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The Real Middle-Earth: A History of the Dark Ages that Inspired Tolkien

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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.

  • Publisher : ‎ Pan; Main Market edition (1 Sept. 2022)
  • Language: ‎ English
  • Paperback
  • 320 pages
  • ISBN-10: ‎ 1529059607
  • ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1529059601
  • Reading age: ‎ 18 years and up
  • Dimensions: ‎ 13 x 2 x 19.7 cm

About the author;

Brian Bates is a professor at the University of Brighton, and past chairman of psychology at the University of Sussex. Specializing in the use of deep imagination in tribal cultures, he directs a research programme and teaches an award-winning course in shamanic consciousness. His previous titles include the novel The Way of the Wyrd, an examination of the inner world of performance called The Way of the Actor, and The Human Face which he co-wrote with John Cleese.
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