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    The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
    The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
    The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

    Written by Alan Garner

    Narrated by Philip Madoc

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    "The heart of the magic was sealed with Firefrost, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen … should Nastrond destroy the stone, then the magic will die away." When Colin and Susan are pursued by eerie creatures across Alderley Edge, the Wizard – Cadellin Silverbrow – takes them to safety deep in the caves of Fundindelve. Here he watches over the enchanted sleep of one hundred and forty knights, awaiting the fated hour when they must rise and fight. But the Weirdstone of Brisingamen is lost and the forces of evil are closing in. The children realise that they are the key to its return, but how can they defeat the powerful magic of the Morrigan and her deadly brood? First published in 1960, four decades before Harry Potter, Alan Garner’s novel of magic and wizards has endured and become a modern classic of children’s literature.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateAug 1, 2005
    ISBN9789629544003
    Author

    Alan Garner

    Alan Garner was born and still lives in Cheshire, an area which has had a profound effect on his writing and provided the seed of many ideas worked out in his books. His fourth book, ‘The Owl Service’ brought Alan Garner to everyone’s attention. It won two important literary prizes – The Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal – and was made into a serial by Granada Television. It has established itself as a classic and Alan Garner as a writer of great distinction.

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    Reviews for The Weirdstone of Brisingamen

    4/5

    54 ratings24 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This was one of the first fantasies influenced by Tolkien and Lewis before the later flood. It involves two children, Colin and Susan, who go to stay with the farmer Gowther and his wife Bess in Cheshire near Alderley. Bess had been Susan's mother's nurse and had given her a crystal which her mother passed on to Susan. This turns out to e the weirdstone, Firefrost, a focus of magical power, sought by the evil witch SElina (who uses real black magic rituals Garner found in old texts) and the orc-like svarts, and protected by the Gandalf-like wizard Cadellin and the good dwarves.
    • 3/5
      I know I read this book as a child but I don't remember anything in it. Perhaps I read books a little fast as a child, inhabiting each one and passing to the next without taking much with me? But this book doesn't have a heap of emotional resonance and the ending, after the detailed action, seems abrupt.
    • 5/5
      I haven't read this book for years. I'd forgotten how terrifying I'd found it, there is a whole section when the group is fleeing through the tunnels that terrified me, in the way that children love to be scared. Garner is a master storyteller. Fantastic.
    • 5/5
      Colin and Susan are sent to stay with their mother's nurse in Alderley Edge and while exploring the landscape, as children are wont to do, they become embroiled in an age-old conflict and the adventure begins. Alan Garner weaves together myth, folkore and landscape in a wonderful children's tale. Although Garner takes great pains to describe landscape and the feeling it invokes in the characters, the characterisation of the various players in the tale is somewhat absent apart from what we learn from their actions. As the tale is aimed at children, this is not really a drawback as imagination is brought into play and attributes can be allocated to each character as desired. As an audio version, and not having read the actual book, I was pleased with the choice of Philip Madoc as narrator. Different voices were employed, as well as accents though these might seem very out of place in modern-day Alderley Edge which has a rather different populace from that of when the book was penned. I found Mr Madoc's voice rather soothing, though he held my attention throughout.As an adult I enjoyed the tale, and, as a youngster I would relished the book and it would have become a firm favourite.
    • 3/5
      I studied this book when I was in grade 7 and remember enjoying it.
    • 4/5
      I find it peculiar that we don't know the ages of Susan and Colin, which one is the older sibling, what they look like or anything about their backgrounds. They seem to have identical personalities. It makes it hard to get interested in them, although by being so generic I suppose they're easier to identify with. Struggling with this, I came to page forty where the characters miss the obvious connection that I did not. That's when I started skimming. The adventure that ensues is decently written and there's some good atmosphere, but there was nothing compelling me to slow down. Most of it is travelogue without plot development, the author's detailed knowledge of the setting mistakenly leading to his outlining every smallest bit of woods and meadow, etc. with geographic precision. The ending is extremely abrupt, cutting off at the very second the climax is resolved.I read WoB as a result of working through the "501 Must-Read" books list. Unfortunately this is one of the titles that makes me wonder why it was selected. I've childhood favourites of my own that I'd rather weren't put down by anyone but, all mercy aside, WoB would not stand out in YA fiction if published today. Perhaps in 1960 a modern story about dwarfs and wizards was relatively scarce, so it could be bland and still be found engaging. This book is widely praised and could be termed a classic if allowing for its age and possibly its influence, but I'd sooner revisit Tolkien's hobbits, Susan Cooper's take on the Wild Hunt legend, or Lloyd Alexander's Prydain.
    • 4/5
      I was prompted to read this children's classic fantasy novel, first published in 1960, by seeing a post on Alan Garner in a blog by someone I know professionally involved in teaching children to read and enjoy literature. It's also to an extent a re-read as I read at least some of it as a teenager in the late 70s/early 80s, though I recalled nothing of it. It's wonderfully written and imaginative, the story of two children, Susan and Colin, who get involved with a variety of good and evil fantasy creatures, seeking the significant eponymous stone, chasing through caves and across hills, forests and plains in Cheshire, the author's native area. While it's definitely high quality, and gripping in places, I found it didn't really stir me emotionally quite as much as I thought it might. I will read the famous sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, and probably the third and very much later volume in the trilogy, Boneland.
    • 2/5
      I found a boxed set of 4 children's stories written by Alan Garner. These are bog standard classic British fantasies derived from folklore of the British Isles. What I find most interesting is that these stories each end quite abruptly at the climax showing that the initial problem that spurred the story has been addressed. No resolution, no wrap up, just mission accomplished, drop curtain.The Weirdstone of Brisingamen was published in 1960 and features siblings Colin and Susan who have just arrived at the village of Alderley Edge in Cheshire, due south of Manchester, for an extended stay while their parents are out of the country. They immediately explore the woods of The Edge, a hilly area that includes abandoned mines and quarries just outside the village, and fall headlong into adventure involving the morthbrood (witches) headed by the Morrigan, svarts or svart-alfar (goblins) headed by Arthog and Slinkveal, the dwarves Fenodytree and Durathror and their fearsome swords Widowmaker and Dyrnwyn, the wizard Cadellin Silverbrow, Angharad Goldenhand (the Lady of the Lake) and various others. Everyone is seeking Firefrost, the weirdstone that powers the enchantment that keeps a king of yore with 149 of his valorous knights, all accompanied by pure white steeds all asleep until the final battle when they are needed. Cadellin is their eternal guardian and rescues the children from evil creatures, thus introducing High Magic into their existence as they seek to understand why the children are in danger. It's a blend of high fantasy, Celtic gods, and Arthurian legend by other names.
    • 5/5
      I first read this at 9 years old, and the die was cast, I later bought the above copy at 11 in an experience which memory makes as magical as the book in a little bookshop in Flinders Lane. Although I am now much older the book still exerts a powerful hold on me, and although I later moved onto such giants of fantasy as Toklien and Lewis. Its a tale whose blending of the real landscape of Chesire with its mythic past holds a supreme place in my love of such tales.
    • 3/5
      I remember reading some of Alan Garner's books when I was much younger. I found them creepy as hell then, and he certainly does know what kinds of images to evoke to have that feeling of danger and creepiness. There's a lot of claustrophobia in this book -- tunnels and water-filled passages and being packed in tight. There are parts of the description that are just brilliant.

