The Chronicles of Prydain


The Chronicles of Prydain is a pentalogy of children's high fantasy Bildungsroman novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander. Henry Holt published one annually from 1964 to 1968; the second earned a 1966 Newbery Honor and the last won the 1969 Newbery Medal.
The five novels follow the protagonist Taran from youth to maturity, most overtly in the fourth book, Taran Wanderer. Taran has the title Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben but initially dreams of being a grand hero. His most important companions in adventure are Princess Eilonwy, a girl his age; Fflewddur Fflam, a wandering bard and minor king; Gurgi, a wild man-beast; and Doli, a dwarf.

Inspiration and development

Thematically the novels draw upon Welsh mythology, particularly the Mabinogion. The novels are not, however, retellings of those myths, a point Alexander makes in an author's note for The Book of Three: stories have been conflated, and characters have been changed in both role and motive, so a student of Welsh culture should be prepared as Arawn becomes the books' dark arch enemy and Gwydion's negative traits are replaced with unclouded heroism. Alexander also indicates that the geography of Prydain is similar to that of Wales, but "not to be used as a guide for tourists".
"Always interested in mythology", Alexander received army combat intelligence training in Wales during World War II. That exposed him to its castles, scenery, and language, which became "part of the raw material for the Prydain books". Originally he "planned to write one or two – three at the very most". The series was later planned to be four volumes, but the editor felt that something was missing between the third and fourth volumes, so Taran Wanderer was written one month after The Castle of Llyr was published, making it a five-volume series.
According to Alexander, nearly all of the proper names in Prydain are from Welsh myth or history, perhaps all except Eilonwy and Taran.

Setting

Prydain's geography, culture, and names are based on ancient Wales, especially the tales of the Mabinogion. Prydain is a magical land that lives under threat from Arawn, the Dark Lord of Annuvin, the Land of Death.
Once ruled over by the evil Queen Achren, Prydain was liberated by the Sons of Don, who established a new kingdom at Caer Dathyl. The High King rules over all the land, seconded by his war leader, with many subject kings ruling the various territories of Prydain, called cantrevs. Only the Free Commots, a collection of villages that answer only to the High King, are outside any subject king's jurisdiction.
Significant locations in Prydain include Caer Dallben, the farm homestead of the enchanter Dallben; Caer Colur, the ancestral home of the House of Llyr; Spiral Castle, Achren's fortress; Annuvin, the fortress of Arawn Death-Lord; and the Marshes of Morva, a haunted swamp that is home to the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch.
Underneath and within Prydain is the kingdom of the Fair Folk, a diminutive supernatural race that mostly keeps to its own affairs. The Fair Folk have no love for the Death-Lord Arawn, however; and they occasionally aid the humans of Prydain against him.
In addition to the races of men and Fair Folk, Prydain is home to the Sons of Don and their descendants. Other varieties of creatures such as the undead Cauldron-Born, the monstrous birdlike Gwythaints, and oddities such as the furry, human-like Gurgi also inhabit Prydain.

Reception

Having garnered a Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor, Prydain is widely recognized as a valuable contribution to children's literature. Decades after their publication The Chronicles of Prydain hold their own in sales and readership.
Ruth Hill Viguers wrote in the 1969 Critical History of Children's Literature, "Like most good fantasies, the books are related to humanity; the characters have failings but also the potential for greatness."
In 2012, The Book of Three was ranked number 18 and The High King 68th among all-time best children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily U.S. audience.

Characters

Characters are grouped by the book where they first appear.

