mindstalk | Entries tagged with prydain

I've forgotten this, or somehow passed it over.

On the little farm, while Taran and Coll saw to the plowing, sowing, weeding, reaping, and all the other tasks of husbandry, Dallben undertook the meditating, an occupation so exhausting he could accomplish it only by lying down and closing his eyes. He meditated an hour and a half following breakfast and again later in the day. The clatter from the forge had roused him from his morning meditation;

Like damn, that feels like Pratchett level commentary.

Crossposts: https://mindstalk.livejournal.com/570350.html

To complete my obsession: it was one day to Smoit's castle. But otherwise it all seemed very big.

One thing I'd not mentioned: there's this big river, Great Avren, and Dallben seems to be the only one living on his side of it. They never meet or mention anyone else; all of Prydain is on the other side. This book did mention Avren Harbor, but plausibly just as a place to tie up your ship, not an active port.

For that matter, not many people live on the Avren, period: no river fisherfolk or shipping ever mentioned.

The book was an enjoyable read but basically an action-filled climax as predicted, and to a large degree, remembered; I think Castle of Llyr and Taran Wanderer might be more fun and deeper respectively. Though this does have Eilonwy as sword-wielding pants-wearing action heroine. (Also has her threatened with rape, if you're old enough to read between the lines.)

The end of magic at the end is completely out of the blue. Taran Wanderer with its skill over magic items did kind of foreshadow it thematically, but the actual events, no. Sons of Don going home after Arawn's defeat, that's fine, they came here to fight him. All enchantment fading, and Eilonwy being forced to the Summer Country? No, just no. It's like a very ham-handed "growing up and putting aside fantasy" metaphor tacked on at the last minute. One could fanwank: maybe Dyrnwyn was forged out of the font of magic, or Arawn had stolen and linked himself to such a font. But it'd be pure fanwanking, and the text itself is a total surprise. Not like LotR, where the elven call to the west, and the possibility of the elven-rings being linked to the One, were mentioned early and often, and there still wasn't any hard cut-off (except for the elven-rings.)

When we first see Eilonwy again, it's notable that she's prattling away like she always has, but Taran's language sounds much more formal and "grown-up".

Nobody seems to think that the Cauldron-Born could be entangled or disabled, even if they can't be killed.

It's impressive how one little coffer of papers that Gurgi grabbed and forgot about manages to hold all the craft secrets of Prydain.

***

Unrelatedly, I was looking something up in the Hobbit, and right after the first Rivendell song it says that he loved elves and seldom met them. This implies he had met elves before. This is perfectly plausible given that they traipse through the Shire in LotR but it puts a different perspective on pre-adventure Bilbo; they do seem to keep to themselves, so he'd have had to seek them out. Not very Respectable for the gentry of Hobbiton!

That made me think that they sang out his name from having met him, but then the text says he'd never met these elves before, so we're back to elf magic or gossip.

I hear there's going to be a movie. I'm afraid. I didn't like Fellowship and still haven't seen the other two.

Crossposts: https://mindstalk.livejournal.com/348358.html

Okay, I went back and checked. Early in the Black Cauldron, we get explicit day transitions, and it takes Gwydion's group 3 days to get from Caer Dallben to Annuvin; they attack that night. Some fleeing later, it's a day from Gwystyl's waypost to the Marshes of Morva. At 20 miles a day I'd say Prydain's 80 miles across.

In this book, it is "many days" to Morva, and many days back, just to Smoit's domain/cantrev, which itself is 3 days from the border to the castle. It's like it grew up with Taran. Or he had a better idea. Or he just need more room to accomodate Taran's wandering. I wonder if the next book will stay big enough to spend weeks crossing or will shrink again for fast plot needs.

First book: Taran makes bad decisions
Second book: Taran makes hard decisions
Third book: wheee, travelogue!
Fourth book: Taran makes wise decisions and invents a windmill. More travelogue!
Fifth book: action climax? I remember the most scenes from it, and the ending, but not the plot.

I've remembered the map. Various bits and pieces have been recalled or seemed familiar. Overall, reading has been like rediscovering the books, though; I haven't halfway through a book gone "oh yeah, I remember the plot now."

I liked this one and don't have anything snarky to say about it. I suppose I could work up something about how Taran's now good at almost everything and gets kingships offered to him, but meh. I do wonder if next book will remember "oh yeah, I could totally be Smoit's heir."

