like to track down a copy.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews