The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: The classic magical fantasy adventure for children

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In the Firefly Online game, one of the planets of the Himinbjörg system (which features planets named after figures from Germanic mythology) is named Brisingamen. It is third from the star, and has moons named Freya, Beowulf, and Alberich. 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. Alan Garner to conclude Weirdstone of Brisingamen trilogy". Alison Flood. The Guardian 15 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.

Selina Place – A local woman, who is revealed to be a shape-shifting witch, indeed the leader of the morthbrood, a secret network of people involved in dark magic. Also known as The Morrigan, the ancient name of an Irish battle and death goddess, she is in league with powerful forces of darkness. Academic specialist in children's literature Maria Nikolajeva characterised Red Shift as "a difficult book" for an unprepared reader, identifying its main themes as those of "loneliness and failure to communicate". [25] Ultimately, she thought that repeated re-readings of the novel bring about the realisation that "it is a perfectly realistic story with much more depth and psychologically more credible than the most so-called "realistic" juvenile novels." [26] The Stone Book series and folkloric collections: 1974–94 [ edit ]

Garner, Alan (2010). "Introduction by the Author". The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (50th Anniversaryed.). London: HarperCollins Children's Books. pp.05–14.

In the introduction to the fiftieth anniversary edition of The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, published in 2010, Philip Pullman said of Garner that: Alan's own grandfather, Joseph Garner, "could read, but didn't and so was virtually unlettered", but instead taught his grandson the various folk tales about The Edge, [4] Alan later remarking that, as a result, he was "aware of [the Edge's] magic" when as a child he would often play there with his friends. [7] The story of the king and the wizard living under the hill played an important part in the young Alan's life, becoming "deeply embedded in my psyche" and influencing his novels, in particular The Weirdstone of Brisingamen. [4] Pitts, Mike; Garner, Alan (2014). "Colouring the Imagination with Facts". British Archaeology. Council for British Archaeology (139): 14–15.

Fortunately, Colin and Susan have other helpers: the wizard Cadellin and two dwarves. Cadellin has guarded a sleeping army beneath the hill of Alderley in preparation for the final stand against Nastrond; an image that emphasises the timeless quality of the land and the mythical nature of the characters. Whenever I’m asked to name my favourite children’s author, the answer has to be Alan Garner. I’ve recently reread all his children’s books, and read some of his adult books for the first time, but of all of them my favourite remains the first book of his I read as a child, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen. That's not to detract from Garner's achievement. Anyone can walk around a beautiful place and learn a few local legends. It takes a rare talent to breath them into passages like this: