Mythical Britain
@mythicalbritain.bsky.social
Michael Smith. Author, printmaker, translator and illustrator of medieval romances. Whimsy, art. Published by Wilton Square Books. PhD research University of York. Follows the Blackburn Rovers. www.mythicalbritain.co.uk.
St Catherine at St Stephen’s for St Catherine’s Day. Wonderful fifteenth century stained glass at Old Radnor.
November 25, 2025 at 8:26 AM
St Catherine at St Stephen’s for St Catherine’s Day. Wonderful fifteenth century stained glass at Old Radnor.
Barley twist because it’s possible; delightful turned railings at Denston in Suffolk, dazzling in swirling complexity.
November 25, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Barley twist because it’s possible; delightful turned railings at Denston in Suffolk, dazzling in swirling complexity.
Detail of delight. Entranced yesterday by this exquisite painting, Music, by David Gauld (1899) on display at The Hunterian in Glasgow. You can almost hear the notes of pipes drifting through old golden fields so many years ago.
November 22, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Detail of delight. Entranced yesterday by this exquisite painting, Music, by David Gauld (1899) on display at The Hunterian in Glasgow. You can almost hear the notes of pipes drifting through old golden fields so many years ago.
Wooden walls at Haddon Hall shield wealth from different worlds. Wonderful screen and resultant screens passage preserve an older way of living in one of Derbyshire’s finest historic homes. #AdoorableThursday
November 20, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Wooden walls at Haddon Hall shield wealth from different worlds. Wonderful screen and resultant screens passage preserve an older way of living in one of Derbyshire’s finest historic homes. #AdoorableThursday
Þe snawe snitered ful snart þat snayped þe wylde…
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
November 19, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Þe snawe snitered ful snart þat snayped þe wylde…
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
The look of fear when a doorway spies a mouse coming down the road. The wonderful Romanesque Norman Tower at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. #AdoorableThursday
November 13, 2025 at 10:39 AM
The look of fear when a doorway spies a mouse coming down the road. The wonderful Romanesque Norman Tower at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. #AdoorableThursday
In the Green Chapel - colour version of a b/w linocut print illustration in my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nobut an old cave? Certainly a dark and haunting place, where the Devil’s matins might be heard at midnight... #TombTuesday #linocut #SirGawain #SGGK
November 11, 2025 at 8:07 AM
In the Green Chapel - colour version of a b/w linocut print illustration in my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nobut an old cave? Certainly a dark and haunting place, where the Devil’s matins might be heard at midnight... #TombTuesday #linocut #SirGawain #SGGK
Yet still it stands in statement old. Ancient witness to life in the Fens; the fascinating pre-Conquest Longthorpe cross, now incongruously set amongst houses and gardens. One side has faint interlacing decoration. #StandingStoneSunday
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Yet still it stands in statement old. Ancient witness to life in the Fens; the fascinating pre-Conquest Longthorpe cross, now incongruously set amongst houses and gardens. One side has faint interlacing decoration. #StandingStoneSunday
Country walk Catalina cruising high above!
November 8, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Country walk Catalina cruising high above!
I’ll go for Russ Conway’s Another Six!
November 7, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I’ll go for Russ Conway’s Another Six!
Fascinating and multifaceted but sadly defaced; a fabulous fifteenth century font at Denston in Suffolk. #FontsOnFriday
November 7, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Fascinating and multifaceted but sadly defaced; a fabulous fifteenth century font at Denston in Suffolk. #FontsOnFriday
What delights dwell within, behind the door at Denston? #AdoorableThursday
November 6, 2025 at 8:05 AM
What delights dwell within, behind the door at Denston? #AdoorableThursday
Like some old cinema show! Nature lit large in the lightest of tracery at Great Tew with its medieval magic. #WindowsOnWednesday
November 5, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Like some old cinema show! Nature lit large in the lightest of tracery at Great Tew with its medieval magic. #WindowsOnWednesday
Is there such a thing as #MisericordMonday? Here’s a delight from Denston, Suffolk, a bird with spread wings beautifully depicted.
November 3, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Is there such a thing as #MisericordMonday? Here’s a delight from Denston, Suffolk, a bird with spread wings beautifully depicted.
After All Hallows Day, Gawain must set off to meet his nemesis the Green Knight. The beginning of this journey is the subject of one of the many linocut illustrations from my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. It also features on the front cover.
November 1, 2025 at 8:57 AM
After All Hallows Day, Gawain must set off to meet his nemesis the Green Knight. The beginning of this journey is the subject of one of the many linocut illustrations from my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. It also features on the front cover.
It’s November!
