Medieval Myths

The 10 enlightening (and often humorous) lectures of Medieval Myths and Mysteries will show you how far from the “dark” times of legend these centuries were. Uncover the facts about the Knights Templar. Reveal the truth behind the tales of legendary creatures like the Questing Beast and the unicorn. Trace the events of the Black Death and the ways it altered the world in its wake, and much more. With Professor Armstrong, you will dig deep into the ways that later generations reshaped the narrative of the medieval years and perpetuated the myths.

Explore Captivating Viking Tales and Sagas Two captivating manuscripts in one book: Viking Sagas: The Captivating Tale of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar the Boneless, Lagertha, and More, in Their Historical Context Tales from the Viking Age: Captivating Legendary and Historical SagasThe period between the end of the eighth century CE and the middle of the eleventh is often called the “Viking Age” because this is the period in which Scandinavian people expanded their contacts with the outside world through trade, raiding, exploration, and colonization. The first manuscript of this book presents a...

In this volume I turn to the myths that survive from the medieval period: the myths of Persia, Japan, the Celts, and Scandinavia.These stories reflect the cultural, religious, and historical contexts of the societies that produced them. They, explain natural phenomena, providing moral and ethical guidance, and reinforce social structures. These myths have left lasting impacts on literature, art, and popular culture, influencing storytelling traditions across the world.

Scholars, journalists, and politicians uphold Muslim-ruled medieval Spain - "al-Andalus" - as a multicultural paradise, a place where Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in harmony. There is only one problem with this widely accepted account: It is a myth. In this groundbreaking book, Northwestern University scholar Darío Fernández-Morera tells the full story of Islamic Spain. As professors, politicians, and pundits continue to celebrate Islamic Spain for its "multiculturalism" and "diversity", Fernández-Morera sets the record straight.

Death walks beside me… and desire isn’t far behind. Two weeks ago, I was hired by the Dragon Prince of Zaru to help his brother, the King, with a problem no one else could solve—their dead won’t stay buried. As a necromancer, I can lay the restless to rest and uncover what’s driving them to rise. As a Raltven, I’m even better at it. Good enough to be summoned across the sea. But the dead aren’t my only complication. From the moment I met Prince Racmar, the pull between us was instant—and on the journey to Zaru, it only grew stronger. Now it’s on the verge of combustion, ...

Captured centaurs and satyrs, incompetent seers, people who suddenly change sex, a woman who remembers too much, a man who cannot laugh—these are just some of the colorful characters who feature in the unforgettable stories that ancient Greeks and Romans told in their daily lives. Together they created an incredibly rich body of popular oral stories that include, but range well beyond, mythology—from heroic legends, fairy tales, and fables to ghost stories, urban legends, and jokes. This unique anthology presents the largest collection of these tales ever assembled.

Introducing book one in the CELTIC LEGENDS SERIES, a star-crossed lovers tale from the RITA-nominated author of passionate, magical romances Conor has lived a hundred lives…but loved only once Born to a powerful Irish priestess, Conor knows he is no ordinary warrior. Some whisper he’s not human at all. He seeks out Brigid of Morna, a reclusive, woodland seer, the only woman who can unveil the truth of his everlasting strength. But Brigid refuses to help him—or to yield her hungry heart. For she knows that a man cursed to live a thousand lives must never fall in love… "An enthralling...

A pocket watch that controls time. A fierce 14th-century Scottish warrior. A love that defies history. When Claire accidentally triggers a strange glowing light on an antique pocket watch, she expects a malfunction. Instead, she is violently hurled backward through the centuries, waking up in the brutal, wind-swept wilds of 14th-century Scotland. Before she can orient herself, she is captured by Roderick, a powerful and guarded Highlander currently facing a dangerous spy trial within his own clan. To survive inside the locked gates of the castle keep, Claire is forced to spin a web of lies ...

'Howlingly good' THE BOOKSELLER 'Quiet, meditative, powerful' LOCUS 'A beautiful, lyrical tale of love, betrayal and above all, yearning' SFX 'With prose that flows off the page like honey' CRISTIN WILLIAMS 'Will sink its teeth into you' V. V. JAMES 'Filled with loyalty and betrayal, dark...