One bit I did remember fast was Llonio the Lucky, with all his nets and optimistic attitude toward flotsam and jetsam; he was so unusual and impressive that it sticks with you. Funnily enough, there's been modern research on 'luck', that says it boils down to making lots of opportunities and bringing an optimistic and open-minded attitude to them, which is *precisely* what Llonio does, decades earlier. He puts out nets and boxes, checks them, patrols his area, and can find a use for almost everything. Lucky! Depressed people who don't leave the house are never lucky.

I was surprised by one character not getting killed, I thought he totally had Tropes of Meaningful Doom written over him.

One wonders how Arawn stole away all the craft secrets of the world. Magical implements, sure, but secrets?

Crossposts: https://mindstalk.livejournal.com/348134.html

The Black Cauldron: Gwydion decides to steal the Black Cauldron, as Arawn's abusing it more and more. Arawn's security seems, uh, poor. By a remarkable coincidence, the Cauldron's true owners decide to take it back at almost the exact time. They *are* the Fates (obvious to me even as a kid, I knew my mythology) so I guess "coincidence" is suspect, but still. And if I were Taran, I'd have decided the Cauldron was perfectly safe where it was and kept the magical brooch. One *does* simply walk into ~~Mordor~~ Annuvin if you're the frigging Triple Goddess.

I wonder if the way they swapped identities was original, and a precursor to Gaiman's version.

Prydain seems really small again. They go from Caer Dallben through Smoot's kingdom straight up to Annuvin. A few days, I think.

The Castle of Llyr: my copy is physically bigger than the first two, though the font is also bigger and more spaced. It felt more grown up, with less of Taran being an idiot, and the wacky tour of Mona was interesting. In general I had less of a feeling that people needed a good slap. And like Taran I had to smile at Glew's brilliance in improvised chemical engineering. Reminded me of Aerin in her invalid period in Hero and the Crown, researching the ointment of fire resistance.

I wonder what the time scale is. Achren used to rule Prydain, but Arawn feels like he's been around for quite a while, and Dallben's over 300 years old so Achren can be nigh-immortal too.

Crossposts: https://mindstalk.livejournal.com/347783.html

I got paperbacks of the Prydain series for a quarter each from NESFA, and I re-read The Book of Three last night. Reactions:

* Where's my map? These little paperbacks don't seem to have the map. Even the larger volumes. I had to go find it online. I feel cheated.

* It's very hard for me to not believe this was heavily heavily influenced by Tolkien. I know, "Welsh myth", but Lloyd Alexander admits his Arawn is way more villainous than the 'real' one. And in corruptive ways that sound almost exactly like Sauron, maybe more elaborately so. And of all the Welsh personages to vilify, yes Arawn was Lord of Death, but his name also *sounds* like Sauron. Granted, there's a Devil archetype underlying both Sauron and Arawn. Plus the Sons of Don Dunadain, Aragorn-like Gwydion (both in ranger ability and in directly opposing Arawn), the fading of magic at the end, the Gandalf-like Dallben (granted, Merlin as archetype.) Gurgi sounds like Gollum, though is much nicer.

** In checking dates on Wikipedia, I find that Tolkien didn't like the title The Return of the King, because duh, spoiler!

* Alexander also says in his preface that Prydain isn't that big. No kidding. "Postage-stamp sized" started coming to mind. Okay, Gwydion spent a month going from Caer Dathyl to Caer Dallben. But I'd swear Taran makes the reverse journey in two weeks top, much of it in a week, despite lack of roads and going over (or under) mountains and evading pursuit. It's like a couple days to Spiral Castle, a week up to Caer Dathyl from there. Gwythaints can fly from Caer Dallben to Annuvin in less than a day. I'm thinking 200 miles maximum length, 100 more likely, like the Lord of the Rings squished into the Shire, with Sauron lurking south of Michel Delving.

* I remember liking the series a lot as a kid; I remember the map after all these years. But it feels a lot more immature now. Granted, almost everyone in it *is* immature, but even Gwydion's words are a lot more hackney and cliched. I feel a bit like how did when I re-read Wind in the Willows right after Watership Down, except i haven't been reading any great fiction recently. (Unless you count Banks' Hydrogen Sonata. Which is certainly different.)

Oh, and if Taran et al. make in a week, Gwydion must have moved even faster, from his hell-experience in Achren's magical prison west of Spiral Castle, back north in time to save the day.

Oh well. It was light fast fun. Maybe the others will be better. But I had a similar reaction to the writing in the two Vesper Holly novels I've read; it really feels like writing down for kids.

I wonder how the Black Stallion would hold up. That series is the first I remember really liking. (I wanted to be a jockey until I saw Feynman on NOVA at age 8; then I wanted to be a Physicist Like Feynman like half the other entering class at Caltech.)