The Book of Three (novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Book of Three
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Recent US paperback cover
author = Lloyd Alexander
illustrator =
cover_artist = Jody Lee
country = United States
language = English
series = The Chronicles of Prydain
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Henry Holt
release_date = August 1964
media_type = Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
pages = 217 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-8050-0874-8 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by =
followed_by = The Black Cauldron

"The Book of Three" is the first of Lloyd Alexander's five-part novel series "The Chronicles of Prydain" (first published 1964). Inspired by Welsh mythology, it follows the adventures of Taran, a boy in the care of the enchanter Dallben, as he enters manhood while fighting the forces of the evil Arawn Death-Lord.

Plot summary

Taran, a young man who lives at Caer Dallben with his guardians, the elderly scholar Dallben and the middle aged farmer Coll, is dissatisfied with his life, which consists largely of farm labor and study. He longs to become a great hero like the ones Dallben has read to him about from a mysterious tome called "The Book of Three". Dallben discourages Taran's daydreaming, warning him of Arawn, the Death-Lord, and Arawn's dread new war leader, the Horned King. Dallben even goes so far as to forbid Taran from leaving the farm, for his own protection. When Taran complains about his lot in life to Coll, the latter humorously bestows upon Taran the accolade of Assistant Pig-Keeper, in honor of his responsibility to care for Hen Wen, Coll's oracular white pig. The title makes Taran no happier, although his later experiences give him reason to value it: Throughout the rest of the stories, it is how he refers to himself.

The farm animals suddenly become highly agitated, and while Dallben and Coll search for the letter sticks used to communicate with Hen Wen, Taran unsuccessfully attempts to prevent the pig from digging her way out of her pen and running away. Taran follows her into the forest surrounding the farm, but soon loses her trail. He then encounters the Horned King and his warriors marching against Caer Dallben, and is wounded by one of the warriors who notices him. He runs away and blacks out, awaking to find his wound being treated by Gwydion, one of his heroes as well as the crown prince of Prydain's ruling House of Dôn. Explaining his situation to the prince, they both set off together to find Hen Wen.

During their search, they encounter Gurgi, a humanoid creature living in the forest (who somewhat resembles a hirsute, benign Gollum from The Lord of the Rings). From him they gain a new lead on Hen Wen, but the trail ultimately grows cold. During a second encounter with Gurgi, they learn that the Horned King's men have sighted Hen Wen and are also on her trail. Gwydion persuades Gurgi to lead them to the Horned King's camp. Under cover of darkness, they observe a ritualized gathering of local war leaders who join their forces with the Horned King's army. Gwydion surmises that their target will be Caer Dathyl, the principal stronghold of the House of Don, and decides to abandon his search for Hen Wen in order to warn his people.

The next morning they are discovered by four armed riders of the Horned King. Gurgi runs away in a panic, and Gwydion uses an enchanted mesh of grass to incapacitate one of their attackers. After another horseman is slain, a pair of undead warriors join the fight, the Cauldron-Born. Gwydion orders Taran to flee for his life, but Taran bravely stands his ground. The Cauldron-Born prove too powerful, however, and both men are wounded and captured. Taran and Gwydion are taken to Spiral Castle, where they meet the enchantress Queen Achren. She asks Gwydion to join her, offering him the power to rule Prydain and overthrow Arawn. Gwydion refuses, and he and Taran are taken to separate cells in the castle's dungeons.

In his cell, Taran is unexpectedly visited by Princess Eilonwy, a young enchantress of the House of Llyr. She lives in Spiral Castle to be taught enchantments by Queen Achren, her alleged aunt, although Eilonwy doesn't believe that they're related. Taran asks her to free his companion (out of mistrust, he does not mention Gwydion's name) and then himself. Eilonwy agrees, thinking to get back at Achren for the harsh teatment she's gotten. While trying to escape that night through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the castle, Taran accidentally falls into a lower tunnel unknown to the castle's current occupants. It leads to the ancient barrow of King Rhitta, the last owner of the legendary sword Dyrnwyn. This is all unknown to Taran, but he does discover a small tunnel leading from the tomb to the woods outside the castle. As they emerge from underground, Spiral Castle collapses; Eilonwy had taken Dyrnwyn from the tomb, and its loss (unbeknownst to them) destroyed the castle.

Taran's purposeful vagueness about Gwydion causes some considerable distress when he discovers that the man Eilonwy freed from the dungeon was not the Prince of Dôn, but a man named Fflewddur Fflam, a king by birth but a wandering, tall-tale-telling bard by choice. After realizing the error, the three of them search the castle's ruins, salvage some weapons and supplies, and mourn Gwydion's death. They are met later that night by Gurgi; Taran initially wants nothing to do with the creature because of his cowardly conduct, but the news Gurgi brings of a great army persuades him to let Gurgi stay with them.

The next morning, Taran decides he must warn Caer Dathyl about the Horned King on Gwydion's behalf. His three new companions decide to come with him, and they also bring along Gwydion's horse, Melyngar, whom Eilonwy freed along with Fflewddur. As they begin their journey they find they are being followed by a pair of Cauldron-Born, and a forced march ensues. They flee their tireless enemies all that day and through the night, only stopping the next morning for want of food. Gurgi hurts his leg when he falls from a tree, and asks Taran to kill him to prevent his being a burden. Taran refuses, and as they prepare to set out again, Gurgi offers him his own share of the honeycomb he recovered from the tree. Taran is touched by the creature's nobleness of spirit, and a long friendship begins.

