| Dr Martin Shaw is telling one of the great Icelandic sagas, King Hrolf Kracki, over at his subscription journal The House of Beasts & Vines.
This brand new work weaves together images from the deep underbelly of Scandinavian myth, telling of sorcerer kings, great bear warriors and women who are also elves.
Martin’s version, soaked in the oral tradition rather than a literary translation from the old language, is being told in five parts in the run up to Christmas.
As well as the fourth episode tomorrow (and earlier episodes available in the archive), the next installment of Martin’s latest writings Seeking a Liturgy of the Wild will also be published.
The Power of Pilgrimage was penned this week on a visit to Walsingham. Here is an extract:
‘Why do we pilgrimage? What’s behind it? If, as Allen Ginsberg said, ‘everything is Holy’, are some holys more holy than others? We seem willing for duress in exchange for some deepening of feeling. That’s good to know, in these often-anesthetised times. It’s good to go without sometimes, to come to an understanding of limit, to come to know fast as well as feast.
They call Walsingham ‘England’s Nazareth’, and there’s been a shrine to Mary here for 960 years or more. Back then, in the midst of what may have been a short and possibly harrowing existence, you could claim a little agency by setting out on pilgrimage. Pilgrimages had a clarity of purpose, a devotional oomph, a whisper of heaven to them.’
To read the full article and get access to everything in the archive since the journal launched in January 2022, including essays, stories, audio and drawings, you can subscribe for just $7 per month (around £5). Gift subscriptions are also available.
|
