Firmly rooted in the past, these poems branch out from Old English and traditional ballads to the language of televised archeology and the travel guide, twisting from folk song to fairy tale to cafE gossip. In a tangled conversation between past and present, the voices of Vikings, poets, lovers, talking skulls, shipwrecked sailors, house painters, disgruntled middle managers, migrants and others jostle each other on their intricate journey from Rough Spun to Close Weave.

Praise for Lady Godiva and Me -

'Guilar has brought together a cast of characters that speak out...

'A Man of Heart', the second part of 'A Presentment of Englishry', is the story of Vortigern and the end of Roman Britain. It is also a story about story-telling. It continues to follow the narrative trajectory of Laȝamon's late 12th-century version of The Legendary History, the foundation myth of Britain. By the 12th century this had very little in common with 'History' as we understand it in the 21st. Attempts to resolve the discrepancies or reconcile Laȝamon's version with what we currently know about the period are futile. Nor is it possible to rationalize the chronology. There are...