Gurgi's leg becomes infected, and fatigue induces a fever in Eilonwy. The Cauldron-Born eventually reach the limit of their strength and leave off the pursuit, but not before driving Taran and his companions from their intended course. They become lost in the Eagle Mountains to the southeast of Caer Dathyl, and Gurgi comes close to death in his condition. At that point Melyngar intervenes and leads them to the hidden valley of Medwyn. Medwyn heals Gurgi's leg, and Taran discovers Dallben's chickens, who had flown away the same day Hen Wen escaped. Medwyn, who understands the speech of all animals, knows nothing of Hen Wen's whereabouts and guesses she has been captured or killed. He knows Taran much loves the valley and offers to let him stay, indicating that it might well be his only chance. Taran is tempted to leave his worldly responsibilities, but his sense of duty to Gwydion forces him to refuse. Medwyn gives the companions provisions and directions, and they continue on their way, with Gurgi on the road to a quick recovery.

They next encounter a lake of black water in the mountains. Thinking they can take a shortcut by wading near the shoreline, Taran and his companions find themselves drawn further away from the shore. A whirlpool appears and sucks them under the lake, and they regain consciousness in the underground realm of the Fair Folk. Guards ambush them, and while Gurgi escapes the others are taken to King Eiddileg. He treats them gruffly in spite of Taran's explanations, but reveals a softer side when Eilonwy expresses her gratitude for what the Fair Folk have done for humans. Gurgi soon finds them, with news that he has seen Hen Wen, who was rescued by Fair Folk scouts and taken to their realm. Eiddileg agrees to let Taran have Hen Wen back, and is also persuaded to replace the supplies they lost in the lake and give them a guide to Caer Dathyl.

The guide is a dwarf named Doli, grouchy and wishing he knew how to become invisible. He leads the companions on a good pace to Caer Dathyl, only seriously delayed when they encounter an injured fledgling gwythaint, a vicious type of bird used by Arawn as a spy and messenger. Doli almost kills the bird, but Taran stops him and determines to take the gwythaint with them. The gwythaint recovers quickly and flies away, much to Doli's fury. Later that same day, Hen Wen runs away, just before scouts from the Horned King's army find the companions.

The companions repel the scouts and continue to Caer Dathyl; with all the delays of their journey they can only hope to reach the castle barely ahead of the Horned King's army. More troops attack them just beyond view of Caer Dathyl, and Fflewddur sends Taran and Eilonwy ahead with Melyngar as he, Doli and Gurgi fight their assailants.

Melyngar carries Taran and Eilonwy straight through the Horned King's foot soldiers, and the Horned King himself gives them chase. He catches them at the top of a hill, and when Taran challenges him to a fight the war leader breaks the boy's sword on the first blow. Taran then takes Dyrnwyn from Eilonwy, but lacks the noble worth the sword's magic requires to draw it. When he finally succeeds in exposing part of the blade, lightning from the sword throws him to the ground and burns his arm. Just before Taran blacks out, he sees a man approach through the trees, calling out an unintelligible word. The Horned King's mask melts and he bursts into flame.

When Taran comes to, he finds himself in Caer Dathyl. Hen Wen is with him, as well as Eilonwy, who tells him of the Horned King's death and of his army's defeat. The man Taran had seen turns out to have been Gwydion, who had been with Achren in Oeth-Anoeth when Spiral Castle fell. His sufferings in her dungeon gave him a deeper understanding of life, and with that understanding he gained the power to break free from his cell. He also gained the ability to understand the hearts of all creatures, which enabled him to communicate with the gwythaint Taran had saved. She led him to Hen Wen, who had run away the last time because she had sensed Gwydion's presence. The oracular pig's knowledge of the Horned King proved more valuable than Gwydion had guessed, for she knew the one thing that could destroy the Horned King: His secret name. The gwythaint led Gwydion to the Horned King just in time to save Taran, and when Eilonwy met him she gave him Dyrnwyn, knowing the sword would be best left in his hands.

Gifts were given to each of the companions in gratitude for their service to the House of Don; Eilonwy was given a ring made by the Fair Folk, Gurgi a wallet of food that would never be depleted, Fflewddur a golden harp string that would never break, and to Doli the ability to turn invisible. Taran only asked for permission to return home, and Gwydion accompanied him there along with Eilonwy and Gurgi, who had nowhere else to go and were invited to stay at Caer Dallben.

Throughout the course of his adventures, Taran realized more and more that Caer Dallben was the place he most wanted to be, living the quiet life of an Assistant Pig-Keeper. He would long for more adventure soon enough, but for the first time he was happy to be where it had all begun, at Hen Wen's enclosure.

Trivia

*This is the only time in the Chronicles of Prydain the companions visit the realm of the Fair Folk.

*It is also the only time in the series when Eilonwy tries sorcery of any kind. However, her attempt to create a web to ensnare the Cauldron-Born fails.

*The title refers to a book the enchanter Dallben owns. Taran considers The Book of Three to contain everything worth knowing. However, he is barred from touching it – when he tries, his fingers are blistered.

*The Horned King's real name is never revealed.

*This novel was used (albeit loosely) as the plot to the animated feature "The Black Cauldron" produced by Walt Disney Pictures.

References

*cite book | last=Tuck | first=Donald H. | authorlink=Donald H. Tuck | title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy | location=Chicago | publisher=Advent | pages=6 | date=1974