Product Description

This bestselling fictionalized account of an Anglo-Saxon sorcerer and mystic is based on years of research by psychologist and university professor Brian Bates. An authentic and deeply compelling insight into the spiritual world of the Anglo-Saxons, it has inspired thousands of people to learn more about the ancient northern spiritual tradition. A spiritual classic!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21345 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

Review
'Reads like a fusion of Carlos Castaneda... and Tolkien.' --Time Out

'Brilliant, vivid, entertaining... it deserves a place on our bookshelves along with Carlos Castaneda.' --R. D. Laing

R D Laing
Brilliant, vivid, entertaining … it deserves a place on our bookshelves along with Carlos Castaneda.

About the Author
Brian Bates is the author of The Real Middle Earth and co-author of two books with John Cleese. He lectures worldwide and is currently Professor of Shamanic Consciousness at Brighton University and the Anglo-Saxon representative of The Indigenous World Network.

Customer Reviews

Facinating and Thought Provoking
I'm so glad this book is readily available again. I read it first about 14 years ago and have never forgotten it (have read it again in recent years). The book creates an England from History which many would believe to be pure fantasy but (as author Brian Bates argues) has grounding in historical fact. Themes such as magic, sorcery, faith, religion and the nature of the soul are dealt with in a compelling, scary and exciting novel. Christian belief is subtly challenged against the 'old religions' of anglo saxon England as Christian missionary Wat Brand is taken on a tour of the Pagan world by Sorceror Wulf. A great read for anyone interested in our connection with the earth, magic, history, folklore and spirituality.
(Obscure Fact!-Thrash/Heavy Metal fans who like the book may want to seek out the album 'Dreamweaver' by British Thrashers 'Sabbat'. This is a concept album based on the book. Hardly easy listening but interesting lyrically)

A glimpse of forgotten gods
In Anglo-Saxon England, a young Christian monk named Wat Brand is sent on a mission to discover the secrets of the country's pagan ways. He meets Brand, a Saxon shaman/sorcerer, who shows him the ways of pagan magic and healing.
I don't want to give away the story, so I'll confine myself to saying that this scholarly book, though written as a novel, is packed with genuine historical material on how our heathen forbears thought and believed in an era before the church of the christians established its ascendancy.

Compelling fantasy with a historical basis
I have just finished reading this book. Wow, what can I say? Brian Bates has masterfully distilled the essence of pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon (and wider Norse/Germanic) beliefs and spun them into a vivid tale as well-crafted and universally accessible as the web of Wyrd itself!

The Way of Wyrd is a fantasy story at heart, so if you're looking for a precise, scholarly study of early English heathen practices that never takes artistic liberties, this is not the book for you. If, however, you can swallow Bates' elaborate yarn with a pinch of salt and do not mind an imaginative, at times fanciful, psychological and deeply humanistic exploration into Anglo-Saxon cosmology & spirituality, why not pick up this wonderful book? It truly is an excellent, easy-to-digest, memorable introduction to its subject matter and Wulf the sorcerer makes an absolutely enchanting guide.

What impressed and pleasantly surprised me about this book is its sensitive handling of the two main characters' faiths (Paganism and Christianity). While the trappings of both mens' spirituality is contrasted and compared along the way, they are at no point pitted against each other, which makes a refreshing change. This is NOT your typical pro-Pagan, anti-Christian fluffy bunny book. Brand does not come out of the book a Heathen and Wulf is not 'embraced by the light of the Lord'. In fact, the only place where a choice between the two faiths is encouraged is at the very end of the story. I wont give away the ending but I can assure you that Pagan, Christian and plain old atheist alike will find it makes satisfying and moving reading.