Old Stories for New Audiences
Writers of historical fiction must remain true to the historical record while telling an old story that will engage a modern audience.
It’s tricky...
The least contested are retellings of myths and legends, which are often dismissed as superstitions cooked up to explain how the earth was formed or why spring returns.
Perhaps because they express universal truths, we miss the historical reality that underlies many of them. I think here of two that are dear to my heart: Beowulf and the Minotaur.
My research for Bones and Keeps, my historical fantasy about Beowulf, convinced me that he was both a real 6th century king and a reflection of Northern European shamanism.
The Minotaur story comes from the Greeks, a civilization that rose only when the Minoan civilization of ancient Crete was destroyed by volcanic eruptions. But the bull was a powerful force for the Minoans in both religious and daily life, so I wonder how different the story of an upstart Greek invader would be if the Minoans were alive to tell it.
Whatever historical reality may lie behind these tales, today’s writer can take practically any liberty with them. Though I draw the line at Beowulf fathering the dragon with Angelina Jolie in the 2007 movie Beowulf.
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Artwork: Yoann Lossel ("Beowulf - The Fight with the Dragon")
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