      The mythology aspects are pretty cool, too. The references to Ragnarok, etc. I don't know whether it's that whole 'younger readers can accept the unnatural much better than adults' thing that people mentioned when reading Diana Wynne Jones, though, but I found it hard to follow and it all piled in on top of everything else in a haphazard, difficult to process manner. Didn't help that I read parts of it when everyone was around talking, and parts in a cafe, but I think part of it was the writing.

      Overall it's pretty fun, but the characters aren't terribly well developed. I know it's a trope of fantasy for younger readers that the kids get to tag along, and be equal to adults, etc, etc -- I love The Dark is Rising, which is almost as guilty of it -- but it makes me shriek, the way the adults easily accept the kids being dragged into it, and the way the kids seem to just... deal with it. Realism, you can not has it.

      I'm going to read the sequel, since I have it, but I can't say I exactly recommend it. It doesn't come together very well for me, for all that bits of it are brilliant/cool/fun.
    • 4/5
      This and its sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, are Alan Garner's best.
    • 5/5
      I adored this book as a young teen. It completely captured me in a way no other book had ( except Something Wicked This Way Comes) I drew countless illustrations of it. I loved the style and the story. Poetic and exciting, though I suspect the style wouldn't go down as easy with teens today perhaps?.
    • 5/5
      This book was prescribed reading when I was in year eight. I remember the teacher reading out loud and the whole class silent, engrossed and mesmerised by this story. When the bell rang for the end of class I think everyone was collectively disappointed. I'm yet to get my hands on this, for my own collection, but when I do I intend to read this to my own children - who are at present very young - and I hope to evoke that same feeling I had when it was read to me. Memorable.
    • 5/5
      This was one of my absolute favourite books as a child, and is still amongst my top ten of all time. I have read it countless times, and it never loses its suspense or magic.
    • 5/5
      A classic! There is a sequel, but this book is complete and doesn't end with a cliffhanger. Brother and sister in the English countryside. She finds the stone that's been handed down for generations is wanted by forces both evil and good.
    • 5/5
      One of the most magical and influential books of my childhood, this is Garner's early masterpiece (however sniffy you may choose to get about the hodgepodge of mythologies). Two children are sent to live in the myth-stalked landscape of Alderley Edge. Searching for the Wizard of legend, they find themselves threatened by goblins at dusk - and are rescued by the wizard and his allies. The children soon discover that not all walking legends are pleasant as they become the object of the Morrigan's attentions and must join the ongoing battle to keep Britain safe from the morthbrood.It is the language and the sense of place that makes this a real gem. Garner knows every byway he describes, and the setting is inextricably part of the drama, even more so than the various mythological borrowings that propel the plot. The characters - especially down-to-earth farmer Gowther Mossock and direct dwarf Fenodyree - are unforgettable.In many ways this is underdrawn, with much suggested rather than shown or told (unusually so for a children's book), which is part of its eternal appeal. This book sparks the imagination, opening up dreams and nightmares at any age.Speaking of evocative description - I blame this novel specifically for my discomfort with tight spaces. Claustrophobics beware - the Earldelving leaves its mark!
    • 5/5
      I first read this book aged 10 at school. After reading the story we visited Alderley Edge to see the places and the settings for the book, which really brought the book alive.Garner wrote some wonderful books for children which weren't patronising and were always exciting.
    • 5/5
      Two children Colin and Susan, spent their holidays on a farm on Alderley Edge, Cheshire and soon find themselves caught up in a world of wizard's, goblins and witches. Many children's adventures hav e an obligatory underground tunnel sequence; this has the best and most terrifying, bar none.
    • 4/5
