Treasures on Earth by Jeremy Harte
Beneath the British Isles, there lies a wealth of treasure. Not just the golden treasures, as discovered in Sutton Hoo, but a wealth of folklore treasures that imbibe not just the landscape, but also permeate our identity as a nation.
In Treasures on Earth: Buried Wealth in Landscape and Legend, folklorist Jeremy Harte takes us on a treasure hunt through the myriad tales of adventure and misadventure, which have taken people searching, not just with metal detectors, but with little more than a glimmer of hope, to track these elusive treasures, sometimes never to be seen again!
The allure of Viking treasures buried around Britain has long been a topic of discussion and treasure hunts, some of which date back centuries. They have involved not just the living, but also the dead, with tales of ghostly apparitions luring the willing treasure seeker, frequently, to misfortune or their demise, and rarely to the elusive treasure.
Such tales have permeated British folklore for centuries, and the tales of curses, ghosts, and witches have embodied our culture, but also the magic in the country’s myths and magic, with tales of dragons, fairies and other creatures of the magical realm. These tales of hidden treasures have enchanted not just the younger readers of the ages, but also the adults who have ventured out to seek any truth behind these myths. In itself, Jeremy Harte in Treasures on Earth: Buried Wealth in Landscape and Legend, entices a new era of readers to seek out these treasures, and I will happily admit, I’m very tempted to start seeking these out for myself!
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Treasures on Earth: Buried Wealth in Landscape and Legend by Jeremy Harte is out now and published by Reaktion Books (£15.99). To order a copy, go to reaktionbooks.co.uk
Founder and Editor of Pilgrim House and The Gothic Revival, currently undertaking research in Gothic Literature and religion and working on a book on Folklore and early Welsh Christianity. Tom’s other work on music, poetry, health along other writings and images can be found at tomasstanger.com