Customer Reviews

Realm of the Ring Lords: The Myth and Magic of the Grail Quest

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book begins with a look into Tolkien's books and the relationships to distant history. Information and the process of the author's thoughts drift to linking the Ring lord culture into a roller coaster ride through almost every distant european and middle eastern culture. Lots of this material is well presented and factual. Some is also conjecture on the author's behalf. All is well presented and adventureous to read.

Waste of money. Gardner is resting on his laurels. There is so much that could be done with this title, but it was not. Instead we get a recital of stuff already said elsewhere not particularly related to the extensive lore which Tolkien drew upon. Way too little to do with the Realms of the Ring Lords, as if he was knocking off a book to exploit the popularity of Tolkien.

Pity, I was expecting more.

This as a well researched and notated book with clear explanations of a very complicated subject. Gardener's "Realm of the Ring Lords" takes the reader on a journey beginning in Transylvania, Egypt and ancient Sumeria and arriving in the modern Western world, with frequent stops through the UK, France, Germany and many other European and Asian stops along the way. This book details how the tales of fairies, dragons pixies, gnomes, and elves all derive from the same source: a specially bred race of people called the nephilim who rose to prominence thousands of years before Christ and left their imprint on cultures all around the world. The author demonstrates how legends of the Grail, the Lord of the Rings, stories of the Elven-home and so on, are all inextricably linked and, ultimately stem from the same sources, being different tellings of, and using different symbols to, tell the same stories.

Of great importance to me in a work of this kind, which challenges many long held belief systems and "authorized history", is a good list of sources. Laurence Gardner delivers in this respect as well, not failing to back up his claims with a lot of other sources the reader can refer to. While I don't necessarily agree with all that Gardener states, I can say that he makes many valid points that shed new light, and make room for new ideas about, many of the concepts that people take for granted in every day life and society.

For anyone interested in dragons, fairies, gnomes, vampires, werewolves; pixies, elves, mermaids, swan-maidens and grail knights and The Lord of the Rings, you can find many interesting answers here. For lovers of history, culture and linguistics, this book is a treasure trove. However, if you're looking for a fantasy-fiction story or some sort of continuation of Tolkien's Middle Earth, this is not the place to find it.

we love all of Gardner's books...
dear seekers after truth,
... but this is by far and away our favorite. This is true in part because we are elves (if you don't believe this is possible you need to read this book for the historical data that reveals it to be so), but also because we are lovers of and researchers into Faerie Lore and read nearly everything we can find on the subject and this is one of the best.
kyela,
the silver elves
[....]

Lawrence Gardner ranks among the best for me. As with any author, I don't agree with 100% of what he says, but he's pretty dead on and has certainly done his homework. He definitely opened up new ideas and new avenues for me in my own interests and research.

I purchased this book for my brother as a gift and he was very impressed. It looked like it was brand new!