      I am a regular Radio 4 listener and listened to a recent reading of this book, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of its publication. Set in and around Alderley Edge in Cheshire, which is a patch I know very well, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is a playful, famous five-ish, apparently 'seminal' fantasy novel which set the way for classics such as His Dark Materials. Colin and Susan are sent to live with a family friend in Alderley Edge for six months as their parents are otherwise occupied. The family friend is a farmer's wife, Bess who lives next to 'the Edge' (not the bassist from U2) with her husband Gowther and their flock of various animals. So, the Edge at Alderley is described by Wikipedia as "a steep and thickly wooded sandstone ridge... which is the area's chief topographical feature. Alderley Edge overlooks the Cheshire Plain". There are views for miles around "From its highest point, the Edge affords panoramic views across Cheshire and the Peak District and walking paths through the property, as well as one to nearby National Trust property Hare Hill. From the Edge, the Cheshire Plain, can be seen extending from the area of Macclesfield Forest on the south east side with its with undulating land and woods, towards the extreme easterly point of the Derbyshire peaks, and northerly to Manchester and Blackstone Edge in Yorkshire.Until trees were planted at the Edge (1745–1755), visitors to the Edge could see a full 360° panorama of the country around; today the view from the Edge itself is limited to the northerly and easterly directions. Trees now obscure the views in other directions, including views of the Wrekin in Shropshire to the south; The Cloud near Bosley and Mow Cop (where the Cheshire Plain meets the Peckforton Hills, Beeston Castle, and the Delamere Forest) to the south west; and west to the mountains of North Wales".Colin and Susan spend the days of the summer holidays exploring the edge and the surrounding parkland, under strict instructions from Gowther not to enter the abandoned mines (which actually exist). When one day, Colin and Susan encounter a white bearded man called Cadellin, their time at Alderley transforms beyond all recognition.Cadellin is the several hundreds of years old guardian of Fundindelve, an underground sanctuary of dwarves and magicians, but his power to keep Fundindelve safe and to keep the world safe is limited by the absence of the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, a stone of great power. Unbeknownst to everyone, Susan is wearing the Weirdstone around her wrist. Cadellin issues a warning for Susan and Colin to stay away from the Edge, that they may be in grave danger. But, after a few months of staying away, Colin and Susan are unable to resist exploring Stormy Point and the Edge. They are captured by the evil Svarts who steal the Weirdstone.From this point onwards, Susan and Colin and a cast of helpers struggle to fight the evil forces of Grimmir and his associates.Good points of this book include the brilliant sense of place and tense atmosphere that persists through the book. Alderley Edge is depicted accurately, I recognised lots of features described in the book including the steep climb towards the Edge, the Wizard pub, the houses scattered around the hillsides.A fairly major lacking point however was the total absence of characterisation of Susan and Colin. There is nothing to distinguish them, they are never described in detail, they are truly a blank canvass. I felt this was a significant flaw in the book, especially when you compare it to later creations such as Lyra in His Dark Materials. For these reasons, I can't give the book more than 3 1/2 stars.
    • 5/5
      Atmospheric children's fantasy with quite scary villains and monsters. I'd read it before this year, but it was good to revisit.
    • 5/5
      I recently re-read this after about 30 years and I have to say it is still enchanting. Set in a time of innocence but danger and Garner brings out the characters well. By the end of the book you feel you know Gowther and Colin and Susan. Probably a little dark for the young with its detailed encounters in the Earldelving.
    • 5/5
      Read first when I was about eight. Reread it on a cold afternoon. Garner is one of the best of a strand of British children's authors who let ambiguity and confusion into their works. I remember this and his others gave me a very "grown up" feel when I first read them, and I can still see why. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Another book that I was surprised I hadn't read before. I loved Garner's use of archaic forms of English and was completely freaked out by the claustrophobia-inducing description of getting through the narrow spaces of the cave (although I could have done with a diagram at times, finding some of the scene difficult to picture).

      In places I thought it was overly reliant on Tolkein's work, but the evocation of the places around Alderley Edge made up for that in some degree. I left the novel half-finished before I went to sleep and my dreams were haunted by the landscape.
    • 4/5
      Garner writes wonderfully and Madoc reads wonderfully. In my youth this would have been a favourite. Nowadays I want a bit more than thrilling quests. Beautifully done.