An accessible. popular. intelligent history of the early English civilization on which Tolkien based his world of Lord of the Rings. Tolkien readily admitted that the concept of Middle-earth was not his own invention but an Old English term for the Dark Age world. It was always assumed, however, that the importance of magic in this world existed only in Tolkien's books. Now Professor Brian Bates reveals the vivid truth about this historical culture. The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings believed their universe was held together by an interlaced web of golden threads visible only to wizards, and at its centre was the realm of Middle-earth, peopled by humans but imbued with spiritual power.Drawing on the latest historical and archaological research, Brian Bates uncovers the real Middle-earth, which centred on England, its landscape a home to dragons, elves, dwarves and demons, where spells had real force. The Real Middle Earth is a compelling account of a Dark Age culture as magical, enchanting and compelling as Tolkien's fictional version.