Hollow Places (William Collins 2019) is both the piercing dissection of a folktale and a thrilling rummage through the thickets of the English imagination. Christopher Hadley’s debut work of book-length non-fiction ostensibly concerns the story of how Piers Shonks slew a dragon, how that dragon dwelt in a cavern beneath a yew tree, and howContinue reading “Hollow Places”
Category Archives: Literature
Iceland: legends of the north
According to the Old Norse Landnámabók – ‘the book of settlements’ – the first Scandinavian settlers to make their home in Iceland were Ingólfr Arnarson, his wife Hallveig Fróðadóttr and his brother Hjörleifr. According to the legend, they left Norway in 874 after a violent feud, sailing west towards a land of which they hadContinue reading “Iceland: legends of the north”
The Tale of King Harald is a true story…
But what does it mean for a story to be ‘true’?
Journeys in the dark
When I was a small boy – probably I was eight years old – my grand-father gave me a board game for my birthday. This was no ordinary board game, however; this was Heroquest. Opening the box was like opening a portal into another world, like lifting the lid of the Box of Delights. One ofContinue reading “Journeys in the dark”
Autumn
On one of the first days of October I went walking with my wife. I found my first conker of the year, with the beautiful patina and texture of newborn wood. It’s already wrinkled, like a hard shiny prune. After the walk I went shopping and bought a small collection of objects. I hadn’t intendedContinue reading “Autumn”
THOMAS J. T. WILLIAMS 