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.

Jim Leary's Footmarks uncovers how our ancestors were always on the move, leaving behind traces of an exposure to a much broader world.

A review of Northerners - A History, by Brian Groom. Published by Harper North.

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.

A review of Christopher Hadley's fascinating new book about a forgotten Roman Road, RR21b, and the traces it has left behind.

A book review of Field Notes by Maxim Peter Griffin. A feast of art and words describing the landscape, mood and people of Lincolnshire.

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

Hollow Places is a fascinating examination of how legends grow through time and yet have a basis in truth. A stunning examination of the leg

Dr Dan Spencer's book on the Medieval castles is a valuable and accessible guide to castles - not what they are but where they appear in

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