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The Foundling: And Other Tales of Prydain

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This collection of short stories focuses on events long before Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. While it sheds more light on some of the characters and situations in that series, the book really stands alone. And, to be honest, I liked it better. Alexander evokes the atmosphere of the best fairy tales without merely copying them. Often, modern writers in this genre try to candy coat the material, removing the danger and threat of evil from their fantasies; or they merely parody existing tales, attempting to add "sophistication" to their stories so that we jaded adults will like them, too. Alexander is above such tactics. These stories are really morality tales about honor, the price of knowledge, the importance of community, the value of friendship, the sacredness of life. Readers, regardless of their ages, come away having learned something. But Alexander is never preachy or obvious; he tells his tales with wit, charm, and imagination. Buy this book for yourself, read it to your children, and save it for your grandchildren.

I've always loved reading the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. Filled with great adventures, the Prydain Chronicles tells the story of Taran, a lowly assistant pig-keeper, who grows up fighting evil with the comradship of numerous friends. His most beloved friends include the high-spirited and talkative Princess Eilowny, the faithful to the end Gurgi, and Fflewddur Fflam, a king who wants to be a bard. In the five books of the Prydain Chronicles, Alexander opened up the reader's eyes to a wonderful world of imagination.

In "The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain", the reader is given a chance to explore more of Prydain, the world of adventure and magic. Altogether, there are eight enchanting tales in this book:
"The Foundling": Learn about Dallben when he was young and find out how he came to be in possession of The Book of Three.
"The Stone": Read about the lovable yet still bad-tempered Doli of the Fair Folk and his magic stone.
"The True Enchanter": The story of how Princess Eilowny's mother, Princess Angharad of the Castle of Llyr, finds true love with a true enchanter.
"The Rascal Crow": As Medwyn, the ancient guardian and protector of animals, the rascal crow Kadwyir learns a valuable lesson in an Aesop's Fable type of story.
"The Sword": Learn the terrible and tragic story of Rhitta, the sword Durnwyn, and the Spiral Castle.
"The Smith, the Weaver, and the Harper": Of the three, who was the wisest and became a hero as he faced evil?
"The Truthful Harp": King Flewddur Fflam maybe getting a lot more than he expects when he receives a beautiful harp...
"Coll and His White Pig": Finally, the story of brave Coll when he sets out to rescue Hen Wen, his white pig.

A truly must-have book for the Prydain Chronicles fans, this book won't disappoint. Though this book is aimed mroe for Young Adults, teens and adults might probably enjoy this book, too. I love how the stories blend into the history of Prydain and how us readers can learn more about our favorite characters. Though it wouldn't matter whether you read this before or after the Prydain Series, I suggest that afterwards is better, I think this book will be better enjoyed that way. Don't forget to read the author's note! All-in-all, a short read full of terrific stories!

Lloyd Alexander's "Chronicles of Prydain" have become a classic staple of fantasy literature, a few rungs below "Lord of the Rings" and a few inches down from "Chronicles of Narnia." In this volume, all six books in his series are brought together, showing all of Prydain's beauty, richness, humor and sorrow as one big book.

"The Book of Three" opens with Assistant Pig-Keeper Taran yearning for adventure -- and getting more than he bargains for when he chases the pig into the woods, and is nearly run down by a sinister horned rider. Soon he teams up with a wandering king-minstrel, a sharp-tongued princess and a furry creature called Gurgi to save Prydain from the power of the Horned King.

"The Black Cauldron" has Taran and the others setting out to destroy Arawn Deathlord's evil cauldron, which turns dead men into unkillable zombies. But other forces are after the cauldron, including three peculiar witches who insist on trading something for the cauldron. What is worse, the company faces treachery from someone in their own camp...

"The Castle of Llyr" ties up some loose ends from the first book, as Princess Eilonwy is sent to the isle of Mona to become a fine lady. But she has barely arrived when she is kidnapped by a minion of the evil enchantress Achren, her "aunt." Taran sets out to save her, but must team up with the young man who wishes to marry Eilonwy -- even though Taran is rapidly falling in love with her.

"Taran Wanderer" has Taran setting out to discover his past, since he feels he can't ask Eilonwy to marry him if he is lowborn. With only Gurgi at his side, he encounters evil wizards, malevolent bandits, and finally learns that his father just might be a shepherd... until a new revelation leads him to learn of his true worth.

"The High King" wraps up the saga, with Taran returning home. But no sooner has he arrived than he learns that noble Prince Gwydion has been half-killed -- and the magical sword Dyrnwyn has been stolen by Arawn Deathlord. Now the heroes set out one and for all to attack Arawn's stronghold and get back the sword -- but how can they defeat a deathless army and a shapeshifting enemy?

