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Authors: Lloyd Alexander

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Many readers of all ages have asked for a new journey to Prydain, and popular demand makes a splendid pretext for a writer to do what he always wanted to do in the first place. However, the tales offered here are meant to be more than a fond return to the imaginary realm that has been part of my life for some years, not retracing steps but venturing deeper into unmapped territory.
Unlike the adventures beginning with
The Book of Three
and ending with
The High King
, these tales deal with happenings before the birth of Taran Assistant Pig-Keeper. Though short in length, they are, I hope, not lacking in substance. While they take up certain threads left unraveled in the longer weaving, each stands by itself and tries to relate matters bearing not only on the history of Prydain but on our own times and concerns as well. Inspired originally by Welsh legend, the tales, for me, have grown to be much more personal than mythological.
Readers visiting Prydain for the first time in these pages may enjoy them without foreknowledge of events to come. Those who already know the chronicles may be pleased to meet some old friends in different circumstances. Dallben first appears here not as an age-worn enchanter but as a baby floating in a wicker basket in the Marshes of Morva. Doli of the Fair Folk is as frustrated and bad tempered as ever. Princess Angharad, mother of Eilonwy, proves herself as clear-sighted and strong-willed as the daughter she is destined
to bear. Medwyn, ancient protector of animals, keeps his patience and compassion despite the antics of Kadwyr, the rascal crow. The grim history of the sword Dyrnwyn is finally revealed, along with the terrible fate of King Rhitta in Spiral Castle. Menwy, the harper, is mentioned only briefly in the previous chronicles; but here, when he cries out defiance of the Death-Lord himself, he counts as a hero in his own right, and his affirmation of life reaches far beyond the boundaries of a fanciful kingdom.
It always startles me to realize how many early friends of Prydain are by now grown men and women, and how young the new friends are. But I hope, in any case, calendar years will be no hindrance to enjoyment, and that the reader will find some of the pleasure these tales have given the writer.
 
 
The Book of Three
Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper assembles a group of companions to rescue the oracular pig Hen Wen from the forces of evil.
 
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
 
 
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
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, rough-hewn 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
.
Henry Holt
®
is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 1965, 1967, 1973 by Lloyd Alexander
Map copyright © 1968 by Evaline Ness
Compilation copyright © 1999 by Henry Holt and Company
Pronunciation Guide copyright © 1999 by Henry Holt and Company
All rights reserved.
 
 
Henry Holt and Company, LLC,
Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com
 
 
eISBN 9781429961974
First eBook Edition : July 2011
 
 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alexander, Lloyd.
The foundling and other tales of Prydain / by Lloyd Alexander.
p. cm.
Summary: Eight short stories dealing with events that preceded the birth of Taran the
Assistant Pig-Keeper and key figure in the author's five works on the kingdom of Prydain.
1. Children's stories, American. 2. Fantastic fiction. [1. Fantasy. 2. Short stories.] 1. Title.
PZ7.A3774Fno 1999 [Fic]—dc21 98-42807
Revised and expanded hardcover edition by Henry Holt and Company, 1999
First Henry Holt paperback edition, 2006

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