She waited patiently for passerby, but her special victims were children. This tree, the last vestige of a forest that had covered the land before history began, evidently gave her special shelter. She haunted the Dane Hilld and, at twilight, crouched in an oak tree. ‘Said to be a descendant of an ancient, bloodthirsty goddess, Black Annis was one-eyed, livid-faced and long clawed. It’s always exciting to come across a creature in British folklore who I haven’t already encountered. Among such charms was the field-grown daisy – the cherished “day’s eye” of the British, which opened its petals to the sun each morning and closed them again at nightfall.’ Travellers also clung to certain objects that recalled the light of day, hoping that these might cast day’s grace on them and shield them from the dark. The rowan was the Northmen’s ancient World Tree, the source of life and guardian of humankind. ‘If he was wise, his walking staff was made of rowan – mountain ash. Within chapter one, there is also talk of those who choose to stay out when the moon is heavy, and I’m reminded once more of exactly why I love these books and admire the researchers behind the contents. Then the curfew sounded, tolled by a bell or called by a horn, and lords and ladies retreated to their fortresses and dropped the gates…the darkness that blanketed the turning world in those days is hard to envision now.’ Grandmothers herded flocks of geese to the haven of pens. Lowing cattle, their bells clanking dully, were driven into their byres. The crows gave their last, harsh calls and took wing for their woods. But that cheerful order began to dissolve each afternoon when the shadows lengthened. ‘By day, the world presented an orderly picture: in the shadow of bristling castle towers, linen smocked farmers, attended by flocks of greedy cows, ploughed and sowed and harvested white-wimpled goodwives tended their hearth plots blacksmiths worked their forges children played in the fields. When the talk comes to that of how the night has influenced the human race over the centuries, I find myself making myself that bit more comfortable in my seat and allowing a grin to snake its way across my face. Doom and disease, pain and strife, sorrow and age were her children, and she was the mother of those same-seeming twins, death and sleep.’ Darkly fecund, she gave birth to a host of terrors. ‘In Greece, the night goddess – first child of Chaos – was called Nyx. What I absolutely love about this book is the fact that every page or so, I’m introduced to something new, or my knowledge about some dark force is enhanced. ‘These beings were vestiges of chaos, remnants of a formless time older than human reckoning.’ĭoesn’t that sentence taste so devilishly delicious on your tongue? The (multiple) editors of this book have crafted each sentence with precision, creativity and a strong, heady dash of darkness. It’s beautifully dark and alluring, drawing you in so you hold the book tighter, closer to yourself and get lost for a few hours or so. The writing is elaborate but not to the point of excess. Anyway, Night Creatures is, like it’s twenty siblings absolutely stunning, with the highest quality illustrations, durable paper and strong, hardback covers.Ĭhapter One – Perilous Paths Through The Dark features an edited version of Beowulf, followed by a more general discussion of creatures of the dark from around the globe. The book I am writing about here was a gift a couple of years back, and came from one of the finest bookshops in the land – Bookcase in Carlisle, a place you could easily wander for a week. I seem to recall owning a mass of these Time-Life books as a child, but where they’ve disappeared to is sadly another story. ‘Most people chose to sleep when daylight faded.’
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