The black cauldron the c.., p.16
The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain),
p.16
The Black Cauldron
Newbery Honor Book
The warriors of Prydain set out to find and destroy the Black
Cauldron, the Death-Lord Arawn’s chief instrument of evil.
The Castle of Llyr
Princess Eilonwy is growing up and must learn to act
like a lady rather than a heroine among heroes.
Taran Wanderer
Taran faces a long and lonely search for his identity among
the hills and marshes, farmers and common people of Prydain.
The High King
Newbery Medal Winner
The final struggle between good and evil dramatically concludes
the fate of Prydain, and of Taran who wanted to be a hero.
Also available:
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain
by Lloyd Alexander
Eight short stories evoke the land of Prydain before
the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper.
The Prydain Companion
A Reference Guide to Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles
by Michael O. Tunnell
In the imaginary land of Prydain, where “evil is never distant,” Prince Gwydion faces dangers more threatening than have ever been dreamed of. It has become imperative that the Black Cauldron, chief implement of the evil powers of Arawn, lord of the Land of Death, be destroyed.
For each of the warriors chosen to journey to Arawn’s domain, the quest has special meaning. To Ellidyr, the youngest son of an impoverished king, it means a chance to satisfy his bitter longing for fame. For Adaon, beloved for his gentleness and bravery, the quest is an omen whose significance he dreads to discover. And to Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, the adventure seems a glorious opportunity to wear his first sword, and be a man among men.
In this story, filled with great sacrifice and great adventure, each warrior fulfills his destiny in ways entirely unforeseen.
Prydain Pronunciation Guide
Achren AHK-ren
Adaon ah-DAY-On
Aeddan EE-dan
Angharad an-GAR-ad
Annuvin ah-NOO-vin
Arawn ah-RAWN
Arianllyn ahree-AHN-lin
Briavael bree-AH-veL
Brynach BRIHN-ak
Caer Cadarn kare KAH-darn
Caer Colur kare KOH-loor
Caer Dathyl kare DA-thil
Coll kahl
Dallben DAHL-ben
Doli DOH-lee
Don dahn
Dwyvach DWIH-vak
Dyrnwyn DUHRN-win
Edyrnion eh-DIR-nyon
Eiddileg eye-DILL-eg
Eilonwy eye-LAHN-wee
Ellidyr ELLI-deer
Fflewddur Fflam FLEW-der flam
Geraint GHER-aint
Goewin GOH-win
Govannion go-VAH-nyon
Gurgi GHER-ghee
Gwydion GWIH-dyon
Gwythaint GWIH-thaint
Islimach iss-LIM-ahk
Llawgadarn law-GAD-arn
Lluagor lew-AH-gore
Llunet LOO-net
Llyan lee-AHN
Llyr leer
Melyngar MELLIN-gar
Melynlas MELLIN-lass
Oeth-Anoeth eth-AHN-eth
Orddu OR-doo
Orgoch OR-gahk
Orwen OR-wen
Prydain prih-DANE
Pryderi prih-DAY-ree
Rhuddlum ROOD-Lum
Rhun roon
Smoit smoyt
Taliesin tally-ESS-in
Taran TAH-ran
Teleria tell-EHR-ya
About the Author
In writing the Chronicles of Prydain, Mr. Alexander says, “There was nothing to do but keep on. The story insisted on being written … . The people in it were born, like most children, at unlikely and inconvenient times. Gurgi, for example, appeared in the predawn hours … . Suddenly there he was, with his groanings and moanings, looking like a disordered owl’s nest.” The author first met the hopelessly distraught and harassed Gwystyl while sitting, under protest, in a dentist’s chair!
Lloyd Alexander was born and raised in Philadelphia. As a boy he decided that he wanted to be a writer. “If reading offered any preparation for writing, there were grounds for hope. I had been reading as long as I could remember. Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, and so many others were my dearest friends and greatest teachers. I loved all the world’s mythologies; King Arthur was one of my heroes; I played with a trash-can lid for a knightly shield, and my uncle’s cane for the sword Excalibur.”
During World War II, Mr. Alexander trained as a member of an army combat intelligence team in Wales. This ancient, roughhewn country with its castles, mountains, and its own beautiful language made a tremendous impression on him, but not until years later did he realize that he had been given a glimpse of another enchanted kingdom.
After the war, while attending the University of Paris, he met his future wife, Janine. They were married, and moved back to Philadelphia, where Mr. Alexander wrote novel after novel. It was seven years before his first novel at last was published. Ten years later, he tried writing for children. It was, Mr. Alexander says, “the most creative and liberating experience of my life. In books for young people, I was able to express my own deepest feelings far more than I could ever do in writing for adults.”
While doing historical research for a Welsh episode in his first children’s book, Time Cat, he discovered such riches that he decided to save them for a whole book. He delved into all sorts of volumes, from anthropology to the writings of an eighteenth-century Welsh clergyman to the Mabinogion, the classic collection of Welsh legends. From his readings emerged such characters as Gwydion Son of Don, Arawn Death-Lord of Annuvin, Dallben the old enchanter, and the oracular pig Hen Wen. The landscape and mood of Prydain came from Mr. Alexander’s vivid recollections of the land of Wales that had so enchanted him twenty years earlier.
The five books in the Chronicles of Prydain are The Book of Three (an ALA Notable Book), The Black Cauldron (a Newbery Honor Book), The Castle of Llyr (an ALA Notable Book), Taran Wanderer, and The High King (winner of the 1969 Newbery Medal). He followed the chronicles in 1973 with a collection of short stories, The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain.
LLOYD ALEXANDER had been writing professionally for ten years when Holt, Rinehart and Winston published his first book for young readers, Time Cat, in 1963. Writing Time Cat triggered Mr. Alexander’s desire to explore Welsh mythology, and from his research and imagination sprang, in rapid succession, the five books that comprise the Chronicles of Prydain. Published from 1964 to 1968, they garnered numerous awards, including a Newbery Honor for The Black Cauldron and the Newbery Medal for The High King.
Generations of readers, young and old, have flocked to Lloyd Alexander’s magical stories. With millions of copies sold in the United States, these books have also been translated into thirteen languages and published worldwide.
Lloyd Alexander lives with his wife, Janine, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
Jacket illustration copyright © 1965 by Evaline Ness
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10010
www.HenryHoltKids.com
PRINTED IN U.S.A
Henry Holt and Company, LLC, Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
www.HenryHoltKids.com
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 1965 by Lloyd Alexander. Renewed 1993.
Map copyright © 1965 by Evaline Ness
Pronunciation Guide copyright © 1999 by Henry Holt and Company
All rights reserved.
eISBN 9781429961929
First eBook Edition : July 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alexander, Lloyd.
The black cauldron / by Lloyd Alexander.
p. cm.—(The chronicles of Prydain; 2)
Summary: Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper of Prydain, faces even more dangers as he seeks the
magical Black Cauldron, the chief implement of the evil powers of Arawn, lord of the Land of Death.
[1. Fantasy.] 1. Title. II. Series: Alexander, Lloyd. Chronicles of Prydain; 2.
PZ7.A3774B1 1999 [Fic]-dc21 98-40896
Revised Edition—1999
Lloyd Alexander, The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain)
