Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain

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Jeffs teases out nuance, divining moral and metaphorical meaning from each story, and questions ways that this living history of Britain impacts upon our present-day understanding of landscape. The writing throughout is celebratory and evocative."

This came into the shop early and didn’t even have time to hit the floor before I had bought it I was looking forward to it so much. I think when we forget the histories we once believed, we can’t appreciate the motivations that led to events and decisions that had a real material impact on the future. Just because we no longer believe in giants and goddesses doesn’t mean we should dismiss them as whimsy.”

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The mix of modern iterations, translated originals and modern commentary providing a smooth and engaging link betwixt past and present.

The RLF fellow told me on Tuesday that enthusiasm and love for a subject seeps through writing- this book is a prime example of that.

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.

Across seven themed chapters the Storyland author presents an inspiring excavation of the British countryside through diverse medieval texts." Many of these stories were really dominant in Britain until the mid-16th century when we would see more modern techniques of historical inquiry take over and tales of goddesses and giants fall by the wayside slightly, but some of these stories were taken so seriously that they really did inform political decision-making.Amy Jeffs’ book, Storyland, has captivated the hearts of readers across the nation. Steeped in magic and mystery and grounded in meticulous research in manuscripts and our ancient landscape, Amy’s mythical world is movingly articulated.