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.
Pinned
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!
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!
Castles in the landscape
Looking for an adventure this weekend? Discover the stunning Atlantic coast of Mayo with our Achill Island and Clew Bay Trail.
There are few places as wildly beautiful as Achill Island, yet there are many stories to discover.
#Ireland #SpéirGhorm #Wildatlanticway
There are few places as wildly beautiful as Achill Island, yet there are many stories to discover.
#Ireland #SpéirGhorm #Wildatlanticway
November 8, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Castles in the landscape
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
Practising archery at the butts? Crikey!
A man bares his bottom at an archer about to fire an arrow. A detail of a c1500 misericord in the M Shed Museum, Bristol for #Woodensday, originally in the Augustinian abbey in the city. I dare say there's a niche site on the internet somewhere for this kind of thing.
November 6, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Practising archery at the butts? Crikey!
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
Dreams dusted by sand at the height of the day, up where Sir Gawain once wandered. Sunbathing as it should be done, in macs and flat caps by the sea!
Two men sunbathing, August bank holiday, Blackpool, 1971, by Don McPhee.
November 5, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Dreams dusted by sand at the height of the day, up where Sir Gawain once wandered. Sunbathing as it should be done, in macs and flat caps by the sea!
Moss-dipped Devon, delicious in green.
November 5, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Moss-dipped Devon, delicious in green.
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.
Castles in the landscape
#CastleSaturday ...so much more fun when I've been in Wales 🏴🏴🏴
While dodging showers been catching parts of the Ring of Iron
While dodging showers been catching parts of the Ring of Iron
November 1, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Castles in the landscape
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…)
Ah, the circle to suppress all surquedry! The higher they rise the harder they fall; Lady fortune lurks for all those pricked by pride!
31 Oct 1412: Prince Henry (V) commissions 'The Troy Book' from the #Benedictine #poet John Lydgate #otd
It was presented to Henry in 1420.
Good Poetry Takes Time
(library.manchester.ac.uk)
It was presented to Henry in 1420.
Good Poetry Takes Time
(library.manchester.ac.uk)
October 31, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Ah, the circle to suppress all surquedry! The higher they rise the harder they fall; Lady fortune lurks for all those pricked by pride!
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
Early rock music inspiration for Alan Price perhaps?
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Early rock music inspiration for Alan Price perhaps?
Sumwhyle wyth wormez he werrez, and with wolues also,
Sumwhyle wyth wodwos þat woned in þe knarrez
(Sometimes he fights with dragons and wolves, sometimes with wild men who dwelled in the rocky crags)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ll. 720-721.
Sumwhyle wyth wodwos þat woned in þe knarrez
(Sometimes he fights with dragons and wolves, sometimes with wild men who dwelled in the rocky crags)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ll. 720-721.
October 30, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Sumwhyle wyth wormez he werrez, and with wolues also,
Sumwhyle wyth wodwos þat woned in þe knarrez
(Sometimes he fights with dragons and wolves, sometimes with wild men who dwelled in the rocky crags)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ll. 720-721.
Sumwhyle wyth wodwos þat woned in þe knarrez
(Sometimes he fights with dragons and wolves, sometimes with wild men who dwelled in the rocky crags)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ll. 720-721.
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!
Castles in the landscape
In the Autumn mist at Montségur, thirty years after my first visit. Still magnificent, still mystical …
#labyrinth
#labyrinth
October 28, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Castles in the landscape
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.
One of York’s such lovely spaces, down some little alley.
On 35th October 2022 I finished this drawing of the view from the pulpit of Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York. Many of the box pews are made of recycled panelling.
#ArchitecturalIllustration
#pencil #drawing
#ArtYear
#ArchitecturalIllustration
#pencil #drawing
#ArtYear
October 25, 2025 at 9:23 AM
One of York’s such lovely spaces, down some little alley.
#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.
Old roads hold silent secrets lit by darkened skies.
The old road between Kendal and Penrith near Shap in Cumbria. Probably used during invasion by Jacobite Rising in 1715 and subsequent retreat. The section of the A6 near Shap was built in 1726. Another rebellion and invasion in 1745 probably then used the new road.
October 24, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Old roads hold silent secrets lit by darkened skies.
Well this reads like an author biog to aspire to! Just add Vincent Price, a dash of Lavenham and a touch of late 1960s film lighting and it’s perfect!
Still not quite nailed my Bluesky bio but it's getting closer to the nub of things.
October 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Well this reads like an author biog to aspire to! Just add Vincent Price, a dash of Lavenham and a touch of late 1960s film lighting and it’s perfect!