''The Book of Three''

;Taran
;Princess Eilonwy
;Fflewddur Fflam
;Gurgi
;Doli
;Hen Wen
;Dallben
;Gwydion
;Coll
;The Horned King
;Math, Son of Mathonwy
;King Eiddileg
;Arawn Death-Lord
;Achren
;Medwyn
;The Cauldron-Born
;The Gwythaints

''The Black Cauldron''

;King Smoit
;King Morgant
;Kaw
;Ellidyr
;Gwystyl
;Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch
;Adaon
;The Huntsmen of Annuvin

''The Castle of Llyr''

;Prince Rhun
;Magg
;Llyan
;Glew
;King Rhuddlum
;Queen Teleria

''Taran Wanderer''

;Aeddan
;Lord Goryon and Lord Gast
;Morda
;Dorath
;Gloff
;Craddoc
;Llonio
;Annlaw Clay-Shaper
;Hevydd the Smith
;Dwyvach the Weaver-Woman
;Drudwas
;Llassar

''The High King''

;King Pryderi
;Taliesin

Prydain publications

The Chronicles of Prydain

  1. The Book of Three
  2. : Taran and companions race to defeat an army raised by the Horned King, a warlord of Arawn Death-Lord.
  3. The Black Cauldron — a 1966 Newbery Honor book
  4. : Taran and companions struggle to capture a magical cauldron that generates Arawn's zombie army, known as the "Cauldron-Born".
  5. The Castle of Llyr
  6. : Taran escorts Eilonwy to a royal court for her education. There she is kidnapped and he leads a band to rescue her.
  7. Taran Wanderer
  8. : Taran searches for his identity, nominally his parentage, among the cantrevs and commots of Prydain
  9. The High King — winner of the 1969 Newbery Medal
  10. : Taran and companions join Prydain's great effort to defeat Arawn once and for all.

    Short stories

Alexander published eight Prydain short stories, all set before the events of the five novels.
Coll and His White Pig and The Truthful Harp are 32-page picture books illustrated by Evaline Ness.
They feature as younger adults two of Taran's human companions in The Chronicles, Coll son of Collfrewr and Fflewddur Fflam.
A 1973 collection, The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain comprises six new stories of the same length, illustrated by Margot Zemach, and the High King map by Ness.
It was dedicated to "Friends of Prydain, who promised to read more if I would write more".
The author cited "many readers of all ages" and explained that "popular demand makes a splendid pretext" for return to Prydain but not for covering the same ground. All six stories explore prehistory, "before the birth of Taran Assistant Pig-Keeper",
at least fifteen years before the novels.
In 1999, Holt published an expanded edition of The Foundling
collecting all eight stories, the High King map, and a new "Prydain Pronunciation Guide" with entries for 49 proper names.

Contents of ''The Foundling'', expanded edition

The Pronunciation Guide is also included in 1999 and later editions of the five novels.

Omnibus

The Prydain Chronicles comprises the five novels and the six later short stories. That is, all Prydain fiction except the two picture-book stories. Each novel includes a map by Evaline Ness and each story includes the illustrations by Margot Zemach for the original Foundling and Other Tales.

Adaptations

Film

released a Prydain animated film in 1985. The Black Cauldron is based primarily on the first two novels with elements from the others. It cost $44 million and was poorly received by audiences, failing to recoup the investment. Critics found the film "pretty, but confusing and overly somber" due to its dark nature and disjointed script, though Roger Ebert gave it a positive review. Production delays and embarrassing box-office returns nearly brought about the end of the Disney animation studio department. Then newly appointed studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg was dismayed by the product, and the animators felt that it lacked "the humor, pathos, and the fantasy which had been so strong in Lloyd Alexander's work. The story had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it was heartbreaking to see such wonderful material wasted."
Of the film, Lloyd Alexander remarked: "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."
On March 17, 2016, Variety confirmed that Walt Disney Pictures had re-acquired the film rights to The Chronicles of Prydain, with the intention to adapt the book series into an epic motion picture series, more attuned to Lloyd Alexander's high fantasy world. The project is currently in early development at the Walt Disney Studios with no director, producer, or screenwriter attached yet.

Audiobook

Early in the 2000s, Listening Library produced an unabridged reading by James Langton of the five main volumes, with author's notes read by Lloyd Alexander himself. The audiobooks were published on compact audio cassette and compact disc, and were also released for download from 2004 to 2005. In May 2017, an audiobook adaptation of The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain was released in a digital format. This edition was also read by James Langton.