Troy: Our Greatest Story Retold (Stephen Fry’s Greek Myths, 3)

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Traditional Witchcraft – A Cornish Book of Ways is a 21st century version of traditional Cornish witchcraft, of the kind recorded by Hunt, Bottrell and others. This is no neo-pagan or modern wiccan manual, but rather a deep drawing up into modern times of some of the ancient practices of lore and magic practiced by the white witches, charmers, conjurers and pellars of the Cornish villages. Their presence was still current when the 18th and 19th century antiquarians and collectors recorded them, and, although the 20th century largely put paid to their activities, nevertheless their lore never completely disappeared, and it continues to provide inspiration for practitioners today. Gemma draws on this knowledge, not only from published material, but also from the experiences and workings of ‘wise women’ and country witches living today.

In the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, Troy Book enjoyed considerable reputation and influence. Not long after it was composed, it served as the source for a prose Sege of Troy, which retold the story through the fall of the city at the end of Lydgate's Book 4. In The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye (STC 15375), the first book printed in English (c. 1475), William Caxton professes that there is no need for him to translate the portion of his French source, Raoul Lefévre's Recueil des Histoires de Troie, dealing with the fall of Troy: "And as for the thirde book whiche treteth of the generall and last destruccioun of Troye Hit nedeth not to translate hit into englissh ffor as moche as that worshifull and religyous man dan John lidgate monke of Burye did translate hit but late // after whos werke I fere to take upon me that am not worthy to bere his penner and ynke horne after hym, to medle me in that werke" (Epilogue to Book 2). Troy Book's classical topic, narrative scope, and moral purpose probably had something to do with William Dunbar's inclusion of Lydgate with Chaucer and John Gower as a triad of originary English poets in his early-sixteenth-century "Lament for the Makaris": "The noble Chaucer, of makaris flour, / The Monk of Bery, and Gower, all thre" (lines 50-51). Richard Pynson printed the first edition of Troy Book in 1513, under the title The hystorye / sege and dystruccyon of Troye (STC 5579). As A. S. G. Edwards and Carol M. Meale note, Pynson's edition was printed at the command of Henry VIII to manipulate public opinion in his first French compaign (p. 99). Thomas Marshe printed a second edition in 1555, with a prefatory epistle by Robert Braham (STC 5580). The continuing influence of Troy Book can be detected in Thomas Heywood's modernization, printed in 1614 as The Life and Death of Hector (STC 13346a), and in the works of Robert Henryson, Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare. The sense of Trojan history and particularly of Cressida's character in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida bear the imprint of Lydgate's poem.Simpson, James (2004) [1986]. "Chaucer's Presence and Absence, 1400-1550". In Boitani, Piero; Mann, Jill (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Chaucer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521894670 . Retrieved 5 August 2012.

A pendant in pewter depicting the ‘Toad and Host’, a sign invoking the solitary initiatory tradition of the toad-wtich. A tradition found in the lore of numerous parts of Britain gives the initiation being conferred by the witch circling a church before feeding part of the consecrated Host to a toad – Often the ‘Devi’ in disguise. It is thus a symbol of the Divine spark within all things and the old tenet of ‘ All is One‘. An amiable meander through the historic sources . . . Fry's light and graceful tone helps to ease the unfamiliar reader through the complicated genealogies The Times

Finlayson, John. "Guido de Columnis' Historia destructionis Troiae, the 'Gest Hystorial' of the Destruction of Troy, and Lydgate's Troy Book: Translation and the Design of History." Anglia 113 (1995), 141-62. The link with Henry also has some enticing biographical dimensions. Lydgate spent time at Oxford in Gloucester College, which the Benedictines maintained for monks engaged in university study. Henry had studied at Queen's College in 1394, and sometime between 1406 and 1408 wrote Lydgate's abbot asking for permission for Lydgate to continue his studies, either in divinity or canon law. Henry's letter mentions that he has heard good reports about Lydgate; it does not indicate necessarily that the Prince of Wales and the monk had a personal acquaintance. John Norton-Smith proposes, however, that Lydgate resided in Oxford from approximately 1397 to 1408 and that he met Henry (p. 195n). The rubrics of Lydgate manuscripts owned by the fifteenth-century antiquarian John Shirley suggest that Lydgate and Henry shared interests in the liturgy, but these are textual sources that postdate Troy Book. Henry's religious fervor matched his enthusiasm for tales of chivalry. Schirmer argues that Lydgate's attitude differs from his patron's endorsement of military adventure. He contends, for example, that Lydgate initially invokes Mars (Pro. 1-37) but reproves him (4.4440-4536) after Henry becomes king. In his view, the line "[a]lmost for nought was this strif begonne" (2.7855) refers not just to the Trojan War but also to the pointlessness of the French war. Lydgate's peace sentiments seem, however, more the expression of commonplace counsel than a rejection of Henry's policies. To be sure, there are profound tensions and contradictions in Troy Book, but they grow out of the narrative that Lydgate recounts and embellishes and not from a kind of authorial resistance. In its immediate historical context, the poem aims to affirm chivalric virtues, offer examples and moral precepts, and celebrate the national myth of Trojan origins. We are delighted to welcome Kerry Wisner to Troy Books and present the The Willow Path – Witchcraft, Hermetics BP's support for UK arts and culture spans a period of over 50 years. The company's partnership with the British Museum began in 1996, enabling a diverse range of initiatives including the development of the BP Lecture Theatre. Today support for the Museum is focused on its special exhibitions programme. Troy Book was Lydgate's first full-scale work. [4] It was commissioned from Lydgate by the Prince of Wales (later Henry V), who wanted a poem that would show the English language to be as fit for a grand theme as the other major literary languages, [5]

Ayers, Robert W. "Medieval History, Moral Purpose and the Structure of Lydgate's Siege of Thebes." PMLA 73 (1958), 463-74. When Helen, the beautiful Greek queen, is kidnapped by the Trojan prince Paris, the most legendary war of all time begins. Atwood, E. Bagby. "Some Minor Sources of Lydgate's Troy Book." Studies in Philology 35 (1938), 25-42. To have success in all matters, including love – a talisman given in Nummits and crummits: Devonshire customs, characteristics, and folklore by Sarah Hewett, 1900.

Jones, Terry; etal. (2004) [2003]. Who Murdered Chaucer? A Medieval Mystery. London: Methuen. ISBN 0413759202. A symbol within some branches of traditional witchcraft depicting, among other things, the altar of the Wise, the six-fold cross of the Ways, the witches’ God, the Huntsman and the sacrificial King. Hoccleve's Regement of Princes: The Poetics of Royal Self-Representation." Speculum 69 (1994), 386-410.