Finally, "The Foundling" fills in a few of the gaps with short stories that illustrate the backstory of the Prydain novels. Among the stories are the tragic history of Dyrnwyn, how the wizard Dallben was reared by the three witches (and where he got the Book of Three), and the love story of Eilonwy's parents.

Take two parts "Lord of the Rings," add a bit more humor and comedy, and stir in bits and pieces of Welsh mythology. That pretty much sums up the Prydain Chronicles, which is one of the rare series that is meant for kids, but is as rich an experience for adults. Even better, if they know the origins of the old legends and myths that make up the edges of these stories. Alexander populates this little world with evil enchantresses, deathless warriors, eager teenagers and talking crows, all the while coming up with an original storyline that doesn't smack of lifted legends.

In a sense, the whole series is a coming-of-age story, where Taran learns wisdom, maturity, loss and love. Oh yeah, and that that Chinese curse about interesting times is quite correct. Princess Eilonwy and the bard-king Fflewddur Fflam add a bit of comic relief, but they are also strong characters in their own right, as is the fuzzy sidekick Gurgi, who goes from being an annoyance to a loyal and lovable friend.

"The Chronicles of Prydain" are fantasy at its best, mingling myth and legend with a fast-paced plot and endearingly quirky characters. Definitely not something to miss.

This is the best fantasy series since The Lord of the Rings. While this series is not as widely know as Narnia or LOTR it deserves a lot of credit and imo is better then Narnia.

This is very easy to read and easy to understand. Narnia jumps around to much. This series is about one set of characters and their adventures in Wales like Prydain.


This is an abosolute gem of a series and encourage anybody who likes the fantasy genre to read these stories you will be glad you did.

This is an amazing collection of short stories, that fills in gaps in the immortal Prydain Chronicles. Among the stories are the chilling story of Spiral Castle and the sword Dyrnwyn, a story of crime and horrific punishment, and the story of Angharad, Eilonwy's mother, who defied tradition and orders for true love. Also, the backstory for the three hags in the Marshes of Morva, the book of Three, and the foundling Dallben. A must-see for Prydain fans.

The superstars of children's literature often have to contend with the continual cries of their fans for further adventures and stories. How long do you think J.K. Rowling will be able to keep her promise of only seven Harry Potter tales before she breaks down and consents to one further story? We should never forget that when a character (or characters) becomes famous and beloved, he/she/they cannot rest in peace. Even Sherlock Holmes rose from his grave to star in further adventures and imaginings. It should come as no surprise then that Lloyd Alexander acquiesced, after a fashion, to his adoring public. After being asked to writer further tales from the land of Prydain, Alexander chose to give the public what they wanted. Sort of. The stories in this book do take place in Prydain and they do contain many of the beloved characters we've grown to know. In a sly twist, however, Alexander sets all these tales BEFORE any of the action we read about in the Prydain Chronicles. This experiment in prefacing the stories we already know so well could have ended up as either derivative or as depressing as George Lucas's attempt to create the first three movies of the "Star Wars" series. Instead, they end up as tiny parables that speak about hope, light, and beauty in the midst of potential bloodshed and terror. They're well worth a reading.

There are eight stories in this book in total. The first, "The Foundling" is the tale of how the sorcerer Dallben was raised by three weird sisters in the midst of a swampy home and gained more wisdom than he wanted. "The Stone" shows us the dwarf Doli and his encounter with a man who wants to live forever (and finds it unaccountably dull). "The True Enchanter" is a kind of how-they-met tale explaining why the princess Eilonwy's mother (who, like all of Alexander's heroines, is exactly like Eilonwy herself) fell for her very unmagical father. "The Rascal Crow" is just Alexander's excuse to write his very own Aesop tale about a too-clever crow and his animal allies. "The Sword" explains why the sword of Drynwyn met Taran black with blood. "The Smith, the Weaver, and the Harper" is another parable, this time displaying the continual greed of man for something a little better. And finally "The Truthful Harp" shows how Fflewddur Fflam got his magic harp and how Coll and Dallben met in "Coll and His White Pig".

The stories (as Alexander himself points out in the Author's Note) can be read without having picked up a single Prydain book before. I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing that though. How significant is the average reader going to find the fact that King Rhitta died at the hand of his own sword deep in the Spiral Castle if they haven't already picked up "The Book of Three"? Or that Dallben grew old before his time? These stories aren't strictly need-to-know, but it certainly does help. As for the tales themselves, they're all right. Nothing too spectacular, if you want my honest opinion. They take the most basic elements of all good folktales and rework them over and over. If there's a common theme in any of these stories, it's that all good tales work in threes. Alexander has reworked them in such a way that they do appear somewhat original, but don't be particularly surprised if you can predict where each story is going long before its close.

