Rating: 
Summary: A mixture of Arthurian & Scandinavian folklore
Review: In "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen," award-winning Cheshire writer Alan Garner retells the ancient legend of the cave of the sleeping king as a Young Adult fantasy. His story treads very lightly on the mantle of "Lord of the Rings," and a bit more heavily on Arthurian legend, but draws mainly from local folklore and Scandinavian mythology.Except for school, a brief stint at Magdalen College, Oxford, and service in the Army, Mr. Garner has lived in Cheshire near Alderly Edge, as did generations of his family. He knows the `Weirdstone' terrain as well as its folklore, and he writes about what he knows: the cliffs and meres of Alderley Edge; and the maze of mines and tunnels that underlies Cheshire. `Weirdstone' doesn't follow the path of a true Arthurian romance, except for the Cave Legend, and the brief appearance of Angharad Goldenhand who might or might not be the Lady of the Lake.
(The story of a king and his followers sleeping in a secret cave predates Arthur, but became attached to him as the `once and future king,' who will wake to serve his country again in time of great peril.) There is also the wizard who guards the Cave. In this story, his name is Cadellin, and a few centuries past he misplaced the Weirdstone of Brisingamen while bargaining for a milk-white mare. This story really begins when two children, Colin and Susan get off the train at Alderley Station. They are going to stay on the Mossock farm while their parents travel abroad, as Mrs. Mossock was their mother's former nurse. Susan happens to be wearing a bracelet set with an unusual stone, and we gradually learn the history of the stone, which has been passed down from mother to daughter of a local Chesire family, and finally to Susan. As family legend has it, a wizard traded the stone for a milk-white mare.
Very soon Colin and Susan discover the truth of the family legend, when they are rescued from a band of goblins (svart-alfar) by the wizard, Cadellin, and are taken to the cave where a King sleeps, along with a hundred knights clad in silver and mounted on milk-white steeds.
Cadellin doesn't realize why Colin and Susan were being hunted by the servants of Nastrond, the evil spirit of Ragnarok. Only after Susan's bracelet is stolen by a skeletal creature of the mist, does Cadellin understand that she possessed his magical Weirdstone. Colin and Susan's quest to return the stone to Cadellin leads them on a desperate chase through the mines beneath Cheshire, and into a countryside transformed by a fierce and unseasonable fimbulwinter (the immediate prelude to the end of the world---Ragnarok.)
This is not a good story for the claustrophobic (I almost lost it when the kids were stuck down in the mine)or for those who don't like things that go bump in the night. There are monsters galore; almost too many to keep track of. There are powerful wizards, both good and evil. And then, there is Ragnarok. However, this is a good read for those who are not easily frightened (or who love a good fright), and who have at least some knowledge of Arthurian legends and Scandinavian folklore.
Rating:
Summary: A mixture of Arthurian & Scandinavian folklore
Review: In "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen," award-winning Cheshire writer Alan Garner retells the ancient legend of the cave of the sleeping king as a Young Adult fantasy. His story treads very lightly on the mantle of "Lord of the Rings," and a bit more heavily on Arthurian legend, but draws mainly from local folklore and Scandinavian mythology. Except for school, a brief stint at Magdalen College, Oxford, and service in the Army, Mr. Garner has lived in Cheshire near Alderly Edge, as did generations of his family. He knows the 'Weirdstone' terrain as well as its folklore, and he writes about what he knows: the cliffs and meres of Alderley Edge; and the maze of mines and tunnels that underlies Cheshire. 'Weirdstone' doesn't follow the path of a true Arthurian romance, except for the Cave Legend, and the brief appearance of Angharad Goldenhand who might or might not be the Lady of the Lake.
(The story of a king and his followers sleeping in a secret cave predates Arthur, but became attached to him as the 'once and future king,' who will wake to serve his country again in time of great peril.) There is also the wizard who guards the Cave. In this story, his name is Cadellin, and a few centuries past he misplaced the Weirdstone of Brisingamen while bargaining for a milk-white mare. This story really begins when two children, Colin and Susan get off the train at Alderley Station. They are going to stay on the Mossock farm while their parents travel abroad, as Mrs. Mossock was their mother's former nurse. Susan happens to be wearing a bracelet set with an unusual stone, and we gradually learn the history of the stone, which has been passed down from mother to daughter of a local Chesire family, and finally to Susan. As family legend has it, a wizard traded the stone for a milk-white mare.
Very soon Colin and Susan discover the truth of the family legend, when they are rescued from a band of goblins (svart-alfar) by the wizard, Cadellin, and are taken to the cave where a King sleeps, along with a hundred knights clad in silver and mounted on milk-white steeds.
Cadellin doesn't realize why Colin and Susan were being hunted by the servants of Nastrond, the evil spirit of Ragnarok. Only after Susan's bracelet is stolen by a skeletal creature of the mist, does Cadellin understand that she possessed his magical Weirdstone. Colin and Susan's quest to return the stone to Cadellin leads them on a desperate chase through the mines beneath Cheshire, and into a countryside transformed by a fierce and unseasonable fimbulwinter (the immediate prelude to the end of the world---Ragnarok.)
