Mythical Britain
is the home of
Michael Smith 
author, printmaker, translator and performer of medieval romances
Buy original works or hire Michael
for events, lectures, readings and consultancy

Michael Smith reviews an astonishing graphic novel version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by John Reppion and Mark Penman.

An explanation of how the challenges in translating a fourteenth Middle English text into modern English are overcome.

An explanation of the translation approach undertaken to create the first ever alliterative edition of William of Palerne in modern English.

The message of Christmas which emerges from an alternative reading of the Middle English masterpiece, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

How a fourteenth-century alliterative romance has come alive once more, richly illustrated with linocut prints.

Michael Smith reveals the processes involved in the making his latest linocut of Sir Gawain as he ventures in search of the Green Knight.

Michael Smith discusses the Gawain-poet's castle Hautdesert, showing how its place in the landscape reflected the zeitgeist of his time.

The poet in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight calls the Green Chapel 'nobot an olde cave' with huge understatement. It was a house of horror.

I have been working for some time on a new translation of William of Palerne , which Madden in the nineteenth century called the “romance...

Bolingbroke Castle is a special castle with a history fundamentally linked to the history of England. Built on an hexagonal plan, the castle

A new translation of the epic fourteenth century story of King Arthur's Death by Michael Smith will feature over 32 stunning linocut ill

Learn about the fabulous mediaeval graffiti at Anstey in Hertfordshire, including shields, helmets, writing and more.

The Fourteenth Century holds a real fascination for me; particularly the fashion and ethos of the later days of the Age of Chivalry. In this

How I made and printed a four-colour linocut of the Cheshire Knight, Sir Hugh Calveley. Michael Smith, Mythical Britain

You can help bring a brand new, beautifully illustrated edition of Sir Gawain and the Green knight to a new audience.