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From the British Fantasy Society:

In his semi-regular column on the TV that made us SFFH fans, Gary Couzens revisits The Owl Service, a formative book and series for many of today’s folk horror writers.

https://britishfantasysociety.org/the-tv-that-made-us-the-owl-service-1969-70/

#britishfantasysociety #theowlservice #alangarner #fantasy #horror #folkhorror #nostalgia #1970s

A nostalgic view of an old 1970s TV sitting on a table on top of a doily. On the screen is the opening titles for The Owl Service from 1969.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is the first book by Alan Garner. While it is not his greatest work, it is still solidly written. Its publication history is also interesting, speaking to the post-Tolkien publishing world.

If you are ever so lucky as to delve deep into a subgenre, and its subgenres within that (plans within plans…), you will well know that some authors are functionally unknown outside of the small(ish) core of devoted followers but are required reading within that group. One of these is Alan Garner and The Weirdstone of Brisingamen.

The British depictions of “children’s weird,” particularly in terms of “folk horror,” are deeply tied to Garner and his work. In particular, his book The Owl Service (and its TV adaptation) manages to pack a lot of magic into its slim 176 pages, and it also raises issues of class, madness, trauma (interpersonal, generational, cultural), and horror. But Garner did not begin with The Owl Service. His first book was The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, first published in 1960.

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen feels like an artist beginning to arrange their palette. There are moments in which different styles are being experimented with and moments that are clearly trying to do something new with the familiar base materials. The nature of Weirdstone‘s publication is significant here. While Garner did not set out to do so, his publisher signed him on the basis of the title alone, as the name was mockbuster-similar to The Lord of the Rings, which had just become a success. There’s a wizard, dwarves, a piece of magical jewelry, great evil to be fought, and a quest; there, it’s Dollar Tree LOTR, and nobody will notice the difference, or so the publisher thought. Had Garner led with his trippier, more experimental works and ideas—let alone his more scathing views on class—we might not have heard of him at all.

In detail, Weirdstone follows children Colin and Susan as they are caught up in a quest about the strange jewel in Susan’s bracelet, the titular weirdstone. A shape-shifting sorceress, an evil wizard, and the dark spirit Nastrond all want the weirdstone and its magic for themselves, while a good wizard and his dwarvish retinue help the children protect the stone’s power. The characters travel through gardens, thickets, pine forests, snowy mountain peaks, and everything in between.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the sense of place that Garner gives. The pressure of spelunking, the smothering feeling of sand, the cold damp of mud and the weathering effect of wind. I do not recommend this book for people who have claustrophobia, as there are a lot of tight spaces in this story.

In actuality, there’s a firm avoidance of knockoff Tolkien that (from my perspective, decades removed and long entrenched in less wise but more cynical publishing decisions) seems like a bold choice. That’s not to say one is better or worse, just that Weirdstone has very little relation to The Lord of the Rings beyond a few broad strokes. The wizard Cadellin, for instance, is a surprisingly vague and desperate figure. Garner, even at this early stage, does not condescend to his audience. Characters do their best and make good choices based on their knowledge at the time, and sometimes that is not enough. When evil triumphs, it is not because of their wickedness or the weakness of good, but rather because evil happens to be better prepared or simply gets lucky.

Have you read The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, or other works by Alan Garner? What are some other not-quite-Tolkein tales that deserve to stand on their own merit? Let’s meet up for a retro-themed Weirdstone-type quest in Seattle!

https://seattlein2025.org/2025/03/07/fantastic-fiction-a-rough-cut-jewel/

#AlanGarner

The text Fantastic Fiction against a retrofuturistic design of a rounded triangle shape with a gold swirl pattern.

Cover of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, with a wizard holding a staff protecting two young children from small trolls or goblins climbing up the rocky cliff on which they stand.

Fantastic Fiction: A Rough-Cut Jewel: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is the first book by Alan Garner. While it is not his greatest work, it is still solidly written. Its publication history is also interesting, speaking to the post-Tolkien publishing world. … (#AlanGarner)

Full post: https://seattlein2025.org/2025/03/07/fantastic-fiction-a-rough-cut-jewel/

I’m reading Alan Garner’s “Powsels and Thrums” and it’s hilarious. Here he’s profiling his school teachers and describing his own teenage opinions.
#books #bookstodon #AlanGarner

After the nuisance of the School Certificate examination, we entered the elite Classical VI, with three years ahead in which to hone our skills in the purities of Latin and Greek, unhindered by lesser matters, other than acquiring a reading ability in German, since a significant amount of classical textual criticism came from Germany. It was with surprise and disdain I saw that there were other subjects still left on the timetable, including English Literature. And my sense of its irrelevancy was confirmed when the first piece we were expected to take seriously was T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land.
I was confounded by the rubbish. Not only was it inept, pretentious and obscure, but it was shored up by notes of pseudo-scholarship, alleged to help the inferior and ignorant reader to appreciate the brilliance of the poem and the polymathy of the poet. This was not the suppleness of Greek or the compression and sonority of Latin. This was tripe.

The third book is the #Weirdstone of Brisingamen by #AlanGarner which I have never read (though I listened to the #BBC #audio dramatisation once). Although published in 1960, this book didn't make it onto #Gygax 's list in #AppendixN . I'm not sure of the reason for this omission, the book was certainly known in USA (In 1970 it was given an award by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education).

