Final project for FA13 LIBR-268

1. The Book
of Three
Lloyd
Alexander

2. is the first book in the Chronicles of Prydain, a
five part fantasy adventure series that follows
Taran from Assistant Pig Keeper to High King.
Edition used - The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. Published
16/05/2006 by Square Fish (first published 01/01/1964).

3. Summary
As the story opens Taran is complaining that he has to make
horseshoes and not swords even though they have no horses. His
teacher Coll replies “that is lucky for the horses.” Taran has a lot
of energy and ideas about what he wants but as yet no opportunity
to prove himself
As Assistant Pig Keeper it is Taran‟s job to look after Hen Wen the
oracular pig. When she runs away to escape an attempted
kidnapping from the armies of the Horned King he rushes to find
her. Lost in the woods Taran suddenly finds himself embarking on
a quest, a journey to find Hen Wen and protect her from the
Horned King.

4. On this quest Taran meets many companions who help him face
the dark forces in Prydain; Gwydion, who becomes a mentor and
guide, Eilonwy a fiery and resourceful princess, the travelling bard
Fflewddur Fflam and the odd creature Gurgi who is more help
than he first appears.
Our band of heroes faces an assortment of challenges from
imprisonment in dark dungeons to skirmishes with wolves and
negotiations with the dwarf king. When the final battle arrives our
heroes are prepared to sacrifice themselves to defend Prydain and
their friends, but they are saved because Gwydion is able to
discover the Horned King‟s true name and defeat him. The band is
able to travel home again more experienced and wiser yet maybe
ready for another adventure?

5. Map of Prydain
By Evaline Ness
A Fantasy land - inspired by ancient Wales

6. Taran
“Give me a sword and I will stand with you.”
(p.18)
An orphan who dreams of being a hero and
having adventures but is only an Assistant Pig
Keeper.
Throughout this story and continuing on in the
later books Taran goes on the traditional journey
of heroic development. He learns to replace his
childish fantasies of battles and heroes with the
realities of war, to recognise real courage no
matter what form it takes, to rely on and trust his
friends and gains the maturity to take his place as
leader.

7. Eilonwy
That‟s no way to treat your friend, after I went to
all the bother of rescuing him.” (p. 74).
Like Taran, Eilonwy is an orphan who seeks
adventure. At their first meeting she rescues
Taran from the dungeons of Achren proving her
bravery and resourcefulness. Eilonwy has a lot of
opinions and often clashes with Taran on what is
the best course of action on their quest.
Throughout the journey they have a number of
fights and are constantly bantering but they
come to acknowledge and rely on each others
respective strengths.

8. Heroes
Fflewddur Fflam
“A Fflam to the rescue.
Storm the castle... Batter
down the gates.” (p.78).
A travelling bard that
joins Taran‟s quest - in
possession of a magical
harp that will break its
strings if he starts to lie
or exaggerate. A comical
figure but also possessed
of great courage.
Gwydion
“The surest search is not
always the shortest.” (p.35).
Taran‟s mentor – the heir to
a kingdom, brave and noble.

9. Heroes
Doli
“If there‟s anything nasty
or disagreeable to be done,
it‟s always „find good old
Doli.‟”(p.150).
A surly dwarf who is
ordered to guide Taran
and his companions - all
he wants is to learn the art
of invisibility.
Gurgi
“Crunching and munching.”
.
(p.17).
An odd creature, half beast
half man, snivelling and
weak in appearance but is
able to find his courage and
helps to save the day.

10. Villains
Arawn
King of Annuvin (the land
of the dead) but longs to
rule the whole of Prydain.
Achren
“As evil as she is
beautiful.”(p.24)
A dark enchantress, who
imprisons Taran and
Gwydion and tries to get
them to switch sides.
The Horned
King
A cruel warlord and
sworn champion of
Arawn.

11. Themes
• Don‟t judge on Appearances - Throughout their journey the band of
heroes, but especially Taran, must learn this. As a boy dreaming of
adventure Taran has a very romantic idea of warriors and battles
with noble knights and glorious deeds. He can‟t believe that his old
teacher, “but… he‟s so bald” (p.24), Coll could have been a great
warrior or that in the enchantress Achren “such beauty concealed
the evil of which he had been warned (p.46).”
• Many of the characters are not what they seem at the
outset and through the course of the quest Taran learns
to look deeper than the physical and to judge by actions,
he puts away his childish fantasies and understands
that “It is not the trappings that make the Prince… nor the sword
the warrior” (p.17).

