Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a dark forest

For the straightforward path had been lost

(Dante. The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto 1)

It is said that in the Middle Ages a squirrel could have travelled from the cathedral at Bath and Wells to York Minster (well over 250 miles) without ever touching the ground so thickly wooded was the land in those days. Even now, just occasionally on my walks, I step out of the daylight into deep forest; the temperature drops, the shadows deepen, I check my step and glance around, then try to make out the path ahead. Millions of years of evolution have left a shadow of fear deep inside our brains in these surroundings. Small wonder that the dark woods stand for peril and loss of bearings in so many dark, dark tales.