This is not a good story for the claustrophobic (I almost lost it when the kids were stuck down in the mine)or for those who don't like things that go bump in the night. There are monsters galore; almost too many to keep track of. There are powerful wizards, both good and evil. And then, there is Ragnarok. However, this is a good read for those who are not easily frightened (or who love a good fright), and who have at least some knowledge of Arthurian legends and Scandinavian folklore.
Rating: 
Summary: Down in the Dark
Review: Intelligent youth fantasy. The book is fun and frightening even for adults. The scenes in the mines will leave you gasping for air! All in all it is a great, quick read. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless in its appeal
Review: Like many of the other reviews I've read here, it was 25 years ago that I first read the book and have been entranced ever since. I continually search the book stores and 2nd hand stores for a copy and am excited to learn about it's reprint. I've been wanting to send it to by nieces so they can also learn about the magic of the imagination.
Rating:
Summary: As brilliant a work of fantasy as ever was!
Review: Not only did this book provide fodder for my imagination for years when I was a child, it has haunted me into adulthood. I have never broken the spell Alan Garner cast over my soul, and became a teacher in no small part because this book opened up a world of previously unimagined delights, to be found only in my own mind. I would recommend this book to any of my students mature enough to step into Fundindelve.
Rating:
Summary: A marvellous read
Review: One of the best "fantasy" books that I have read. Garner mixes the magic of Old England with a believeable pair of modern children and gives us a story that is highly appealing to children and adults alike. I read WEIRDSTONE to my daughter when she was six, and she would be utterly silent through each chapter, then came the questions. Three years later we still talk about the book and are planning a pilgrimage to Alderley to walk The Old Straight Track and see if we can find Goldenstone and the Wizard's gates. Wish us luck.
Rating:
Summary: A book with a facinating story
Review: This book is like Harry Potter and Lord of the rings at the same time because it has a lot of things in common with other books
Rating:
Summary: Garner is equal to Tolkien and Le Guin
Review: This book should be considered a classic.Any fantassy lover should read it.Any fantassy lover will be exited ;interested ;and enchanted by Garner's magical and creative book .It is a neccesity to read it.
The first time Colin and Susan were attacked by the svart alfar I got into it .I was amazed by Garner's Weirdstone of Brisingamenan and hope all otehers take this reccommendation.
Rating:
Summary: The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner (1960)
Review: This continues to remain one of the finest fantasy works I have ever read. Although originally intended for children, Mr. Garner's style easily lends itself to the cognoscente, and the way he merges the ancient Celtic and Pre-Christian characters and legends with his modern characters and themes is nothing short of superb. I have also visited Alderley in Cheshire, England, the setting for his story, and he has captured the atmosphere of this beautiful and mysterious place wonderfully. This is a must for your reading list, along with the sequel, The Moon of Gomrath, while his other works in this genre, Elidor and Red Shift, are pitched to a progressively more mature audience.
Rating:
Summary: For the Want of a Horse
Review: When the wizard Cadellin took up his guardianship of 140 knights who await the final battle, he had yet to acquire one last horse. When he did so, the price was higher than he expected, for the seller took the stone Firefrost, the key that keeps the knights asleep and would wake them when they were needed. And so, it was lost to the sight of Cadellin. This is the past that shapes the story of young Susan and Colin, children sent to stay with Gowther and Bess Mossock in Cheshire while their parents are abroad. For unknown to her, Susan bears the Wierdstone itself and the children quickly find themselves at the center of a great struggle between what is fair and what is utterly evil. They will be menaced but the evil svarts and rescued by Cadellin. They will see Firefrost fall into the hands of the witch, Selena Place and Grimnir, the dark wizard. In the company of Gowther and two dwarves, Fenodree and Durathor they will snatch the stone back from the hands of the morthbrood and quest through tunnel, cave and forest to return it to Cadellin. And they will face a final battle at the edge of Ragnarok. In an era of fantasy writing when we expect lengthy trilogies as a matter of course, it is amazing how few of them stand up to the standard set by this little (195 page) tale for young readers. Garner is a brilliant writer, who knows exactly how phrase his words so that they gain magical weight and shape without ever becoming over blown and stilted. From the first paragraph, the reader knows that this is something special and is quickly drawn into the world that lies behind the mundane appearances of rural Cheshire. Trees menace, mansions conceal passages to the underworld, and wizards live behind stones and under lakes. If animals do not talk, they certainly 'know,' and that is even better. I have read this book several times, and if I regret anything, it is that is was not there for me when I was the age for which it was originally intended. But Alan Garner writes for the child we never leave behind, and the book remains entirely enchanting to me. Still a native of Cheshire, Garner captures the sounds and accents of that countryside with a sure pen. The story may remind you of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, but it is not at all derivative. Rather, it stands with them as one of the fine moments of British fantasy. By all means, give this book to your children, but do not forget to read it yourself.
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