The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner.

Anthony G Williams

Anthony G Williams

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(A review from my blog)

This was first published in 1960 and, while it is a children's book, it is well-enough written to grip adults too. The story is set in contemporary Cheshire and features many geographical locations around Alderley Edge and Macclesfield (the author still lives in the area). The plot involves two children (brother and sister) who stay with friendly adults in a farm by Alderley Edge (a large hill and also the name of a nearby village) while their parents are abroad for a few months. The trouble starts when the girl's bracelet is recognised as containing a strange stone – the weirdstone of the title – which has ancient magical significance and has long been missing. This brings all kinds of witches, wizards and non-human denizens of the underworld (literally – Alderley Edge is honeycombed with old mine workings) out into the open to battle for control of the stone in a classic good vs evil contest.

There are Tolkienesque echoes here, but the use of a real setting in the contemporary world, with two normal (if brave and resourceful) children as the heroes gives an entirely different feel. The quality of the writing, fast pacing and relatively short length (236 pages in my paperback edition) make this a story to be devoured in a couple of sessions. Alan Garner was one of the best-regarded children's fantasy authors of the 1960s and it is easy to see why. Highly recommended, and easy to obtain – it was reprinted as recently as 2002. Also available is a sequel – The Moon of Gomrath – which is high on my 'to be read' list.
 
Yes, you should definitely read The Moon of Gomrath. It's even better than The Weirdstone. There are parts of it that still resonate for me thirty years later (and that were just as good when I reread the book a few years ago).
 
I can remember reading tWoB as a seven year old. Brilliant, it was. I'll still get it out every other year or so, and read through it.

I haven't read tMoG, though, I don't think.
 
Woo, you too, Ace? Put me off caving for life.....
And the Mara. Hoo boy!
 
The Ace said:
What sticks in my mind is the Earl Delving, it still comes back to me in nightmares.
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I did a lot of caving as a student, so it didn't bother me - I think that Garner must have done so as well, because his description was quite realistic of some of the trickier passages I went through. I well remember squeezing through tight muddy cracks, and passing through water-filled stretches of passage on my back because the only air was in a small crack running along the roof, so I had to keep my nose in that. It was not unnusual to have to submerge completely to have to pass through 'sumps', as well. And then there were the drops which could only be negotiated by attaching the wire ladder so it ran down the middle of a waterfall...

I never did anything so daft as to cross a long drop by walking on a thin plank bridge, though. That bit was inspired more by Tolkien, I think!
 
Yes, I had a friend at college who was a spelunker, and he often offered to take me down, in the Yorkshire Dales, but I would always remember Garner's descriptions.....I preferred climbing, at least you didn't have to hold your breath underwater, underground! Mind you, I have nothing but the greatest of admiration for those that pioneered such routes.
AGW said:
but the use of a real setting in the contemporary world, with two normal (if brave and resourceful) children as the heroes gives an entirely different feel.
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I think this is one of the reasons I liked WoB, and MoG, so much - the feeling that you, a normal 20th century kid, could, conceivably, get mixed up in this strange and scary world. The identifiable setting in Cheshire anchored the setting very firmly, with the character of Gowther being notably solid.
 
Caving can produce some beautiful moments.

I recall going down Bar Pot in Yorkshire, near Ingleborough. It was easy enough - just a 100 foot ladder pitch to drop down into the system, followed by a long walk through stream passages. The punch line came when we emerged into Gaping Ghyll. On the surface, this is just a large hole, maybe 20-30 feet across, the top of a vertical shaft falling several hundred feet. But at the bottom, it opens out into a vast cavern, and that's what we walked into. From memory, it measures something like 500 feet long by 100 wide and 100 high. Enough light filtered down from the hole in the roof to see it, and also to illuminate the delicate waterfall, more of a mist, which fell down the hole. It was, quite literally, an awe-inspiring sight.

In the summer, people used to rig up a winch at the top, with a chair on the end of a long cable, so that visitors could be lowered down the hole and into the cavern: I don't know if they still do that. I was told that the more sadistic operators just let the chair free-fall and slammed on the brakes just before the bottom....but I suspect that Health & Safety would take a dim view of that nowadays!
 
We had Weirdstone read to us at school, which was enterprising of our teacher, breaking away from the usual Roald Dahl, but I have to say I couldn't make any sense of it. Elidor - which I read myself - then completely put me off Alan Garner, as I couldn't make sense of that, either. I do keep feeling I should go back to Garner though, so maybe this is the place to start - although the only copy of a Garner I own is Red Shift (picked up secondhand - still unread).
 
aThenian said:
We had Weirdstone read to us at school, which was enterprising of our teacher, breaking away from the usual Roald Dahl, but I have to say I couldn't make any sense of it. Elidor - which I read myself - then completely put me off Alan Garner, as I couldn't make sense of that, either. I do keep feeling I should go back to Garner though, so maybe this is the place to start - although the only copy of a Garner I own is Red Shift (picked up secondhand - still unread).
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Red Shift is a good and very quick read.(y)
 
I recognised the genius in Red Shift but I found it hard to get my head round. I had no idea what to do with the puzzle at the end (apart from look up the answer on the internet).
 
I had a teacher who read this to the class as well! My main memory is of a huge dog and a bit (and this may be confused) where the characters went into a cupboard which led them into caves under the earth where they seemed to crawl around for ages. If that bit was the Earl Devling, then yes, it was terrifying.
 
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The kids listened to the audio book recently. I must read it again. The ending, in particular, was astounding.
 
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