‘I offer you a story of an empty land filling with tribes from Syria, Troy, Egypt and Scythia, until it becomes a Britain you will recognise. You are entering a work of legend, based on medieval tales of Britain’s foundation and settlement that bear only a passing resemblance to ‘true’ history, but offer many other kinds of truths. I am not going to attempt to separate all the fact from fiction…’

Amy Jeffs, Storyland (2021: xvi)

And nor should she.

The world she writes about, after all, didn’t hold to that separation.

In the opening pages of Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain, Amy Jeffs invites us to shed our modern worldviews and step into a medieval mindset. ‘Forget dinosaurs, forget evolution, forget the elusive neanderthals,’ she says. ‘These are for a later age. Here, the story follows the medieval view of time, shaped by Classical and biblical traditions.’1

So, too, must we leave aside our own understanding of the shape of the world. ‘Medieval world maps,’ Jeffs tells us, ‘showed a circle divided into three unequal parts, surrounded by a ring of ocean.’ It’s a topsy-turvy image, with the Mediterranean occupying its heart and Paradise its apex. ‘To find the territories of Hibernia (a Latin name for Ireland used in its origin myth) and Britain, you would look to the very edge of Europe: the lower left-hand corner of the map.’2

This is where we find ourselves as we begin this journey through the ancient mythologies of Britain: at the very edge of the known world. It is a misty, murky landscape, where giants roam and ancient travellers traverse vast distances to sow the seeds of the places and communities we know and love today.

If we are to step into it, fully embrace it, we must cast off the notion that history is the search for ‘truth’. For the next three months, as we read Storyland, we will be seeing the past through medieval eyes, with warm invitation towards the mythical and magical. It is my hope that, through engaging with these stories, we are challenged to expand our view of historical study and discover a richly textured appreciation of the world of our forbears.

NOT YET JOINED US?

If you are not yet a member of the Book Club but are curious about the theme of Storyland and how the Book Club works, you can find all the details you need in the post linked below. The Book Club is designed to be evergreen, meaning you can join at any time without missing out.

Below the paywall you’ll find a deep-dive essay on this month’s theme: the place of mythology in our studies of the past. There will also be discussion prompts and a space for you to share your own reflections on the book, plus details of what to read next month.

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