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.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
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 himself 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.
Appropriately, the author's note also reveals the geography is ultimately derived from Wales, though Alexander notes that Prydain is separate from Wales both in physical geography and history.
"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".
At one point he planned a trilogy with titles The Battle of the Trees, The Lion with the Steady Hand, and Little Gwion. In Welsh mythology the former features the sons of Don led by Gwydion against the forces of Arawn, and the legend of Gwion concerns the bard Taliesin as a boy. Later, a four-volume series would conclude with The High King. The editor felt that something was missing between third and fourth volumes, so Taran Wanderer was written one month after The Castle of Llyr was published, making it a five-volume series.
The stories that are now collected in The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain actually were published in three different volumes: two picture books and one short story collection. Most of these act as backstories which fill in gaps for minor characters, but others are just short stories that stand apart from the books.
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Setting
Prydain's geography, culture, and names are based on ancient Wales, especially the tales of the Mabinogion. Prydain is a magical land engaged in a series of battles with its neighbor, Annuvin, the Land of Death. It is the setting for four of the five books in the series.
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 land of craftsmen who 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, 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 (who are ostensibly related to the gods of Welsh mythology, though this is never overtly stated in the series). Other varieties of creatures such as the undead Cauldron-Born, the monstrous birdlike Gwythaints, and oddities such as the furry, human-like Gurgi (whose race is undetermined) 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 and may be comparable to children's fantasy series such as The Chronicles of Narnia.
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 64th 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 first by the one of five Chronicles where they first appear, then by appearance in short stories only. According to Alexander, nearly all of the proper names in Prydain are from Welsh myth or history, perhaps all except Eilonwy and Taran.
The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King
Prydain publications
The Chronicles of Prydain
- The Book of Three (1964)
- The Black Cauldron (1965) -- a 1966 Newbery Honor book
- The Castle of Llyr (1966)
- Taran Wanderer (1967)
- The High King (1968) -- winner of the 1969 Newbery Medal
Short stories
Alexander published eight Prydain short stories, all set before the events of the five novels.
Coll and His White Pig (1965) and The Truthful Harp (1967) 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 (text only), the High King map, and a new "Prydain Pronunciation Guide" with entries for 49 proper names.
Contents of The Foundling, expanded edition
- Author's Note (1973)
- Map (copyright 1968, Evaline Ness)
- The Foundling
- The Stone
- The True Enchanter
- The Rascal Crow
- The Sword
- The Smith, the Weaver, and the Harper
- Coll and his White Pig
- The Truthful Harp
- Prydain Pronunciation Guide (1999)
- About the Author (1973)
The Pronunciation Guide is also included in 1999 and later editions of the five novels.
Omnibus
The Prydain Chronicles (1991, Guild America Books; Science Fiction Book Club) 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 (original illustrator of the picture books and covers of the novels) and each story includes the illustrations by Margot Zemach for the original Foundling and Other Tales.
References
In 1989, Greenwood Publishing Group published The Prydain Companion: A Reference Guide to Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles by children's literature scholar Michael O. Tunnell. Henry Holt, the original publisher of the Prydain books, republished The Prydain Companion in 2003. The book's title is a reference to the fact that the Chronicles' narration often refers to any present combination of the main characters as "the companions." The Prydain Companion includes a biographical sketch of Alexander and two sections by Alexander, the "Foreword" and "How to Use the Companion". Entries cover major characters, locations, and so on, with insight gained by Tunnell's interviews with Alexander as well as research into the Mabinogion and The White Goddess. One marketing capsule is "An informative resource for formal studies of the Prydain Chronicles, as well as an excellent opportunity to delve into the fantastic workings of Prydain."
Adaptations
Film
Walt Disney Productions 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 bankrupted the Disney animation studio department. In retrospect, 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 (Random House) 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.
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