12. Themes • Heroism – As well as the traditional heroic ideals of strength,
courage and self sacrifice, care for others is emphasised. When
Taran rescues a gwythaint (a bird spy of the enemy) he is criticised
by his companions but when the gwythaint in turn helps them, his
compassion is rewarded. Through the journey Taran learns that it is
not his birth but his actions which define him and that even if you
only play a small part you are still a hero, “does it truly matter…
which of you did what, since all shared the same goal and the same
danger” (p.185).
• Good vs. Evil - The Book of Three follows the High Fantasy tradition
of focusing the plot around the struggle between good and evil.
Taran‟s journey to rescue Hen Wen quickly turns into a more serious
quest to defeat the Horned King and save Prydain. Along the way
Taran and his friends learn to recognise and seek help from the
forces of good and fight back against evil.

13. Lloyd Alexander
Image credit - http://disneysnowprincess.tumblr.com/

14. Timeline
1924 - Born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania
1943-46 - Serves in the United States Army Combat Intelligence
and Counter- Intelligence Corps. Including time in Wales that
inspired his later fantasy writing
1964 - The Book of Three published
1969 - The High King (final book in the Prydain Chronicles)
wins the Newbery Award
1986 - Awarded the Regina Medal for contributions to children‟s
literature
1991 - Pennbook Lifetime Achievement Award
2003 - World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
2007 - Died aged 83

15. Lloyd Alexander
• After the war Lloyd Alexander and his wife, Janine, moved back to
Philadelphia and he started writing seriously. At first he wrote
adult books but after limited success he turned to children‟s fiction
the writing of which he described as “the most creative and
liberating experience of my life”
• Alexander wrote over 35 children‟s books, mostly fantasy based on
myths and legends. These books have brought Alexander fans and
awards from America and around the world. He won the
Netherlands Silver Slate Pencil Award, the Swedish Golden Cat
award and the Norwegian Children‟s Book Award.
•
Alexander continued writing till his death - his last book The
Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio was published the year he died.

16. Historical and Literary Context
The Book of Three brought old legends and made them relevant to a
new generation of readers and helped to establish an American
tradition of fantasy writing.
The Book of Three stands out as one of the first major American fantasy
works. At the time of its publication British fantasy was very strong but
American children‟s fiction was more focused on history and social
realism (Hollindale & Sutherland, 1995, p.252). One of the trends in
this golden age of British fantasy was the retelling of the Arthurian
legend as exemplified in the writings of C.S. Lewis and Alan Garner.
Lloyd Alexander followed on from this by using the Welsh Mabinogion
stories to inspire his own take on the legends. This style of writing was
very popular as according to P. Hollindale & Z. Sutherland people were
comforted by the moral certainty and the strong focus on good vs. evil
present in these stories which helped them cope with the upheaval in
society in the post war years. (1995, p. 274).
Through this series of books, Alexander along with Susan Cooper and
Ursula Le Guin brought the concept of High Fantasy to American
writing and in turn started a new tradition (Kuznets, 1985, p.20).

17. The Mabinogion
• The inspiration for The Book of Three and the Prydain Chronicles
came from Lloyd Alexander‟s time in Wales and his reading of Welsh
myths. Especially The Mabinogion – a collection of
ancient Welsh tales about; gods, monsters, magicians
and heroes. These tales include some of the early
Arthurian stories and Alexander was inspired to
create his own take on these ancient legends.
• While his books take some of the stories and motifs
like the quest structure and the hero-king from
these tales, Alexander creates his own unique saga.
He changes the characters to focus on youthful
heroes and a coming of age story. This change in direction gives the
old stories new life and makes them more relevant to his modern
young audience.

18. Reviews - The Good
“The best children‟s fantasy series
I know, and still very much
underrated.” – Lee Behlman.

19. Reviews - The Bad
“This sample fails to come up to
expectations” and that the
people in it were so “trivial…
that the menace is rendered
ineffectual by their
reactions.” Junior Bookshelf
The Book of Three is no more
than a clever imitation of
Tolkien.” (Brian Attebery,
1980, p. 156).
While not universally loved and
sometimes seen as slightly
derivative of other fantasy works,
The Book of Three‟s significance
is shown in its place in literary
tradition, in its legacy and how it
is still beloved today.

20. Awards and Legacy
Number 18 in the 2012 -
There is enough interest
in the books for the
publication of The
Prydain Companion
Children's Books - A jump of 64
places from the previous poll.
A comprehensive
reference guide to the
Chronicles.

21. Editions Through Time
1964
1980
1990
French
Dutch
German
1995
2006
Spanish
Finnish

22. Adaptions
Movie
The Book of Three and the second book in the Prydain series were in
1985 loosely adapted into Disney‟s 25th full length animated feature.
It was not a critical or commercial success, failing
to make any profit. The movie changed or left out
a lot of the characters and cutesified the others.
Worst of all while book Princess Eilonwy rescues
Taran, captures the legendary sword and fights
by his side, movie Eilonwy bats her eyes, pouts
and cowers in terror during the battles.
However the movie did boost sales of the book
and increase awareness of the chronicles.

23. Adaptions Toys –
with every Disney movie there comes toys and merchandise.

24. Adaptions Game
In 2001 a Role-Playing Game was released based on The Book of Three.
The game allows the player to be Taran and join him on his quest to
rescue Hen Wen, facing dangers and solving puzzles along the way.

25. Conclusions and Canons
• The enduring popularity and the place it still holds in the hearts of
readers fits The Book of Three clearly into the canon of sentiment as
described by Deborah Stevenson. This is shown by its very high
placing on the top 100 list, the numerous editions over the years, the
increase in awareness after it was adapted into a movie and the love
people show towards it today. Since it was first published in 1964 it
has been reissued many times with new cover art to appeal to new
generations in book, ebook and audiobook editions. It was also
republished in hardback which according to Stevenson proves that it
is fondly remembered by adults as they are prepared to pay for a nice
and durable edition to give to their children(1997, p.4). Its lasting
popularity is shown by its still active fandom - explore the Wiki, or
search for Prydain or Lloyd Alexander on Pinterest or Tumblr to see
all the fan art, discussions and sharing that goes on today.

26. Conclusions and Canons • While The Book of Three is very attached to the canon of
sentiment, the awards and recognition it received, both when it was
published and today, as well as its position as one of the first stories
to bring the tradition of High Fantasy to American children‟s books,
also places it into the canon of significance.
• Best of all The Book of Three teaches us that “our capabilities
seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully
unprepared. To this extent we are all Assistant Pig Keepers at
heart.” (Lloyd Alexander, author‟s note, The Book of Three, 2006).

27. Reference List
Alexander Lloyd (2006) The Book of Three. Square Fish: New York.
Attenery,B.(1980). The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From
Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Bird, E. (2012, June 12). Top 100 Children‟s Novels #18: The Book of
Three by Lloyd Alexander. Message posted to
http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production.
Bookscoops. (2009). Author Interview with Aaron Zenz. Retrieved
from http://bookscoops.com/2009/09/12/author-interview-withaaron-zenz-and-a-signed-book-giveaway/.
Eccleshare, J. (2007, July 6). Lloyd Alexander. The Guardian. Retrieved
from
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jul/06/guardianobituaries.
booksobituaries.

28. Reference List
Hollindale, P., & Sutherland, Z. (1995). Internationalsim, Fantasy and
Realism: 1945-1970. In P. Hunt (ed.) Children‟s Literature: An
Illustrated History. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Jacobs, J. S. (2006). Talking with Lloyd Alexander. Book Links, 15 (6),
38-39.
Jacobs, J. S. (2006). Talking with Lloyd Alexander. Book Links, 15 (6),
38-39.
Kirkus Review. (1964). The Book of Three. Retrieved from
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lloyd-alexander/thebook-of-three/.
Kuznets, L. R. (1985). “High Fantasy” in America: A Study of Lloyd
Alexander, Ursula Le Guin, and Susan Cooper. The Lion and the
Unicorn, 9, 19-35.

29. Reference List
Macmillan Publishers. (n.d). The Book of Three. Retrieved from
http://us.macmillan.com/thebookofthree/LloydAlexander.
May, J. P. (1991). Lloyd Alexander: Twayne‟s United States Authors Series.
Boston: Twayne Publishers.
Miller, J. J. (2010, September 15). Taran Wanders Again. The Wall Street
Journal. Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB100014240527487042068045754
68221723518354.
Moby Games. (n.d). The Book of Three. Retrieved from
http://www.mobygames.com/game/book-of-three.

30. Reference List
Stevenson, D. (1997). Sentiment and Significance: The Impossibility of
Recovery in the Children‟s Literature Canon or, The Drowning of The Water
Babies. The Lion and the Unicorn, 21(1), 112-130.
Trautmann, P. (1984). Welsh Mythology and Arthurian Legend in the
Novels of Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper: Parallels of Motif, Character,
and Other Elements. Thesis (Ph.D.), George Peabody College for Teachers of
Vanderbilt University: Nashville.
Tunnell, M. O. (2003). The Prydain Companion: A Reference Guide to
Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. Henry Holt and Company: New York.
Tunnell, M. O., & Jacobs, J. S. (1988). Alexander‟s Chronicles of Prydain:
Twenty Years On. School Library Journal, 34(8), 27-31.