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Title | The Book of Three
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Laurel-Leaf - 1980
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First Printing | Dell Publishing - 1965
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Title | The Black Cauldron
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Laurel-Leaf - 1984
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First Printing | Dell Publishing - 1965
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Title | The Castle of Llyr
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Laurel-Leaf - 1980
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First Printing | Dell Publishing - 1966
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Title | Taran Wanderer
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Laurel-Leaf - 1980
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First Printing | Dell Publishing - 1967
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Title | The High King
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Laurel-Leaf - 1983
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First Printing | Dell Publishing - 1968
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Title | The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Cover Art | ---
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Publisher | Square Fish - 2012
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First Printing | Holt, Rinehart & Winston - 1973
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Title | Coll and His White Pig
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Illustrator | Evaline Ness
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Publisher | Holt, Rinehart & Winston - 1965
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First Printing | Holt, Rinehart & Winston - 1965
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Title | The Truthful Harp
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Author | Lloyd Alexander
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Illustrator | Evaline Ness
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Publisher | Holt, Rinehart & Winston - 1967
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First Printing | Holt, Rinehart & Winston - 1967
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Title | Taran's Magic Sword
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Author | Eric Suben
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Illustrator | Walt Disney Productions
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Publisher | Western Publishing Company - 1985
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First Printing | Western Publishing Company - 1985
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Title | Taran Finds a Friend
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Author | Bernard Garfinkel
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Illustrator | Walt Disney Productions
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Publisher | Western Publishing Company - 1985
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First Printing | Western Publishing Company - 1985
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Title | The Black Cauldron Storybook
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Author | Walt Disney Productions
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Illustrator | Walt Disney Productions
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Publisher | Western Publishing Company - 1985
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First Printing | Western Publishing Company - 1985
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Title | Walt Disney Pictures' The Black Cauldron
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Author | Walt Disney Productions
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Illustrator | Walt Disney Productions
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Publisher | Scholastic - 1985
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First Printing | Scholastic - 1985
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Title | Cover of: The Black Cauldron (Walt Disney Classics)
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Author | Walt Disney Productions
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Illustrator | Walt Disney Productions
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Publisher | Mouse Works - 1994
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First Printing | Mouse Works - 1994
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Category | Middle Grade
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, Fflewddur Fflam, Doli, Kaw, Coll, Hen Wen, Dallben, Gwydion
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Main Elements | Wizards
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Website | ---
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 The Book of Three
Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, longs to be a hero. He begins his journey with a strange assortment of companions on a dangerous mission to save his beloved land, Prydain. Packed with action, humor, romance, and gallantry, Taran's adventures chronicle his beloved Prydain and his battle with the forces of evil.
The Black Cauldron
In the imaginary land of Prydain, where "evil is never distant," it has become imperative that the Black Cauldron, chief implement of the diabolical Arawn, be destroyed. In this cauldron Arawn has created his terrible army of diabolical warrirors from the stolen bodies of the slain. For each of those chose to journey to Arawn's domain, the quest has a special meaning; to Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, the adventure becomes a glorious opportunity to wear his first sword and prove himself a man among men.
The Castle of Llyr
In the imaginary kingdom of Prydain, Princess Eilonwy must leave her friends to go to the Isle of Mona for training as a proper princess. Because Eilonwy has magical powers, she is sought by Achren, the most evil enchantress in the land. Shortly after her arrival on the Isle of Mona, something sinister and secret befalls her. Eilonwy's loyal friends - Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper; Fflewddur, the bard; and Prince Rhunn, her intended husband - realize her peril and set out on an exciting and terrifying mission to rescue her. They encounter great forces of evil as well as private - sometimes painful - revelations in the course of their journey.
Taran Wanderer
Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, who wants to be a hero, goes question for knowledge of his parentage, hoping that his journey will ennoble him in the eyes of Eilonwy, the princess with the red-gold hair. Accompanied by several loyal friends, Taran begins his search when three wily enchantresses of the Marshes of Morva send him to consult the Mirror of Llunet for the answers he is seeking, cryptically promising that "the finding takes no more than the looking." During his adventures he meets Craddoc, the shepherd, and the common people of Prydain, whom he comes to respect and admire. With their help, he continues his mission to learn the secret of the Mirror and the truth about himself.
The High King
When the sword of Drynwyn, the most powerful weapon in the kingdom of Prydain, falls into the hands of Arawn-Death-Lord, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, and Prince Gwydion raise an army to march against Arawn's terrible cohorts. After a winter expedition filled with danger, Taran's army arrives at Mount Dragon, Arawn's stronghold. There, in a thrillig confrontation with Arawn and the evil enchantress Achren, Taran is forced to make the most crucial decision of his life.
