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Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain
By the bestselling author of Storyland.
Sheer cliffs, salt spray, explosive sea spume, thunderous clouds, icy waves, whales with mountains on their backs, sleet, bitter winds, bleak, impenetrable marshes, howling wolves, forests, the unceasing cries of birds and the death grip of subterranean vaults that have never seen the these are wild landscapes of a world almost familiar.
In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys - on foot and through medieval texts - from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the reader an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world. From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world - stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval women, outcasts, animals.
Illustrated with original wood engravings, evoking an atmospheric world of whales, wolves, caves, cuckoos and reeds, Tales From Early Medieval Britain will leave readers feeling 'westendream': delight in the wilderness.
Sheer cliffs, salt spray, explosive sea spume, thunderous clouds, icy waves, whales with mountains on their backs, sleet, bitter winds, bleak, impenetrable marshes, howling wolves, forests, the unceasing cries of birds and the death grip of subterranean vaults that have never seen the these are wild landscapes of a world almost familiar.
In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys - on foot and through medieval texts - from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the reader an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world. From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world - stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval women, outcasts, animals.
Illustrated with original wood engravings, evoking an atmospheric world of whales, wolves, caves, cuckoos and reeds, Tales From Early Medieval Britain will leave readers feeling 'westendream': delight in the wilderness.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2022
110 people are currently reading
4354 people want to read
About the author
Amy Jeffs
6 books134 followersAmy Jeffs is an art historian specialising in the Middle Ages. In 2019, she gained a PhD in Art History from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having studied for earlier degrees at the Courtauld Institute of Art and the University of Cambridge. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
During her PhD Amy co-convened a project researching medieval badges and pilgrim souvenirs at the British Museum. She then worked in the British Library's department of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts.
Her writing is often accompanied by her own linocut and wood-engraved prints.
Amy is a regular contributor to Country Life Magazine.
During her PhD Amy co-convened a project researching medieval badges and pilgrim souvenirs at the British Museum. She then worked in the British Library's department of Ancient, Medieval and Early Modern manuscripts.
Her writing is often accompanied by her own linocut and wood-engraved prints.
Amy is a regular contributor to Country Life Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews
May 14, 2025
4.5 stars
The author says her modern “creative interpretation” of circa 600 to 1,000 CE medieval tales are inspired by her research into works such as the Exeter Book and other medieval texts. Each of her chapters deals with a landscape that would have been wild but familiar to people of that time. She divides the chapters into subjects such as earth, ocean, forest, wild, beast, fen, catastrophe, and paradise. The stories are typically dark, stormy, and beastly with dragons flying through stormy night skies. I loved them.
Jeffs refrains from introducing her stories, rather jumps into the savage, dark tales. Her interpretations are followed by information about the history or writing of the tale, where it came from and stories of her own visits to caves, fens and forests pertinent to the story. I do feel her post-story travels sometimes detract from the flow of the book. It feels true to British medieval literature and many are at least a little familiar. Some have true “ah ha” moments as in one case I suddenly realized…this is Grendel. Not Hollywood’s Grendel either…no flashy CGI or Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mom (glamorous but how out of place!).
The book ends with Old English poetry with modern translations by George Younge. It’s an interesting peek at what the Old English language looked like and glimpses of how this old poetry worked by stress and alliteration instead of rhyme.
Jeffs illustrates her book with her own very nice wood engravings. In addition to her training in medieval literature she holds degrees in medieval art.
The author says her modern “creative interpretation” of circa 600 to 1,000 CE medieval tales are inspired by her research into works such as the Exeter Book and other medieval texts. Each of her chapters deals with a landscape that would have been wild but familiar to people of that time. She divides the chapters into subjects such as earth, ocean, forest, wild, beast, fen, catastrophe, and paradise. The stories are typically dark, stormy, and beastly with dragons flying through stormy night skies. I loved them.
Jeffs refrains from introducing her stories, rather jumps into the savage, dark tales. Her interpretations are followed by information about the history or writing of the tale, where it came from and stories of her own visits to caves, fens and forests pertinent to the story. I do feel her post-story travels sometimes detract from the flow of the book. It feels true to British medieval literature and many are at least a little familiar. Some have true “ah ha” moments as in one case I suddenly realized…this is Grendel. Not Hollywood’s Grendel either…no flashy CGI or Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mom (glamorous but how out of place!).
