Wild

Summary

Journey into the wilderness of northwestern Europe between the sixth and tenth centuries, an oft forgotten time in a mystical and magical place where the terror of the wilderness was surpassed only by its potential for salvation. This unique audiobook features 7 original songs—musical illustrations composed and performed by the author and her collaborators.

In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys—on foot and through medieval texts—from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the listener an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world. From the Old English elegies to the englynion and immrama of the Celtic world—stories that largely represent figures whose voices are not generally heard in the corpus of medieval literature: women, outcasts, animals.

All songs written by Amy Jeffs except for Colours, written by Robbie Haylett.

1. All Alone (Hos)

2. The Seafarer

3. Sweeney

4. The Whale

5. Wulf

6. Colours

7. Island of Birds

Arrangements by Robbie Haylett. Performances by Amy Jeffs, Robbie Haylett, Stephen Wilkinson, Christina Riedl, Will Rumney, Chris Keelty, Natalie Brice and Julien Harman-Evans.