An interesting article in its own right, but the Alan Garner link goes to the most marvellous tale of loss and rediscovery and determination in the face of continued misidentification. #archaeology #AlanGarner #BronzeAge

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2452861-extremely-rare-bronze-age-wooden-tool-found-in-english-trench/

Finished reading
#books #literature #AlanGarner

I have always been fascinated by Folklore and Myths, so I knew Treacle Walker would be a hit. Digging into old English beliefs and stories, Alan Garner created a fun and coming of age adventure where a little boy meets a strange traveler, possibly from another Realm. If you love the work of Terri Windling, Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke or Ellen Kushner’s Thomas the Rhymer, you will fall in love with Alan Garner’s book.

#book
#bookstodon @bookstodon
#folklore
#faery
#fantasy
#AlanGarner

Reading Booker Shortlist-2022
https://booksperience.org/2022/10/17/reading-booker-shortlist-2022/
#AlanGarner, #Analysis, #Blacks, #Booker2022Prediction, #BookerAuthors, #BookerPrediction, #BookerPrize, #BookerPrize2022, #BookerPrizePrediction, #BookerShortlist, #BookerShortlist2022, #CivilWar, #ClaireKeegan, #ElizabethStrout, #EthnicConflict, #Fiction, #Glory, #NoVioletBulawayo, #OhWilliam, #PercivalEverett, #Racism, #ShehanKarunatilaka, #SmallThingsLikeThese, #TheSevenMoonsOfMaaliAlmeida, #TheTrees, #TreacleWalker, #UK, #USA, #Zimbabwe

This doesn’t always convince, especially the dialogue, but the language is powerful, and the storytelling is beautifully mysterious (I’m talking about the book, not the chana masala).
#alangarner #books #bookstodon #fantasy #magicalrealism @bookstodon

What reading material do I happen to have with me at Fantasycon?
#fantasy #fantasyfiction #books #bookstodon #fantasycon #themagazineoffantasyandsciencefiction #alangarner #gerardmanleyhopkins #crackmagazine

Manchmal kommt ein hochgelobtes Buch einfach nicht an. So ging es unserem Rezensenten mit #TreacleWalker von #AlanGarner :
Fantasyguide: Treacle Walker – Der Wanderheiler (Autor: Alan Garner)
https://fantasyguide.de/treacle-walker-der-wanderheiler-autor-alan-garner.html

Rezension: »Treacle Walker – Der Wanderheiler«
Auf »Treacle Walker – Der Wanderheiler« von Alan Garner stieß ich durch Zufall, und ich fand, dass ich »den wichtigsten britischen Fantasyautor seit Tolkien« ja wohl gelesen haben muss …

Das im Klappentext versprochene phantastische Abenteuer voller magischer Begegnungen erwartet einen in
https://lass-den-wookie-gewinnen.de/2023/08/11/rezension-treacle-walker-der-wanderheiler/
#Rezension #AlanGarner #KlettCotta #Rezension

Managed to nab me one last Network release I’d missed and should have got. Alan Garner’s The Owl Service (1969) remastered on Blu-ray. Barely in print due to Network going into liquidation a couple of months after release. Out of stock most places but found a marketplace seller on Amazon with new stock. I haven’t seen this in many decades. Limited edition Blu-ray box includes a thorough booklet full of info. #BritishTV #Wales #AlanGarner #Horror #Folklore #FolkHorror #Myths #Myth #60sTV #Network

Picture of the Blu-ray box. At the top in big letters are the words Alan Garner’s The Owl Service. Below can be seen the three young people in the series. The background of the cover design is a moody blue and seems to include old mythology like elements.

Hollow way track up the side of Alderley Edge. #AlderleyEdge #AlanGarner

Hollow track with trees in first flush if green to either side.

This is Jenkin Chapel, a small CofE church between Macclesfield and Buxton. Very close to Thursbitch. Very primitive, but wonderfully calm atmosphere. Sound of sheep and rooks from outside. #PeakDistrict #AlanGarner

Small primitive stone built chapel, looks more like a cottage, with grave stones and bare trees.

Interior of church, box pews, whitewashed walls, wooden pulpit to the left, alter at far end

Altar of church, with small stained glass window beyond, whitewashed walls.

Currently (re)reading: #TheOwlService by #AlanGarner. Because sometimes you need to go back to old favorites.

#reading #AmReading #bookstodon #mastobooks @bookstodon

The cover of The Owl Service by Alan Garner.

@Meldilorn There is a rather lovely Facebook community on all things #AlanGarner too. One of the few things I use on FB.

@lovecoastal Today I followed my first Mastodon hashtag - on #AlanGarner from your home page. I’ve encouraged my children to read his work (less success unfortunately with grandchildren, who prefer something more ‘modern’). 40 years ago or thereabouts I visited the Edge and searched out some of the places he described.

Wedi gorffen “Jack” #MarilynneRobinson, ac eisiau ailddarllen yr holl gyfres nawr, ond ymlaen â fi at yr un nesa o’r pentwr Nadolig, sef “Treacle Walker” #AlanGarner - wedi darllen rhyw draean ohono fe cyn codi’r bore ‘ma. #DarllenNawr

#AlanGarner

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