The book ends with Old English poetry with modern translations by George Younge. It’s an interesting peek at what the Old English language looked like and glimpses of how this old poetry worked by stress and alliteration instead of rhyme.
Jeffs illustrates her book with her own very nice wood engravings. In addition to her training in medieval literature she holds degrees in medieval art.
November 18, 2022
A really interesting read while stuck on a train just outside of Edinburgh.
Jeff's uses ancient Medieval Texts (mostly from the Exeter Book) to create some really great short stories all focused around the wilderness of England.
A great read if you enjoyed Storyland!
Jeff's uses ancient Medieval Texts (mostly from the Exeter Book) to create some really great short stories all focused around the wilderness of England.
A great read if you enjoyed Storyland!
October 15, 2022
Beautiful! I so enjoyed reading this, and it felt like the perfect Autumn read. A lovely blend of stories, poetry and non-fiction all transporting the reader back to the ancient wilds of Britain. Ashamed to say I have yet to read Storyland, and will definitely be doing so now!
November 8, 2022
Just beautiful. This one is a bit more niche than Storyland, so it might appeal to a small audience. As someone who studied this time period— this book is perfection.
February 23, 2024
Нема сил писати відгук, але це була супер красива книжка вигадливого формату (поєднання казково-поетичних текстів з академічними досвідками і історіями вражень авторки), кайфуаала весь час, що читала
April 9, 2023
Maybe it's just because I've done a fair amount of reading into folktales but this book felt incredibly surface level and basic, even aside from the fact that the font size, line spacing, and margins both to both sides and top to bottom had the feeling of a children's book and definitely ballooned the book up to the 211 pages of actual content - with a more regular spacing and sizing, it could probably have been under 100 pages long. The selected poems themselves were lovely, but I could have probably just... read those alone and got the exact same out of it.
January 29, 2023
Tough going. Well written explanations of the ancient texts but I found the texts themselves a bit of a mystery. Not what I was expecting
March 26, 2025
An interesting mix of short stories inspired by medieval writings, translated poems, some historical info for a bit of background and context, and the author's experiences of visiting landscapes that tie into the stories.
I felt the short stories were a bit more focused on vibes over substance, but I did particularly like the story in the Catastrophe section set at Lindisfarne. The foreshadowing and inevitability of it all was chilling.
I felt the short stories were a bit more focused on vibes over substance, but I did particularly like the story in the Catastrophe section set at Lindisfarne. The foreshadowing and inevitability of it all was chilling.
November 3, 2023
Wasn't quite what I expected. Instead of being a series of stories, it was mostly dominated by descriptions of how and why the stories were written, with links back to the manuscripts that inspired them. Although interesting, the stories themselves are tantalizingly short, well written, but unfortunately insubstantial.
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April 3, 2023Min fru gav mig efter att jag läst och älskat Robin Robertsons Grimoire. De har absolut beröringspunkter, men där Robertson vill skapa nya folksagor vill Amy Jeffs ge liv åt de gamla och återinföra deras relevans för en modern läsare - i detta är hon mycket framgångsrik.
July 17, 2023
I enjoyed the historical backstory and the author's impressions of the places these stories were written about more than her retelling and interpretations. I'd like to find a copy of "The Exeter Book" as well as other suggestions from the "Further Reading" chapter.
February 16, 2023
Writing 4
Story line 5
Characters 5
Impact 3
Entertainment 4
Story line 5
Characters 5
Impact 3
Entertainment 4
August 20, 2024
Pretty dainty lil narrative and really enjoyed being exposed to the poetry and verse! Wish there were more pictures included of the art referenced though:(
September 13, 2025
In this book, Amy Jeffs takes a series of obscure tales from The Exeter Book, a compendium of old English elegies, and represents them in a modern style, sometimes combining elements from different elegies to construct a satisfying new tale. She follows this with detailed explanations of the origins and meanings of each newly created story, as well as visiting locations and experiencing the conditions that give rise to them.
I did feel that, despite the distinctiveness of each chapter- there were some overlaps - the technique was a little repetitive. However, this sense was softened by the joy of reading the final tale, 'The message in the sand', which was quite incredible! The inclusion at the end of new translations of some of the source materials was also a really nice touch!
If you have an interest in the dark ages and old English stories and poems (eg Beowulf), give this a try!
I did feel that, despite the distinctiveness of each chapter- there were some overlaps - the technique was a little repetitive. However, this sense was softened by the joy of reading the final tale, 'The message in the sand', which was quite incredible! The inclusion at the end of new translations of some of the source materials was also a really nice touch!
