The Teller

The Teller is a tale set in the late Bronze Age, told by an itinerant storyteller to members of an Iron Age tribe living on a defended hilltop c 405 BC in the region now known as the Welsh Marches. It describes survival during worsening weather and how they sustained themselves on what little was available. Apart from when luxuries such as meat, fish, wheat, barley and peas, were obtainable, the rest of their diet was barely nourishing, similar to what would now be described as foraging fare. Central to everything, was the might of bronze and those controlling its manufacture, plus woven into that control was the power of the Seers, 'those who know,' intermediaries between the spirit world and the people. These small power groups holding sway of production of the vital metal and supposedly forces of nature, courtesy of the holy men, gripped the numerous tribes in their thrall. Then slowly emerging, with the likelihood of bringing the whole edifice crashing, came the knowledge of iron. The main family in the tale, coped better than most with prevailing conditions and also began to question accepted wisdom. Their story involves battles against injustice, slavery and wild tribal incursions, told in a conversational, unassuming manner with archaeological details dropped in where relevant. To bring the characters to life, the author took the bold step of using fairly contemporary dialogue, minus of course, modern words and phrases that would jar and those abounding from recent centuries that could not possibly have been known by a storyteller plying his trade, Mid-Iron Age, plus of course, all present day measures of time and distance were off limits. Hopefully, the reader will feel as if offered access to their escapades and lives unfolding, without them even realising they are being observed.