Huntsmen of Annuvin

The Huntsmen of Annuvin are a roaming band of hunters and killers in Lloyd Alexander's fantasy series, "The Chronicles of Prydain". While never major villains, they form a constant source of fear and danger for the protagonist Taran and the Companions throughout the series.

Description and Methods

The Huntsmen are in service of Arawn, the main villain of the series. They travel in a band of men between five and ten. They wear the jackets and leggings of animal skins, such as wolves or bears, and they are armed with long hunter's knives and bow and arrows. They are trained in tracking and hunting skills, and move very steathily with speed and endurance. They can go for long periods without sleep, food, or drink.

The Huntsmen are mortal, but have sworn allegiance to Arawn with an unbreakable blood oath. Hence, Arawn has instilled them with mystical powers of increased endurance. Most importantly, within each band of Huntsmen, when one member is killed, his strength is absorbed by the others. Thus, "the more you strike down, the more the others gain in strength. Even as their number dwindles, their power grows." [Alexander, Lloyd, "The Black Cauldron", Holt, 1965, p. 45]

The Huntsman are known as the basest of warriors who have betrayed their comrades, they are murderers who kill for joy. They each have a crimson marking on their forehead, not dissimilar to the Mark of Cain. They communicate by calling out in "weird, wordless cries". Their cruelty is legendary. They serve Arawn by tracking and killing Arawn's human enemies and seek to capture and subdue the animals of Prydain to have even them under Arawn's power.

Role in Novels

The Huntsmen first appear in the second novel in the series, "The Black Cauldron". Taran and the companions, Ellidyr, and Adaon encounter them outside the Gates of Annuvin. In the ensuing fight and escape, Ellidyr slays one of the Huntsmen; it is then that the characters view the effects of their frightening power: "In the grove there was a sudden moment of silence. Then a long sigh rippled among the attackers as though each man had drawn breath....With a roar, the Huntsmen renewed their attack with even greater ferocity. [Alexander, Lloyd, "The Black Cauldron", Holt, p 46] The Band barely escapes the Huntsmen by hiding with Gwystyl of the Fair Folk.

They next encounter them as they travel to the Marshes of Morva, where another is killed. In the skirmish, Adaon sacrifices himself to save Taran and is also killed, and in fleeing, the band is scattered. After they have regrouped, the companions meet with this particular band again in the Marsh. Taran, with the aide of Adaon's enchanted brooch, executes a plan to dispatch the Huntsmen. In a dramatic sequence, they ride through the muck and mire, and the Huntsmen are tricked into falling into the thick bog and drown.

In the fifth novel of the series, "The High King", Prince Gwydion is ambushed by the Huntsmen wherein they steal the sword 'Dyrnwyn'. The quest to recover the sword forms the impetus of the rest of the novel. Later, in the snow covered foothills of Bran-Galedd, Eilonwy averts a slaughter of Taran, the companions and the Free Commots men by the Huntsmen by lighting her Golden Pelydryn making "night as bright as noon", which fulfills an earlier prophecy. While both bands camp for the night, Doli forms a plan to rid them of the Huntsmen forever. The companions start a fire on a frozen lake. As the Huntsmen are in the gorge below the lake, when the ice melts, a wall of ice falls into the gorge, killing the dozens of Huntsmen. In a moment of poetic justice, any surviving Huntsmen are killed by animals who had been so long hunted.

In the prequel short story, "The Rascal Crow" from the collection "The Foundling and Other Tales from Prydain", The Chief Huntsman is dispatched as he chases Kaw's father. As in "The High King", he is undone, this time by the smallest animals' ingenuity (he trips over a turtle and falls over a cliff). The tale illustrates the Huntsman's extreme cunning and danger, but proves they are not infallible.

Gwyn the Hunter

A related character, Gwyn the Hunter appears in the first novel of the series, "The Book of Three". He is not one of the Huntsmen of Annuvin, but he has as ominous a presence. He rides with his pack of hounds, and where he rides battle and death follow. Gwyn has foreknowledge of death, and watches from afar. His hounds have a distinctive lonely baying sound, and when Gwyn sounds his hunting horn, " [it] pierced Taran's breast like a cold blade of terror. Yet, unlike the music itself, the echoes from the hills sang less of fear than of grief. Fading, they sighed that sunlight and birds, bright mornings, warm fires, food and drink, friendship, and all good thing had been lost beyond recovery." [ Alexander, Lloyd, "The Book of Three", Holt, 1964, p 49] It is meant as a warning, but the echoes have been known to drive men insane.

Gwyn is likely inspired by the Welsh God of the Underworld, Gwyn ap Nudd, a character often associated with the legendary Wild Hunt.

ources

*Tunnell, Michael O., "The Prydain Companion", Holt, 1989. ISBN 0805072713