If you have an interest in the dark ages and old English stories and poems (eg Beowulf), give this a try!
January 10, 2026
I really enjoyed all of the reimagined stories in here! Some of it sometimes felt a little bit clunky but I didn’t mind too much because they all build up a very atmospheric feeling throughout. The breakdowns afterwards going through where each plot point came from and why things had been presented in different ways was also really interesting.
January 11, 2023
A lovely little read about medieval tales taken from the Exeter Book. It was amazing to read about the origins of these poems and the meaning they had to the inhabitants of pre-conquest Britian.
April 23, 2023
There isn't a word in this book I would change. It's poetic and powerful and so beautiful I just never wanted it to end.
April 30, 2024
A wonderful introduction to stories of the early medieval period.
January 8, 2023
So beautiful. Combining nature writing with Early Medieval literature gives them a new modern relevance which I loved
October 10, 2023
My review of this book was originally written for The Folklore Podcast and is available on the website. My interview with the author can be listened to here.
Most listeners to The Folklore Podcast will be familiar with Dr. Amy Jeffs’ brilliance. Art historian, artist, and regular contributor to Country Life Magazine, Jeffs is a multifaceted individual, who pairs her linocut and wood-engraving artwork with her historically inspired writing. Her previous book Storyland, which focused upon the history and legends of the United Kingdom and Ireland as a whole, was covered in Season 7, Episode 108 of The Folklore Podcast. Wild: Tales From Early Medieval Britain, her new book published by Quercus Publishing, focuses not upon the history of the founding of Britain, but rather upon the life experience and mentality of those living there.
Jeffs’ writing shows the reader that the abstract notion of the Wild, ever present to the medieval mind, is still accessible in the modern day. While people may no longer view the ocean as the “restlessness” that the early medieval folk thought of it as, the wandering seafarer remains a familiar figure throughout literature to this day. Similarly, the contemporary climate crisis echoes the experience of Lindisfarne before the Vikings invaded. Most now see us as living on the precipice of Doomsday. Jeffs ventures to show the reader a way to live upon that cliff’s edge with grace and perhaps even joy, through the celebration of unity that the monks used to create some of the most beautiful art of all ages.
The seven chapters of the book each focus upon a theme: Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, and Paradise. The chapters open with a reimagining of a poem or riddle from the Exeter Book, and end with the author’s reflections upon what was just written. While the writings are beautiful, they also add enough to the writing itself that I was tempted to reread and capture what I had missed the first time around.
At first blush these stories seem as dense and foreign as an old growth forest is to modern eyes. By the end of the book, however, the beauty in the “wayless” wild is clear, much like the flight patterns of birds. Jeffs explains the fabricated etymology of the word avian that Isidore of Seville provided in his Etymologiae. Via being Latin for road or path, meant that avia described the “wayless” flight of the birds around them. This book is like a murmuration of starlings, perhaps - “wayless” in flight patterns governed by little rhyme or reason that most could discern - a conglomeration of voices of the past from the Exeter Book and other medieval sources, coming together to create something new and beautiful.
Most listeners to The Folklore Podcast will be familiar with Dr. Amy Jeffs’ brilliance. Art historian, artist, and regular contributor to Country Life Magazine, Jeffs is a multifaceted individual, who pairs her linocut and wood-engraving artwork with her historically inspired writing. Her previous book Storyland, which focused upon the history and legends of the United Kingdom and Ireland as a whole, was covered in Season 7, Episode 108 of The Folklore Podcast. Wild: Tales From Early Medieval Britain, her new book published by Quercus Publishing, focuses not upon the history of the founding of Britain, but rather upon the life experience and mentality of those living there.
Jeffs’ writing shows the reader that the abstract notion of the Wild, ever present to the medieval mind, is still accessible in the modern day. While people may no longer view the ocean as the “restlessness” that the early medieval folk thought of it as, the wandering seafarer remains a familiar figure throughout literature to this day. Similarly, the contemporary climate crisis echoes the experience of Lindisfarne before the Vikings invaded. Most now see us as living on the precipice of Doomsday. Jeffs ventures to show the reader a way to live upon that cliff’s edge with grace and perhaps even joy, through the celebration of unity that the monks used to create some of the most beautiful art of all ages.
