Dear "King Arthur" subscriber,

If you have already become a patron of William and the Werewolf, the third in my series of illustrated translations of Middle English alliterative romances, I would like to thank you for doing so; please read no further!

If, on the other hand, you have yet to do so and haven't quite made up your mind, I thought I would contact you, as an existing patron of my work, to tell you more about it. It is currently 53% funded and well on the way to being published. But it still needs a little support to help it on its way!

William and the Werewolf is a Middle English romance transcribed in about 1350 on behalf of Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford and Essex. It is also known as William of Palerne and was originally transcribed from a twelfth century French romance called Guillaume de Palerne. I recently made a short film about Humphrey, and his castle at Pleshey in Essex, which you can see here.

The book tells the story of two disinherited earls, William and Alphonse, the latter turned into a werewolf by his father's jealous second wife (intent on ensuring the kingdom for her own son). William , threatened by an equally jealous uncle who wants the kingdom of Palerne (Palermo) for himself, is rescued from an intended murder plot by the werewolf - and so the story begins.

What's particularly interesting, I think, is that the story strangely parallels some of the life of Humphrey de Bohun (albeit without the werewolf!) - and highlights the vulnerability of mediaeval kings and earls and their need to be fair and just as leaders.

Like my other translations, William and the Werewolf is an alliterative romance. Like them too, I work very hard to replicate the original Middle English alliteration while, at the same time, evoking the atmosphere so engendered by the original's fourteenth century courtly language.I will also be illustrating the book with my own linocut prints. I'm busy at the moment preparing test images (see above).

For one lucky pledger, I am offering the original front cover art, hand tinted by me, as a de luxe unique pledge option (above: printed size 12 x 12 inches, hand printed on 250gsm Somerset Velvet paper).

It features William and his future wife Melior (herself far from an archtypal damsel in distress, as you'll see when you read the book!). They are shown in a stylised mediaeval manner typical of mediaeval illuinations (e.g. the characters are slightly out of proportion and larger than the landscape they inhabit) watched on by the benign werewolf (who is helped later on, don't worry!) 

But there are plenty of other pledge options to choose from as well (including greetings cards, original prints and specially dedicated copies). 

How to support the book

I hope very much you would like to support this third book in the series. If you would like to - and be named in the back as a patron - please click here.

Thank you once again for your support for my work - and for helping these fabulous mediaeval romances to gain the visibility they truly deserve.

Warmly,

 

Michael Smith

Translator and Printmaker

Your name can be in the back of this beautiful book as a patron! Please click here