He’s a traveling bard, Fflewddur Fflam, who owns a harp with strings that break whenever he tells a lie. They escape the grounds just as the castle collapses in on itself.Īwaiting them is a fellow escapee, but he’s not Gwydion. They discover an ancient king’s crypt, where Eilonwy obtains a legendary sword, Dyrnwyn. She and Taran travel through underground tunnels. She doesn’t like the queen, and agrees to help him and his friend escape. Taran is knocked out and cast into the castle dungeon. He refuses in a rage, she uses magic to destroy his otherwise unbreakable sword. She offers Gwydion safety in return for his help. The soldiers capture Gwydion and Taran and bring them to the wicked Queen Achren. A war has begun Gwydion must alert his people.Īs they travel, they’re pursued by mounted warriors and the zombie-like Cauldron-Born, dead soldiers re-animated by Arawn for ruthless purposes. They observe the camp of the Horned King’s men and watch as the leader sets fire to prisoners. Along the way, they encounter the cowardly half-man Gurgi, who helps them with their search in hopes of receiving food. Gwydion and Taran track Hen Wen near the border river, the Great Avren.
The Horned King searches for Hen Wen on behalf of Arawn. He also knows that Arawn, the evil ruler of the shadowy kingdom of Annuvin, wants to conquer Prydain. Taran wakes to find himself being cared for by the great hero, Prince Gwydion, who knows about Dallben, Hen Wen, and the Horned King. The band tries to kill Taran, but he escapes with a shoulder wound. He loses her in a forest and stumbles onto a band of mounted warriors led by the Horned King, a vicious warlord who wears a helmet made of a human skull and antlers. Taran, responsible for the creature, chases after her.
Dallben says the boy isn’t yet ready to learn swordplay or leave the stronghold.Ī disturbance among the animals causes the oracular pig Hen Wen to escape. His foster parent and benefactor, the ancient wizard Dallben, reads to Taran from a tome, The Book of Three, that tells the history of the region. Young Taran dreams of being a great warrior, but he’s a farmhand living in a stronghold just east of the kingdom of Prydain.
The 2011 e-book version, based on the 1999 revised edition, forms the basis for this study guide. The work contains an author’s note and a pronunciation guide. Its story forms part of the plot for the 1985 animated motion picture The Black Cauldron.
In 2012, a School Library Journal survey ranked The Book of Three number 18 on a list of all-time best books for children. The book won an ALA Notable Book award, and the series won a second Notable Book award, a Newbery Honor, and a Newbery Medal.
0 kommentar(er)