Zet Quayle al-hal-day with Arþer he lenges,
And he made a fare on þat fest, for þe frekez sake,
With much reuel and riche of þe Round Table…
(He stays with Arthur for All Hallows Day,
Who had provided a feast for his own sake,
Laid out as befits the wealth of the Round Table…)
Zet Quayle al-hal-day with Arþer he lenges,
And he made a fare on þat fest, for þe frekez sake,
With much reuel and riche of þe Round Table…
(He stays with Arthur for All Hallows Day,
Who had provided a feast for his own sake,
Laid out as befits the wealth of the Round Table…)
November 1, 2025 at 8:52 AM
It’s November!
Zet Quayle al-hal-day with Arþer he lenges,
And he made a fare on þat fest, for þe frekez sake,
With much reuel and riche of þe Round Table…
(He stays with Arthur for All Hallows Day,
Who had provided a feast for his own sake,
Laid out as befits the wealth of the Round Table…)
Zet Quayle al-hal-day with Arþer he lenges,
And he made a fare on þat fest, for þe frekez sake,
With much reuel and riche of þe Round Table…
(He stays with Arthur for All Hallows Day,
Who had provided a feast for his own sake,
Laid out as befits the wealth of the Round Table…)
Testament to a former time before the church was built. Twelfth century font at St Peter’s, Little Thurlow in Suffolk; now somewhat incongruous in its later setting, it is probably one of the few elements left of the original church on this site. #FontsOnFriday
October 31, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Testament to a former time before the church was built. Twelfth century font at St Peter’s, Little Thurlow in Suffolk; now somewhat incongruous in its later setting, it is probably one of the few elements left of the original church on this site. #FontsOnFriday
Lovely corbel of a cat with a moustache at St Peter’s, Little Thurlow in Suffolk. Not so much on a hot tin roof but on a cold stone wall!
October 29, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Lovely corbel of a cat with a moustache at St Peter’s, Little Thurlow in Suffolk. Not so much on a hot tin roof but on a cold stone wall!
Fascinating altar tomb at St Nicholas’s church, Denston, with two shrouded figures below a table featuring two (missing) brasses; possibly late 15th century? Fascinating contrast between worldly wealth and the reality of death. An unusual offering for #TombTuesday
October 28, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Fascinating altar tomb at St Nicholas’s church, Denston, with two shrouded figures below a table featuring two (missing) brasses; possibly late 15th century? Fascinating contrast between worldly wealth and the reality of death. An unusual offering for #TombTuesday
Look to the skies to light the listless day! Delightful fifteenth century carving at Denston in Suffolk; one of many such splendours here.
October 26, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Look to the skies to light the listless day! Delightful fifteenth century carving at Denston in Suffolk; one of many such splendours here.
#otd opening lines from the poem in Michael Drayton’s The Bataille of Agincourt (1893 edition) and so redolent of Shakespeare in its zealotry. The years have passed since muddy soils once filled the lungs of men, crushed to death in blood-slimed piles and stripped of all their joys. Linocut my own.
October 25, 2025 at 8:41 AM
#otd opening lines from the poem in Michael Drayton’s The Bataille of Agincourt (1893 edition) and so redolent of Shakespeare in its zealotry. The years have passed since muddy soils once filled the lungs of men, crushed to death in blood-slimed piles and stripped of all their joys. Linocut my own.
The fourteenth century is alive again! I'm delighted to announce that my books are now published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. They should once again be available through all good trade outlets in the coming days; please do support your local bookshop. Events and signings soon - please bear with me!
October 23, 2025 at 1:58 PM
The fourteenth century is alive again! I'm delighted to announce that my books are now published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. They should once again be available through all good trade outlets in the coming days; please do support your local bookshop. Events and signings soon - please bear with me!
An ancient way to a distant time through the narrowest of doorways; the delightfully intimate entrance to the remote church at Little Hormead, Hertfordshire. #AdoorableThursday
October 23, 2025 at 7:09 AM
An ancient way to a distant time through the narrowest of doorways; the delightfully intimate entrance to the remote church at Little Hormead, Hertfordshire. #AdoorableThursday
Another week begins its way, unwinding as it wishes; where will each day now lead us?
October 20, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Another week begins its way, unwinding as it wishes; where will each day now lead us?
A different kind of commune as stone bring peace to mind. A contemplative visitor to #Avebury from a couple of years ago. My own. #StandingStoneSunday
October 19, 2025 at 8:44 AM
A different kind of commune as stone bring peace to mind. A contemplative visitor to #Avebury from a couple of years ago. My own. #StandingStoneSunday