Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain

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 had really loved the storytelling and art work in Storyland and when I found out that there was a sequel coming out covering the early medieval period in a similar fashion I was excited.

Once more I consumed this whole book in a couple of sittings (I’m on holiday so have the spare time) and loved the way that the author takes old stories, this time mainly from the Exeter Book, and reinvigorates them with a modern sensibility.

For me this gives the poems and tales far more immediacy and a way to relate to them more than reading a translation, no matter how good. There is a genuine attempt at real storytelling which seems to be lacking in straight translations, making them a living and breathing thing once more as they would have been when originally written.

Once more Amy Jeffs supports these tales with beautiful ink prints at the start of each story, this time wood engravings, which tease the tale in graphic form.

My only real disappointment is that there weren’t more tales to read, another beautifully researched and produced book.

Looking forward to the next (fingers-crossed).