When the Idols Walked is a fantasy novel by American writer John Jakes, featuring his sword and sorcery hero Brak the Barbarian.

The novel was later gathered together with Witch of the Four Winds and two stories from The Fortunes of Brak into the omnibus collection Witch of the Four Winds / When the Idols Walked, published as an ebook by Open Road Integrated Media in July 2012.

[1] Continuing his quest to reach the glorious southern realm of Khurdisan the Golden, Brak, a blond, braided, and broadsword-wielding barbarian from the frozen north, reaches the sea, where he hopes to find a ship to bring him to his goal.

However, his party is attacked by raiders who capture him and consign him to servitude as a galley slave.

And he soon learns that the sea contains far worse horrors as well, most notably an idol animated by the spirit of a witch seeking vengeance against her betrayers.