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The Real Middle-Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages

di Brian Bates

Utenti	Recensioni	Popolarità	Media voti	Conversazioni
320	6	82,439	(3.31)	Nessuno
In The Real Middle-Earth, explore the magically enchanting early-English civilization on which Tolkien based his world of The Lord of the Rings.Tolkien readily admitted that the concept of Middle-earth was not his own invention. An Old English term for the Dark Age world, it was always assumed that the importance of magic in this world existed only in Tolkien's works; now Professor Brian Bates reveals the vivid truth about this historical culture. Behind the stories we know of Dark Age kings and queens, warriors and battles, lies the hidden history of Middle-earth, a world of magic, mystery and destiny. Fiery dragons were seen to fly across the sky, monsters haunted the marshes, and elves fired poisoned arrows. Wizards cast healing spells, wise trees gave blessings, and omens foretold the deaths of kings. The very landscape itself was enchanted and the world imbued with a life force.Repressed by a millennium of Christianity, this belief system all but disappeared, leaving only faint traces in folk memory and fairy tales. In this remarkable book Professor Brian Bates has drawn on the latest archaeological findings to reconstruct the imaginative world of our past, revealing a culture with insights that may yet help us understand our own place in the world.… (altro)

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1-5 di 6 (prossimo | mostra tutto)

An interesting exploration of the magic and mythology of the 'dark ages'. Some parts were a bit dry and lacked depth but there were equally powerful and thought provoking sections on such topics as what woodland and trees meant to the Anglo-Saxons, Dragons and hoards, the Norns / Wyrd. Bates isn't an Archaeologist or Historian- his background is psychology. However, I don't think this is an issue - it provided a fresh perspective on Anglo- Saxon society and myth. (

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sarahpeacock28 | Oct 21, 2018 |

Despite the book's flaws as historical and folkloric analysis and, tragically, as a review of Tolkien's sources for his legendarium, I really enjoyed this book, hence it gets four stars.

I've shelved it as non-fiction, which I think is the author's intention, but it could perhaps be considered more of a Batesian legendarium of a more historically grounded, though fantastical and mythological, imaginary world. Perhaps an attempt to produce a coherent neo-pagan mythology (though I'm not really knowledgeable enough in the area to convincingly speculate)? (

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Michael.Rimmer | Oct 19, 2016 |

1 star. Skip this book. The link to Tolkien is tenuous at best and Bates does not make the case that Middle Earth truly existed in any convincing way. When I finally finished it, I had one thought. Tolkien would be appalled. (

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Oodles | Feb 16, 2016 |

Although it draws from many historical facts it does tend to read a bit like a faerie story. (

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MMaelo | May 15, 2009 |

I don't really know what I was expecting from this book, but I didn't really get it. It should also be pointed out that the Tolkien tie-in is very much limited to the cover.
It seems to fall between some different stools (although that might well be deliberate). It isn't a history of Anglo-Saxon culture, not of their beliefs, nor of their mythology. It isn't either a guide to places and people and plants and their meanings. Nor does it look at where Tolkien got his ideas from. On the other hand it is a bit of all these things (except the latter). I found the assumption that Anglo-Saxon spiritualism made them more in tune with the landscape etc a bit overdone at times; it seems to me we don't know this, and it also seems to me that given a choice they may well not have been so in tune with their landscape. Might be worth a flick-through if these are areas that interest you. (

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daniel.links | Sep 30, 2007 |

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In The Real Middle-Earth, explore the magically enchanting early-English civilization on which Tolkien based his world of The Lord of the Rings.Tolkien readily admitted that the concept of Middle-earth was not his own invention. An Old English term for the Dark Age world, it was always assumed that the importance of magic in this world existed only in Tolkien's works; now Professor Brian Bates reveals the vivid truth about this historical culture. Behind the stories we know of Dark Age kings and queens, warriors and battles, lies the hidden history of Middle-earth, a world of magic, mystery and destiny. Fiery dragons were seen to fly across the sky, monsters haunted the marshes, and elves fired poisoned arrows. Wizards cast healing spells, wise trees gave blessings, and omens foretold the deaths of kings. The very landscape itself was enchanted and the world imbued with a life force.Repressed by a millennium of Christianity, this belief system all but disappeared, leaving only faint traces in folk memory and fairy tales. In this remarkable book Professor Brian Bates has drawn on the latest archaeological findings to reconstruct the imaginative world of our past, revealing a culture with insights that may yet help us understand our own place in the world.

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