The romanticized Viking saga is a comforting lie. Discover the brutal reality of the 793 AD Lindisfarne raid. In Wolves on the Tide: The Slaughter of Lindisfarne, Tomas Somerled dismantles the heroic myths of the Norsemen to present a gritty, historically uncompromising autopsy of the attack that ignited the Viking Age. For the monks of St. Cuthbert’s sanctuary, the ocean was an impenetrable divine wall. They possessed no early warning systems and no defensive naval patrols. On June 8, 793, that profound geographical delusion invited their total annihilation. Introducing The Asymmetric ...

Unearth the Gritty, Squalid Reality Behind the Myth of the Clean Northman For too long, the modern imagination has been hijacked by a sanitized, impossibly clean vision of the Viking Age. Popular culture has painted the Northman as a proto-metrosexual warrior who bathed weekly and smelled of pine needles. Winter's Itch: The Filth, Frost, and Fleas of the Real Viking Age shatters this comforting illusion. Author Tomas Somerled employs a rigorous "Pathology of the Hearth" framework to treat the medieval living conditions not as polite history, but as a biological crime scene. Prepare for a ...

Bloomsbury presents Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins. The Renaissance is one of the most studied and celebrated eras of history. Spanning the end of the Middle Ages to the beginning of modernity, it has come to symbolise the transformative rebirth of knowledge...

Arguably one of the most provocative, puzzling, and misunderstood organizations of medieval times, the legendary Knights Templar have always been shrouded in a veil of mystery, while inspiring popular culture from Indiana Jones to Dan Brown. In The Templars, author Michael Haag offers a definitive history of these loyal Christian soldiers of the Crusades - sworn to defend the Holy Land and Jerusalem, but ultimately damned and destroyed by the Pope and his church.

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Lesley Manville (winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and known for Phantom Thread and Mum), Derek Jacobi (winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and known for Gladiator and Gosford Park), Michael...

What if everything you were told about Viking democracy was a lie sold by men with swords? The bestselling myth says the Vikings built one of history's first parliaments. The evidence says they built a protection racket and called it law. In Outlaw Country, historian and narrative nonfiction author Tomas Somerled delivers a cynical, ferociously researched investigation into the real Viking legal system — the chieftains who bought their authority like livestock, the witnesses bribed at feasts the week before trial, the blood feuds that incinerated entire families across generations, and ...

Prithvi, a twenty-one-year-old, is searching for a mysterious middle-aged aghori (Shiva devotee), Om Shastri, who was traced more than 200 years ago before he was captured and transported to a high-tech facility on an isolated Indian island. When the aghori was drugged and hypnotized for...

The acclaimed author of Sistersong transforms the story of Herla and the Wild Hunt into a rich, feminist fantasy in this stunning tale of two great warriors, a war-torn land, and an ancient magic that is slowly awakening. Britain, 60AD. Hoping to save her lover, her land, and her people from the...

Discover the dark, starving truth behind the most misunderstood warriors in history. For centuries, Victorian nationalists, romantic poets, and Hollywood screenwriters have spoon-fed us a narrative of the Viking Age characterized by excess vitality and hyper-masculine energy. We are taught to view the raids on Lindisfarne and Paris as the arrogant flex of an unstoppable, well-fed military machine. Tomas Somerled’s BONE-THIN RAIDERS dismantles this retroactive propaganda piece by piece. Through a rigorous, multidisciplinary forensic investigation known as the Metabolic Trauma Protocol, ...

A wrong committed millennia ago leads Padric on a quest to stop a plot that threatens all of humanity. There is only one catch—Padric must first prove himself worthy to be heir of the ancient charioteer.

Mythology, Symbolism, and Meaning: Interpreting Myths, Archetypes, and Symbolic Systems Across Cultures and Eras BOOK 4: Medieval and Norse Mythology: Gods, Legends, and Symbolism in the Age of Faith and Sagas explores how myth shaped belief, identity, and daily life across medieval Europe and the Norse world. In an era defined by uncertainty, hardship, and deep religious conviction, myth was not entertainment or metaphor alone. It was a living system that explained fate, authority, morality, violence, and the structure of reality itself. This book presents a clear, accessible guide to how ...