The seven chapters of the book each focus upon a theme: Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, and Paradise. The chapters open with a reimagining of a poem or riddle from the Exeter Book, and end with the author’s reflections upon what was just written. While the writings are beautiful, they also add enough to the writing itself that I was tempted to reread and capture what I had missed the first time around.
At first blush these stories seem as dense and foreign as an old growth forest is to modern eyes. By the end of the book, however, the beauty in the “wayless” wild is clear, much like the flight patterns of birds. Jeffs explains the fabricated etymology of the word avian that Isidore of Seville provided in his Etymologiae. Via being Latin for road or path, meant that avia described the “wayless” flight of the birds around them. This book is like a murmuration of starlings, perhaps - “wayless” in flight patterns governed by little rhyme or reason that most could discern - a conglomeration of voices of the past from the Exeter Book and other medieval sources, coming together to create something new and beautiful.
June 18, 2024
And before them, in the fifth century, it was the Anglo-Saxons wasn’t it. Bloody Anglo-Saxons, coming over here from Northern Continental Europe. With their inlaid jewellery, and their ship burial traditions, and their miserable epic poetry.
Was anticipating more of Jeffs' previous book, but this one's actually pretty different. Much less retellings of specific mythical stories, the (significantly fewer) stories in this book are more combinations of aspects from a variety of texts and sources: primarily the poetry from the Exeter book, but also other English, Welsh, and Irish literature, and occasionally even some material evidence - chiefly the Franks Casket (though not enough for the terminally archaeologybrained like myself).
As a result, the contextual discussions after each story were a bit longer and more involved than they had been in Storyland, exploring how and why aspects from, for example, The Seafarer, The Wanderer and Beowulf were melded together into a single narrative. As for the stories themselves, they're good, but I don't know if they had quite the spark of those from Storyland. In theory, I'm all for the sorts of stories told in this book, with more opportunities to explore the perspectives of people from Early Medieval Britain without being tied to legendary narratives. But, and this may well be because of the much smaller sample size, these ones were simply more consistently miserable than those from before (hence the Stewart Lee copypaste at the top), which made for a bit more of an arduous read.
Imagine my surprise then, when I get to the end of the book to find an appendix of direct translations (alongside the original Old English) of several texts from the Exeter Book (trans. George Younge). While yes, most of them are pretty dour, one poem, The Whale is incredibly playfully translated, especially when the alliterative couplets are retained. Would have been nice to have had a bit more of this in the main text of the book. On which note, it felt a bit of a shame to have all these translations stuffed into an appendix rather than properly integrated into the body of the book alongside the narratives they inspired, and that there was no pronunciation guide for the Old English texts such that a lay reader (me!) could more fully appreciate the sound of the poetry in the original language even if we could not understand it.
The woodcuts in this one are also a lot more detailed than the rougher, more impressionistic linocuts from Storyland, which I think robs them of quite a lot of their charm, but your mileage may vary on that.
Was anticipating more of Jeffs' previous book, but this one's actually pretty different. Much less retellings of specific mythical stories, the (significantly fewer) stories in this book are more combinations of aspects from a variety of texts and sources: primarily the poetry from the Exeter book, but also other English, Welsh, and Irish literature, and occasionally even some material evidence - chiefly the Franks Casket (though not enough for the terminally archaeologybrained like myself).
As a result, the contextual discussions after each story were a bit longer and more involved than they had been in Storyland, exploring how and why aspects from, for example, The Seafarer, The Wanderer and Beowulf were melded together into a single narrative. As for the stories themselves, they're good, but I don't know if they had quite the spark of those from Storyland. In theory, I'm all for the sorts of stories told in this book, with more opportunities to explore the perspectives of people from Early Medieval Britain without being tied to legendary narratives. But, and this may well be because of the much smaller sample size, these ones were simply more consistently miserable than those from before (hence the Stewart Lee copypaste at the top), which made for a bit more of an arduous read.
Imagine my surprise then, when I get to the end of the book to find an appendix of direct translations (alongside the original Old English) of several texts from the Exeter Book (trans. George Younge). While yes, most of them are pretty dour, one poem, The Whale is incredibly playfully translated, especially when the alliterative couplets are retained. Would have been nice to have had a bit more of this in the main text of the book. On which note, it felt a bit of a shame to have all these translations stuffed into an appendix rather than properly integrated into the body of the book alongside the narratives they inspired, and that there was no pronunciation guide for the Old English texts such that a lay reader (me!) could more fully appreciate the sound of the poetry in the original language even if we could not understand it.
