A Green and Pagan Land: Myth, Magic and Landscape in British Film and Television

Description

British literature often refers to pagan and classical themes through richly detailed landscapes that suggest more than a mere backdrop of physical features. The myth-inspired writings of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Algernon Blackwood, Aleister Crowley, Lord Dunsany and even Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows informed later British films and television dramas such as The Owl Service (1969-70), Blood on Satan's Claw (1971), The Wicker Man (1973), Excalibur (1981) and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). The author analyzes the evocative language and esthetics of landscapes in literature, film, television and music, and how "psycho-geography" is used to explore the influence of the past on the present. Cover Table of Contents Preface Introduction: Into the Woods One. The Return of King Arthur Two. Who Is the Grail? Three. The Green Man Cometh… Four. Tristan and Isolde Five. Celtic Twilight Six. The Garden of Pan Seven. Et in Arcadia Ego Eight. The Golden Bough Nine. Witchcraft in the Village Ten. The Road to Penda’s Fen Chapter Notes Bibliography Index