The Perilous Deep

What a wonderful book this is, chock-full of mystery and magic. Promising to take the reader “on a seafaring voyage”, it delivers on all fronts. Beautifully written, engaging throughout and wonderfully illustrated, we encounter the “merfolk, ghosts, phantom ships and sea monsters” that have populated folklore tales, myths, legends and dreams for centuries. Take a dive into The Perilous Deep with Karl Bell, who brings exemplary scholarship as well as storytelling flair to the lightless depths of the “supernatural and monstrous Atlantic”. * Ruth Heholt, Professor of Literature and Culture, Falmouth University *
More than a compendium of maritime folklore, The Perilous Deep explores how mariners and landlubbers alike have used storytelling to make sense of their relationship to the sea. Engaging with the godlings, leviathans, ghost ships, serpents, selkies and mermaids that haunt the Atlantic, Karl Bell shows that while the ocean can be a place of terror, it is also a place of possibility. * David Hopkin, Professor of European Social History, Hertford College, University of Oxford, and President of the Folklore Society *
In this absorbing and entertaining survey, Karl Bell explores how the fear of and fascination with the vastness and unknowable depths of the North Atlantic Ocean were expressed through beliefs and stories of the supernatural. The meaning of spectral ships, omens, talismans, taboos, mermaids, sea monsters and Atlantis are explored using a rich range of sources from journalism, folklore and fiction. * Owen Davies, Professor of Social History, University of Hertfordshire *