Explore the motifs

…and over this ancient basement surface we overlaid younger sediments deriving from an uplifted mountain range of these same rocks, sediments of Ancient Greek mythology, Ancient Egyptian mythology, Athenian drama and Irish mythology…

…which in turn are overlaid with younger sediments of Welsh mythology and Breton lais…'

'I should point out that Quintin has studied geology,' interrupted Miranda. 'If you are viewing on a laptop, slide the pointer over one of these maps and slide it out again to see the latest sediments pile on top of one another.'

…and then younger sediments still, from sources from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, like Norse mythology, Arthurian legend and medieval romance. And all the Icelandic sagas.

And then on top, like puddles of sediment resting on all that is beneath, the outpouring of English poets like Chaucer, Spenser, Tennyson and Blake. Just to see what they were finding in the traditions they were steeped in, and dredging up in the poetic intuition that Robert Graves liked to speak about.

Boring along the surface of all these sediments, or just beneath the surface, like tunnels in a metro system, are the motifs,' said Miranda.

'Whichever route a tunnel takes, it always finds examples of itself in the strata it passes through, whichever strata it happens to encounter. Take 'Snakes and dragons' as an example. It cuts through Hebrew religion, Ancient Greek mythology, Norse mythology and Icelandic saga, European Bronze Age and Iron Age culture, mediaval romance and Arthurian legend, Breton lais and the poetry of William Blake and Edmund Spenser. Have a look for yourself. When you have viewed the geological map below by mousing over it. click the green button on the right and the metro lines of motifs will appear. The grey one is 'Snakes and dragons'. Click the green button again and mouse over the grey metro line, to view all the strata it passes through. Click on one of the stations to dive deeper into the system.

'Take Bond Street station, for example,' said Miranda. 'It is situated where the orange line, the grey line and the turquoise line all cut across one another, and it lies on very young sediments, the works of the English poet and artist William Blake. The orange line represents giants, the grey line 'snakes and dragons' and the turquoise line represents the concealment of identity. All three of these literary motifs are found in the works of William Blake.

'Curiously, Bond Street lies close to South Molton Street, where Blake lived for many years.'