Unriddling the World - by Hugh Lupton (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Stories are living things. They are viral. They enter us through our eyes and our ears and they take up residence inside us.

Unriddling the World is a collection of fifty traditional narratives - stories from the winding track that leads from nursery rhyme to the great tales of creation and redemption, by way of ballads, riddles, folk tales, legends, epics and myths. They've been shaped by countless voices and they've stood the test of time. They are concentrations of human experience and they speak in the enigmatic picture-language of dreams.

These Fifty Wonder Tales form the heart of Hugh Lupton's repertoire: from 'The Stone Monkey' to the 'Oil of Mercy', from 'The Pottle of Brains' to the 'Pool of Dharma', they are a gift from the past to the future, shaped for retelling by a master storyteller. They're alive . . . and they're waiting to be told again.

Review Quotes

"Not only a superbly rich anthology of stories, but a score for performance. These are tales that are orchestrated for the living voice, and the interaction of teller and hearer." -- Rowan Williams, bishop, theologian and poet

"Hugh Lupton's stories live and breathe. These tales, collected over a lifetime, are the matter of our deepest being, and in Lupton's language we relearn what it is to be a part of the human community. Read and be enraptured by the deepest magic of all: the absolute truth of the mythworld that binds us beyond time, across cultures." -- Erica Wagner, author of Chief Engineer and First Light

"Finding a voice as convincing when read as when heard is akin to walking a tightrope. Hugh Lupton is our finest British storyteller, and this marvellous worldwide anthology abounds with tales of endurance and compassion, friendship and wit. It's his outstanding and lasting legacy. Unriddling the World is my Desert Island book." -- Kevin Crossley-Holland, Carnegie Medalist, poet and author of the 'Arthur' trilogy

About the Author

Hugh Lupton's interest in traditional music, in street theatre, in live poetry and in myth, resulted in him becoming a professional storyteller in 1981. He was a founder member of 'The Company of Storytellers' and has been a major figure in the revival of oral storytelling in Britain and Europe. Hugh tells stories from many cultures, but his particular passion is for the hidden layers of the British landscape and the stories and ballads that give voice to them. He has published several collections of folk tales for children and two acclaimed novels, The Ballad of John Clare and The Assembly of the Severed Head. Hugh lives in Norfolk.