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The Five Fathoms
“SHE’S NOT A BRANWEN OR ANGHARAD, SHE’S NOT A LONG ROOTED, LONG VERSED STORY OF LAKE OR HILL, SHE IS A MOVER AND A WAKER AND A SHAKER, A LOOSE-HIPPED ZANZIBAR PRIESTESS OF THE BLOWN FUSE OF THE SACRED EVERYTHING, A PROPHETIC WANDERER, EVEN IF HER MIGRATIONS TAKE CENTURIES TO COMPLETE. SHE IS A GREAT CLATTER-BASH OF GNOSTIC LIGHTNING. WHEREVER SHE IS, SHE CAN REMEMBER A PLACE BEFORE THAT. SHE HAS CHARISMA IN EVERY SETTING.
“AND NOW, DUE TO A FASCINATION WITH STREET LIGHTS, SHE IS WALKING THE LANES. THEY ARE A DISAPPOINTMENT. SHE SLEEPS IN A BUS SHELTER.
“IN THE MORNING HER MIND IS FULL OF FUR AND LIGHT.”
When the gods have love affairs, they unfold over many centuries. A wandering deity - by turns a women, a salmon, and something else entirely that it is difficult to talk about - decides to revive her affections for the ancient Celtic god of the sea, Mannanan Mac Lir, and heads for the shoreline.
But on a Welsh beach, she encounters something else: tourists. And none of them think in myth anymore. They utter static and call it language. Unimpressed, she tells an Inuit tale to refresh their minds, to loosen their imaginations.
All the time, she is also sending the story as courtship to Mannanan, a story that contains a secret: could it be that this story within a story is actually the tale of their love affair?
THE FIVE FATHOMS is part of the Seven Doors in an Unyielding Stone series.
“AND NOW, DUE TO A FASCINATION WITH STREET LIGHTS, SHE IS WALKING THE LANES. THEY ARE A DISAPPOINTMENT. SHE SLEEPS IN A BUS SHELTER.
“IN THE MORNING HER MIND IS FULL OF FUR AND LIGHT.”
When the gods have love affairs, they unfold over many centuries. A wandering deity - by turns a women, a salmon, and something else entirely that it is difficult to talk about - decides to revive her affections for the ancient Celtic god of the sea, Mannanan Mac Lir, and heads for the shoreline.
But on a Welsh beach, she encounters something else: tourists. And none of them think in myth anymore. They utter static and call it language. Unimpressed, she tells an Inuit tale to refresh their minds, to loosen their imaginations.
All the time, she is also sending the story as courtship to Mannanan, a story that contains a secret: could it be that this story within a story is actually the tale of their love affair?
THE FIVE FATHOMS is part of the Seven Doors in an Unyielding Stone series.
36 pages, Paperback
Published October 31, 2018
37 people want to read
About the author
Martin Shaw
22 books413 followersDr Martin Shaw is an acclaimed teacher of myth. Author of the award-winning Mythteller trilogy (A Branch from the Lightning Tree, Snowy Tower, Scatterlings), he founded the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University, whilst being director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK.
He has introduced thousands of people to mythology and how it penetrates modern life. For twenty years Shaw has been a wilderness rites of passage guide, working with at-risk youth, the sick, returning veterans and many women and men seeking a deeper life.
His translations of Gaelic poetry and folklore (with Tony Hoagland) have been published in Orion Magazine, Poetry International, Kenyon Review, Poetry Magazine and the Mississippi Review.
Shaw’s most recent books include The Night Wages, Cinderbiter, Wolf Milk, Courting the Wild Twin, All Those Barbarians, Wolferland and his Lorca translations, Courting the Dawn (with Stephan Harding). His essay and conversation with Ai Weiwei on myth and migration was released by the Marciano Arts foundation.
For more on Martin Shaw’s work:
cistamystica.com | drmartinshaw.com | schoolofmyth.com | martinshaw.substack.com
He has introduced thousands of people to mythology and how it penetrates modern life. For twenty years Shaw has been a wilderness rites of passage guide, working with at-risk youth, the sick, returning veterans and many women and men seeking a deeper life.
His translations of Gaelic poetry and folklore (with Tony Hoagland) have been published in Orion Magazine, Poetry International, Kenyon Review, Poetry Magazine and the Mississippi Review.
Shaw’s most recent books include The Night Wages, Cinderbiter, Wolf Milk, Courting the Wild Twin, All Those Barbarians, Wolferland and his Lorca translations, Courting the Dawn (with Stephan Harding). His essay and conversation with Ai Weiwei on myth and migration was released by the Marciano Arts foundation.
For more on Martin Shaw’s work:
cistamystica.com | drmartinshaw.com | schoolofmyth.com | martinshaw.substack.com
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March 12, 2020
A mythical tale from deep deep waters. Twisting and turning line the ocean waves and ending with an oyster pearl.
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