Enchanting tales of the gods, kings, and monsters that populated the Anglo-Saxon world.
An atmospheric collection of 30 folk tales exploring stories of cosmology, monsters, conflicts and courtship from the Seven Kingdoms to Middle Earth. This is an entertaining portal into a world overflowing with mythology, magic and all manner of beguiling creatures, which has inspired everything from the Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones.
The book is divided into 3
Remarkable illustrations by Jesús Sotés breathe new life into these tales of the past.
What an excellent book, witten in the form of an individual telling a story, the story of the Anglo-Saxon people... From the gods through Guthlac, the finest man between the seas.
A rich and varied tapestry that draws in the reader and i am sure would captivate an audience if passed on, as the author himself suggests it should be, by word of mouth.
Really interesting similarities here with Norse and Greek/Roman myths! It was also cool to read about some of the stories that inspired Tolkien and were behind Paul Kingsnorth's 'The Wake', which I really enjoyed.
An eclectic mix of stories, some faintly reminiscent of the old Norse sagas, others with hints of Tolkien, but most I've never come across before. Where do they come from? There's no bibliography. At the end he acknowledges his debt to Tolkien, Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Venerable Bede, but I'm not aware of any of them writing down myths of this nature. In the absence of any further information, I cannot shake the suspicion that Stratford made some of them up.
this is the first extensive book i have read about anglo-saxon myths and i found it very fun to compare them to nordic and celtic myths. a lot of good ideas for a book.