The woodcuts in this one are also a lot more detailed than the rougher, more impressionistic linocuts from Storyland, which I think robs them of quite a lot of their charm, but your mileage may vary on that.
February 8, 2023
Wild is one of the best books I've read lately, it absolutely surprised and stunned me. It is intelligent, entertaining, sophisticated, informative and thought-provoking. Reading it has sparked my imagination and my interest in the early medieval history of Britain, this fascinating and complex period in time, when Christian, Celtic, Roman and Germanic art, myths, ideas and languages swirled together and created a truly unique combination. I imagine this is the sort of book, Professor Tolkien would have enjoyed reading and I can't wait to read some of the original sources mentioned in it.
The book is put together in a brilliant way: each chapters starts with Amy Jeffs' re-imagining and retelling a story from this period, enriching them with very human emotions, timeless wisdom, historically accurate facts, she effortlessly weaves art and artifacts from the time into the story and gives them new meaning by doing so. After the retelling of each story, she gives a detailed explanation in a very informative and entertaining way. I believe this is exactly the right way to keep these stories, cultures, ideas and values alive. This is how we can make people care about these extremely valuable treasures of an era long past.
In the authors's own words: "The ice-encrusted, storm-swept, eel-infested, midnight-sun-illuminated wilderness of literature in Old English, Insular Latin and Middle Welsh, lends drama to the articulation of philosophies inherited from the works of Classical thinkers, the Bible, and Germanic and Celtic pre-Christian traditions. The messages that shine through are timeless in their comfort: this too shall pass, we are part of something beautiful, creation is full of wisdom. I hope the stories' accessibility will encourage the greatest number of readers towards the wonders of the primary sources, while keeping those sources alive in our culture by means of creative interpretation."
Beautifully said, just as beautifully the entire book is written!
The book is put together in a brilliant way: each chapters starts with Amy Jeffs' re-imagining and retelling a story from this period, enriching them with very human emotions, timeless wisdom, historically accurate facts, she effortlessly weaves art and artifacts from the time into the story and gives them new meaning by doing so. After the retelling of each story, she gives a detailed explanation in a very informative and entertaining way. I believe this is exactly the right way to keep these stories, cultures, ideas and values alive. This is how we can make people care about these extremely valuable treasures of an era long past.
In the authors's own words: "The ice-encrusted, storm-swept, eel-infested, midnight-sun-illuminated wilderness of literature in Old English, Insular Latin and Middle Welsh, lends drama to the articulation of philosophies inherited from the works of Classical thinkers, the Bible, and Germanic and Celtic pre-Christian traditions. The messages that shine through are timeless in their comfort: this too shall pass, we are part of something beautiful, creation is full of wisdom. I hope the stories' accessibility will encourage the greatest number of readers towards the wonders of the primary sources, while keeping those sources alive in our culture by means of creative interpretation."
Beautifully said, just as beautifully the entire book is written!
July 15, 2023
Only Amy Jeffs can have me staying up to read non fiction and old English poetry.
November 14, 2023
Wild was an enjoyable enough read that I finished in a single sitting. Jeff's retellings/original tales were okay, but to be honest I gravitated more to the commentary afterwards, dealing with the source material and its interpretation. This I found interesting. Some of the pieces I already knew (having studied some Old English works in the past), but a few I was less familiar with. This one is rather more specialised than Storyland, but those who enjoyed that earlier work may still want to check out this one too. If I could change anything I might have wished for a little more detail at times, as it felt like we were only scratching the surface of what could be said, but it was still fine as is. I am giving it 3.5 stars, which I would round up to a four, rather than down to a three.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
November 22, 2023
Each chapter is split into two sections, however neither is particularly great. The short stories are too short even to be classed as short stories, and the backstories don’t contain enough information to be very informative.
November 28, 2022
She writes with the same vigour that my best uni lecturers taught with.
June 27, 2025
Just as fabulous a collection as her previous book, Storyland. I look forward to more work in the future!
February 9, 2024
Wild is a collection of poetry and stories adapted from the Exeter Book (a book of middle English poems and riddles bequeathed by an abbot to his abbey) and other contemporary sources. Accompanying each poem/tale is an illustration or on the audiobook version, a song.
I was meant to download a PDF version and read the book, but I couldn't seem to get that to work, so I purchased the audiobook instead for this review. The author narrates her own book and this is helpful in terms of pronunciation and points of view. She also has a small notes section after each tale describing what inspired her to write it. The songs that accompany each tale are very beautiful and capture the Celtic-Saxon feel of the stories very well.
