Beginning with the landscape of a ruin, the artist takes the reader back in time to the original castle at the height of its rich and busy life. Here, a traveler tells tales- of other castles he has known, of castles in myth and legend, taking his audience from one ancient Great Hall to another in stories woven in the grand tradition- the Norse Sagas, Celtic myths, the tales of the Age of Chivalry- and always at the heart of each epic is the castle- the richly fascinating symbol that has held meaning for generations down through the centuries. The art of Alan Lee is illuminated by the prose of David Day in vividly evocative writing intricately woven into the many drawings and color spreads.