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain
A companion book to the Chronicles of Prydain, this collection of short stories revists beloved characters and reveals more about the history of the magical land of Prydain.
Here, readers will find Dallben, destined to be an enchanter; Angharad, a princess of the House of Llyr; Kadwyr, the rascal crow; and Medwyn, the mystical protector of all animals. They'll learn the grim history of the sword Dyrnwyn and even find out how Fflewddur Fflam came by his enchanted harp. How did Coll rescue Hen Wen when she disappeared at the hand of Arawn, Lord of the Land of Death? Find the answer to this question and many more.
- 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
Coll and His White Pig
A good-natured gardener of the Land of Prydain, aided by friends of the forest, rescues his white pig from his country's greatest enemy.
The Truthful Harp
The king of a small land in Prydain, unable to pass the test to be a bard, is given a harp whose strings keep breaking as he speaks.
Taran's Magic Sword
When his pig, Hen Wen, is captured by the Horned King, Taran sets out to get her back before she reveals the whereabouts of the Black Cauldron with which the Horned King could destroy the world.
Taran Finds a Friend
The Black Cauldron Storybook
Taran embarks on a quest for the Black Cauldron, during which he discovers that some things are more important than being a hero and a warrior.
Walt Disney Pictures' The Black Cauldron
The Black Cauldron! It holds the dark secret to the evil Horned King's magic power. Can a young boy named Taran destory the Black Cauldron and rescue the Land of Prydain before it is too late?
Based on the Walt Disney film of the Newberry Honor Book by Lloyd Alexander.
The Black Cauldron (Walt Disney Classics)
Though I did not read these books as a kid I know I saw the movie, The Black Cauldron. However, I don't remember anything from the movie other than the fact I did see it. Thus I went pretty well fresh into these books, and found them utterly enchanting.
I loved the overlay of Welsh/Celtic mythology, even though Alexander only used it as inspiration and Prydain is entirely a world of his creation. The worldbuilding drew me in and without that, a fantasy series has nothing. I'll be honest I had a pretty good idea how the series was going to end, though it didn't end in exactly the same way I thought it would, it still got to where I expected it to. But that didn't take anything away for me.
I loved the characters. I normally don't like characters that have silly speech patterns, but not only did Gurgi grow on me, I picture my cat speaking like that. Fflewddur is also a ridiculous character, especially since he's an adult, but you can't help loving the goofy guy. Especially as no matter how ridiculous a character is, they are quite capable of saving the world, they aren't useless sidekicks.
And then there's Llyan. I love cats. Though I'd be a bit wary of one the size of a horse, and I can't imagine they would be comfortable to ride (nor would they be so willing as Llyan seems to be, maybe its Fflewddur's harp) it would be so nice to snuggle up to one when its cold outside.
While clearly intended for children, and filled with humourous moments, it doesn't shy away from serious things. People die, Taran makes mistakes that have consequences. Taran is a teenager dealing with some pretty grown up things. Such as learning what a hero is, and that maybe, an assistant pig-keeper isn't a bad thing. That who your parents are don't matter as much as the people who raise you. And that the most important thing you can do with your life is to help others, to try to make things right, and to fight evil whenever it presents itself.
If you enjoyed the series I also recommend the short story collection. The stories are very very short but its nice to get a glimpse into the backgrounds of the various characters before Taran is even born.
I found on OpenLibrary picture book versions of Coll and His White Pig, as well as The Truthful Harp. It was nice to read them with illustrations, though I will say I wasn't a big fan of the artwork. Though I liked how Coll and Fflewddur were rendered, the rest of the pictures were too...unfinished. They looked like they were drawn with crayons and some of the colour choices made seeing anything at all a bit hard.
I then searched OpenLibrary to see what else they had, turns out they had some books that were based on the movie. Now the movie changed a lot of details from the original story. This was unfortunate, they stuffed in this one green goblin character that wasn't in the book, and he took up so much screen time that other key pieces of the story had to be left out. So only look at these books if you've seen the movie, otherwise you'll be quite confused as to what's going on. There's a variety of them, picture books of the whole movie, picture books of just certain scenes, and even a comic book / graphic novel. Since they need to condense the movie down, each book kept and left out different bits. And some of the books that came out the same year as the movie had bits that weren't even in the movie, as they had been cut after the books had been made.
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