I enjoyed this book very much, although I wasn't as big a fan of the last tale in the book - Paradise - as I was the other tales. It got a little heavy on the religious imagery for me. I understand that religion and daily life were inseperable in the middle ages, but it still wasn't a favorite. All the other tales were very engrossing and made for engaging listening. I hope the author makes more books similar to this. I would love to check them out as well. 4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader copy. This review is completely voluntary and all opinions expressed are my own.
I was meant to download a PDF version and read the book, but I couldn't seem to get that to work, so I purchased the audiobook instead for this review. The author narrates her own book and this is helpful in terms of pronunciation and points of view. She also has a small notes section after each tale describing what inspired her to write it. The songs that accompany each tale are very beautiful and capture the Celtic-Saxon feel of the stories very well.
I enjoyed this book very much, although I wasn't as big a fan of the last tale in the book - Paradise - as I was the other tales. It got a little heavy on the religious imagery for me. I understand that religion and daily life were inseperable in the middle ages, but it still wasn't a favorite. All the other tales were very engrossing and made for engaging listening. I hope the author makes more books similar to this. I would love to check them out as well. 4 out of 5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader copy. This review is completely voluntary and all opinions expressed are my own.
February 4, 2025
Not what I expected, but a pleasant read nonetheless.
Seven chapters, each with a short story, followed by a short essay. Each short story is a new fiction from Jeff, inspired by, emerging from, combining influences of poems of the Exeter Book and other medieval English, Welsh and Irish texts and artefacts of the time. Jeffs will merge two medieval poems, or imagine the protagonist of one poem as a figure from a contemporary artwork, or fill in the gaps between stories. Her easy going style and ability to capture clear respect for - and fear of - the powerful nature creates for compelling stories.
Jeffs then follows with commentary on the inspirations for the story (which range from the Sutton Hoo ship burial to various Biblical chapters), interpretations of these source materials, and often her experiences hiking in the areas described in the story. It's an easy read that covers the various types of wilderness experienced by people of this time period.
I enjoyed myself, but I still want to read the book I had hoped to get: original poems, texts, historical context, explanation and analysis, comparison of translations. If Jeffs had written a book with essays four times as long, I'd be happy as a clam. That said, the further reading suggestions are much appreciated.
The book concludes with new translations of the Exeter Book, by Dr George Young. Beautiful poems and worth the price of the book alone. A short extract below of "The Seafarer"
...And so my spirit roams beyond the heart's restraints.
My mins casts off on the swollen sea,
eddies freely in the whale's wake,
spins to the edges of the earth, then returns to me,
Restless and ravenous. Again, the lonely flier cries,
prompting my powerless heart back to the way of the whale,
onto the sweep of the sea. You see, God's ecstasies
are more intense for me than this dead life
we've loaned on land...
Seven chapters, each with a short story, followed by a short essay. Each short story is a new fiction from Jeff, inspired by, emerging from, combining influences of poems of the Exeter Book and other medieval English, Welsh and Irish texts and artefacts of the time. Jeffs will merge two medieval poems, or imagine the protagonist of one poem as a figure from a contemporary artwork, or fill in the gaps between stories. Her easy going style and ability to capture clear respect for - and fear of - the powerful nature creates for compelling stories.
Jeffs then follows with commentary on the inspirations for the story (which range from the Sutton Hoo ship burial to various Biblical chapters), interpretations of these source materials, and often her experiences hiking in the areas described in the story. It's an easy read that covers the various types of wilderness experienced by people of this time period.
I enjoyed myself, but I still want to read the book I had hoped to get: original poems, texts, historical context, explanation and analysis, comparison of translations. If Jeffs had written a book with essays four times as long, I'd be happy as a clam. That said, the further reading suggestions are much appreciated.
The book concludes with new translations of the Exeter Book, by Dr George Young. Beautiful poems and worth the price of the book alone. A short extract below of "The Seafarer"
...And so my spirit roams beyond the heart's restraints.
My mins casts off on the swollen sea,
eddies freely in the whale's wake,
spins to the edges of the earth, then returns to me,
Restless and ravenous. Again, the lonely flier cries,
prompting my powerless heart back to the way of the whale,
onto the sweep of the sea. You see, God's ecstasies
are more intense for me than this dead life
we've loaned on land...
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