The Black Cauldron (novel)


The Black Cauldron is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the second of five volumes in The Chronicles of Prydain. For 1966 it was a Newbery Honor book, runner-up for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".
The story continues the adventures of Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, as he joins in a quest to capture the eponymous Magical Cauldron from Arawn Death-Lord.
The book provided a title and many elements of plot for the 1985 Disney animated feature The Black Cauldron.

Origins

The series was inspired by Welsh mythology and by the castles, scenery, and language of Wales, which the author experienced during World War II combat intelligence training.
At one stage of planning it was a trilogy with titles The Battle of the Trees, The Lion with the Steady Hand, and Little Gwion.

Plot summary

More than a year after the defeat of Arawn's army and death of his warlord the Horned King which ended The Book of Three, Prince Gwydion has called allies to a council hosted by Dallben, one of Taran's guardians. Men are disappearing and more and more of the undead Cauldron-Born have joined the forces of Arawn the Death Lord. Evidently the Black Cauldron is active: Gwydion proposes to capture it. King Morgant will lead the main force in an attack on Annuvin after a smaller raiding party led by Gwydion has broken off to enter by a mountain pass known only to Coll.
Gwydion's party plans to steal the cauldron from Arawn's stronghold without being detected. Three men have been designated to remain behind with pack animals to serve as a rearguard and secure the retreat: Adaon, the warrior son of chief bard Taliesin; Taran; and Ellidyr Prince of Pen-Llarcau, who is arrogant, wiry, strong, and threadbare. Ellidyr disdains Taran for his place on the farm and his unknown parentage. Taran envies Ellidyr for his noble birth, despite Dallben's counsel that that youngest son of a minor king has only "his name and his sword".
Both are dismayed to share a role with no chance for glory.
Leaving aside the feud between the two youths, all goes smoothly until Gwydion's raiders find that the cauldron has disappeared. That company rejoins the rearguard in haste because the Huntsmen of Annuvin have been deployed. Meanwhile, the uninvited Princess Eilonwy and man/beast Gurgi have caught up with the quest from behind. Gwydion and Coll are split off from the party but, thanks to Doli of the Fair Folk, all others find refuge underground in a Fair Folk waypost maintained by Gwystyl.
From Gwystyl and his pet crow Kaw, they learn that the cauldron has been stolen by the three witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch, who reside in the bleak Marshes of Morva. When they depart the waypost, Ellidyr rides southward, determined to retrieve the cauldron single-handedly. With the Huntsmen abroad, Adaon leads the others in pursuit: Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, Doli, and the wandering bard Fflewddur Fflam. When they are attacked and scattered, Adaon is mortally wounded and Taran inherits his brooch, whose gift and burden is prophetic dreams and visions. With its guidance, he gathers and leads all but Doli toward the Marshes. From the fringe he both guides his small party through the Marshes to temporary safety and leads a pursuing band of Huntsmen to their deaths.
Orddu and her sisters refuse to give up the cauldron unless they accept the offer in exchange for something of equivalent value. After other characters offer their magical artifacts, Taran is compelled to barter the brooch of Adaon. The companions then try to destroy "their" cauldron but learn from the witches that it can only be destroyed by a living person who knowingly and willingly climbs in to die. Horrified, the questors resolve to take the cauldron to Dallben to seek an alternative solution.
At the ford of the river Tevyn, the heavy and cumbersome cauldron sinks into the riverbed. Ellidyr arrives and offers to help extricate the cauldron if the others will credit him for the whole enterprise. Taran agrees, yet Ellidyr rides off with the cauldron alone when they have freed it. Soon the companions meet the army of Morgant, who welcomes them. Unfortunately, he is a traitor. In Morgant's camp they see Ellidyr beaten and bound, and the cauldron waiting to generate Morgant's own undead legion. He offers to spare the companions' lives if Taran will enter personal service. Later, Doli arrives invisibly and cuts everyone's bonds. Ellidyr determines to rush the cauldron and make the sacrifice himself. Although wounded, he is able to force himself into the opening and destroy the cauldron. Gwydion, King Smoit, and his army defeat Morgant in battle. The story closes as Taran, Eilonwy, and Gurgi take leave of Gwydion at the verge of Caer Dallben.

Analysis

Writing in Studies in the Literary Imagination, Melody Green analyzes The Black Cauldron through René Girard's description of the trope of scapegoating. In the novel, Ellidyr's death is like a "final scapegoat" similar to Christ in the Christian tradition. The black cauldron, which can reanimate corpses, can only be destroyed from the inside by someone who dies in the process. While normally the scapegoat figure is innocent, Ellidyr is not. Instead, his willingness to be a sacrifice is more important. Ellidyr is made an outsider by his own jealousy and pride when he, Taran, and others are separated from the main army attacking the dark lord. Ellidyr leaves the group while they brave danger to retrieve the black cauldron. When they reunite, he tries to get the group to tell their leader, Gwydion, that he alone retrieved the black cauldron, much to the annoyance of his companions. After they agree to this plan, they are captured by another powerful lord, who wishes to make Taran's group the first reanimated corpses with the cauldron. During the chaos after their prison break, Ellidyr decides to sacrifice himself to destroy the cauldron. Ellidyr's sacrifice transforms his selfishness into selflessness. Taran and Gwydion determine that through losing his life, he gained honor.

Adaptations

The Black Cauldron was loosely adapted by Walt Disney Productions and released in 1985 as Disney's 25th animated feature film.
The Black Cauldron film was based primarily on the first two Prydain novels with elements from the others. It was the last Disney film produced before corporate reorganization created Walt Disney Feature Animation as a separate division within the company, and the first to be rated "PG" rather than "G" in the United States by the MPAA. Disney's adaptation of The Black Cauldron was considered a commercial failure because its gross receipts did not match production cost.
Lloyd Alexander's reaction was twofold: "First, I have to say, there is no resemblance between the movie and the book. Having said that, the movie in itself, purely as a movie, I found to be very enjoyable."
The movie inspired a 1986 computer video game with the same title.

Citations