Not good enough
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The book has an attractive cover, a tempting title and the text is nicely laid out with helpful chapter titles and sub-headings, charts, colour plates, illustrations, notes, references, appendices, bibliography and index. This all seems very encouraging and confidence inspiring. However, I purchased the book because of my fondness for Tolkien's tales of Middle Earth and not because I'm interested in grail conjectures. It doesn't take long (page 3) to reach an interesting section headed "Tolkien's Ring". I was dismayed to find no fewer than 12 errors in this short (2-page) section. No doubt I've read 'The Hobbit', 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Silmarillion' more times than seems entirely well balanced and that's why all Mr Laurence Gardner's inaccuracies jumped out at me. I won't bore you by listing them all but I will mention that Mr Gardner is under the impression that Bilbo stole the ring from Gollum, he has The White Council and The Council of Elrond confused, he believes Aragorn was already King of Gondor when the 4 hobbits first met him, that Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli just abandoned their search for Merry and Pippin and made for Gondor instead and met Gandalf on their way there ... and so on. The point is, that if Mr Gardner can't even give an accurate account of a story that's so easily available for checking, how can we trust anything he says regarding the poorly documented and undocumented history, myths and legends of hundreds or thousands of years ago? If he read or consulted the other books in his impressive looking bibliography with the same care and attention he gave to Tolkien's work, is it worth reading his book at all? Personally, I like to keep fact and fiction in separate categories in my mind because that saves a lot of confusion. This book is not presented as a work of fiction but by page 5 I was fully satisfied that its "facts" could not be trusted because the author is clearly a very careless researcher.
Not recommended.
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Going to be ruined
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Just about everything Gardner, Baigent, leigh, lincoln, Hancock and a whole host of other writers are gonna be blown away with a new book I just read that comes out May 2005 (Serpent Grail). I read Gardners Bloodline "theory" and this rubbish ages ago and I cannot understand how it still sells. Who's buying it? No, wait till may and then you'll all see.
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A brilliant guide to the forgotten history of Europe
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Some books are interesting, some are not. Laurence Gardner's 'Realm of the Ring Lords' is a fascinating eye-opener that pulls you into a whole new world of thought. It does not take a genius to work out that all that is taught by the church is not entirely true. Those in power are always apt to teach history as it suits them rather than how it is. In this book Gardner tells how the spurious donation of Constantine helped subdue the ancient royal lines and increase papal control. In previous books he has concentrated more on following the lineage of certain iniviuals and so, in Realm of the Ring Lords, Gardner gives a more general view into the progression of the royal dynasties from their Scythian(?) origins to the present day tales that keep the traitions alive. Gardner explains the concept of ancient Kingly rule, tracks the progression of certain royal lines and explains how modern day fairy tales often have more to say than is obvious. The book travels through Tolkein and Wagner's epic ring cycles, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Father Christmas, Lorna Doone, Dracula, Rapunzel and more, exposing the truths behind the stories and delving into the ancient knowledge that lies behind many well-known tales. Elves, fairies, leprechauns, witches and wizards are explained as what they once were rather than what the church has told us. The symbols and rituals of the ancient kings are revealed and it is surprising how many of these symbols survive into modern times. All in all it is a fascinating and exeptional read that dips into many areas of forgotten knowledge without getting bogged down. Many areas are worth reading a few times to fully understand and yet this is a surprisingly easy read bearing in mind the wealth of information layed out. It is less complex than Gardner's other publications yet probably the most interesting. Many myths are exposed and not everyone will find Gardner's explanation to their liking but as with all historical it should be read, considered and compared against other sources. It is imperative that people like Gardner keep feeding us such information so that we can weigh it up against the standard teachings and make up our own minds as to the lives of our ancestors.
A must read for history or fantasy fans.
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