Mind How You Are Looking At Her

 Following on from Walpurgis Nacht and Beltane, you may have listened to the first part of the audiodrama of Alan Garner's 'Owl Service'. This version is a rather nice production, which I believe was made by an australian company. However, there was a great TV series filmed in 1969, by Granada which captured the folk horror theme extremely well. At the time, I was aware that it was on (broadcast in 1970) but as an 8 year old, I was a little wary of some of its dark themes. Similar in tone to 'Children of the Stones' but with a much harder edge, it would be many years later that I would pick up on it again.

After I visited Wales and several locations near to where the series was filmed, I picked up copies of The Mabinogion, Owl Service and 'Red Shift', also by Garner. Reading his material in situ added a tremendous depth and colour to the stories, although I wouldn't be able to watch the TV series until quite recently, it was interesting to find that my interpretation of the story was not far off the vision filmed by Granada. Gillian Hills' rendition of the petulant and haughty Alison and her turbulent relationship with Gwyn is coloured by a frisson of sexual tension, which is quite surprising to find in children's tv and some of the more sinister scenes are quite disturbing for the younger viewer. But it is an excellent 'folk horror' tale, in the manner of Nigel Neale's 'Stone Tape' or 'Beasts', but without fully tipping over into the horror genre.

The story is based on a welsh myth from The Mabinogion, about the murder of a celtic lord for the possession of a maiden and the subsequent revenge wrought on the maiden and her lover. Central to the tale is a large standing stone, which can be visited today - although it is now cemented in place and neatly fenced - which was said to be pierced by a spear which killed the barbarian lord. Alan Garner uses myth and folklore as the basis for his stories, often setting them in real world locations, so that it is possible to get a feel for the landscape of the narrative directly. The Literary Atlas covers the Owl Service in detail here: http://www.literaryatlas.wales/en/novels/the-owl-service/

My first real interest in Garners work came by accident, when I found a copy of his earlier work, 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen' in a school cupboard. Having recently finished Tolkien and being thoroughly rapt in the world of goblins and wizards, I read through it quickly and moved on to its sequel - 'The Moon of Gomrath'.

 

 Both of these books dealt with familiar myths, a wizard deep under a mountain guarding a group of knights and a magical gemstone wielding the magic to suspend time. Again Garner uses real locations throughout each book, which is set in Alderley Edge in Cheshire and pivotal areas can still be visited today. oddly Garner chose to complete the trilogy, fifty years later, with 'Boneland' set in and around Jodrell Bank, where one of the protagonists, now an adult, works as a professor. The story goes from high fantasy to more psychological mystery, which was a bit of sea change for the narrative, but is symptomatic of Garners later work.

Another favourite of mine is 'Elidor', which was made into a modern tv series and also read on Jackanory in the sixties. The Puffin edition was beautifully illustrated by Charles Keeping and the drawings were used in Jackanory too. Again, real world locations such as the urban cityscape of Manchester feature heavily.

Alan Garner's writing is always fascinatingly detailed and some of his more adult work can be almost impenetrable, due to the deeply literary way he writes. But his stories are always enjoyable and the 'Owl Service' especially, both in book and video form is well worth a look. The whole of the Granada Tv series is easily found on Youtube and can be watched for free.