In the end, this book is really best for those die-hard fans of "The Prydain Chronicles" who're clamoring for further Lloyd Alexander facts and fancies. Anyone else will probably find the books a little repetitive and not particularly new. They're lovely little tales but there's little to recommend them but the books they preface. Nice but unnoticeable.

"Stories of the mythical land so beautifully conceived by Alexander are written with grace and humor....Each tale stands alone, a small gem." -Bulletin of the Center for Children Books

This book is really all adventure, magic and very imaginative! The short stories makes the other Prydain Chronicles clearer, more interesting, and makes it have more depth.

There are eight tales in this book:

"The Foundling" is a story of the old enchanter Dallben and how he is found as a baby floating in a wicker basket by the three old hags of the Marshes of Morva. This tale is interesting and also surprising in a way.

"The Stone" tells about a farmer named Maibon and how he helps one of the Fair Folk, Doli(!), and recieves or more like requests one of the precious Stones which can make the person and everything else stay young forever.

"The True Enchanter" is a romantic story of Princess Angharad, the mother of Eilonwyn, and how she has to choose her husband, an enchanter, at the Castle of Llyr.

"The Rascal Crow" is a kind of like a fable about a crow who scorns the help of others and ends up nearly getting killed if it was not for those very animals he had looked down on.

"The Sword" is a sad and grim tale about the real history of the enchanted sword Dyrnwyn and of King Arhitta.

"The Smith, The Weaver, and the Harper" is an interesting tale about how the Lord of Death attempts to get the greatest hammer, shuttle, and harp of all Prydain.

"The Truthful Harp" is about who else than Fflewddur Fflam and about his special, if a bit troublesome, truthful harp.

"Coll and his White Pig" is the story of Coll and how King Arawn tries to get Henwig. Animals of all kinds aids Coll in his journey to retrieve Henwig.

This book was very interesting and I honestly can say that it's one of the best books I've ever read. The moment I read the first page, I didn't want to stop until I finished. Even though it looks very boring because it is a fairly small book, don't 'judge a book by it's cover!' I definenly and higly recommend this book!

THis book is in the style of Lord of the Rings or Narnia...it's high fantasy, though it's written for an age level of about 10 years of age. The characters are strong (an older reader might call them one dimensional) with distinct personalities. The books are fast paced, which makes for a fun read.

I have a bit to say about the bad parts, but don't get me wrong. I tihnk these books are worth reading, just you should know what you are getting into.

These books is that they are a bit episodic. As in, here's the part where they are captured by the king of the little people. Now here's the aprt where they are captured by a witch. Now here's the part where they visit a wise old mage. It feels a bit like a serial, or a cartoon series. It doesn't have one long continuous plot. This makes it great for reading one book at a time then setting it aside fro a while before reading another. But if you try to read them all in a row, it'll get a bit repetative.

Sometimes I found the writing a bit abrupt. Lots of short sentences. Difficult to get into. Like reading this paragraph.

Finally, the beginning of the Black Cauldron, the second book in the series, sound a like like the Lord of the rings. One group of people will go into the evil one's lands and grab the cauldron/destroy the ring. While another group will bring a lot of troops up to the gate to distract the evil guy (like Aragorn did). This is decided after a meeting is called, and the group sent out isn't called a fellowship, but the feeling is there. Fortunately, the book turns away from this derivitive plotting after only a few chapters as things go strongly awry.

This highly readable collection of short stories provides a wonderful look at some of the characters and events that take place before the Prydain Chronicles.

The titular story, "The Foundling," tells of the enchanter Dallben and how he came by The Book of Three from three well-known enchantresses.

"The Stone" tells of a farmer named Maibon and his encounter with Doli of the Fair Folk, and learn to be careful what we wish for.

"The True Enchanter" is the romantic story of Eilonwy's mother Angharad, and the man who won her heart.

"The Rascal Crow" introduces us to Kadwyr, the father of another rascal crow named Kaw. It runs in the family.

"The Sword" tells of none other than Dyrnwyn, the most powerful weapon in Prydain, and the tragic events that kindled its powers against those not of noble worth.

"The Smith, the Weaver, and the Harper" fleshes out one of the most dominant themes of the Prydain Chronicles: how the Death-Lord Arawn went about deceiving the people of Prydain and stealing their greatest treasures.

"The Truthful Harp" puts Fflewddur Fflam on center stage, told at the time when he left his crown to become a bard, and gained a harp that wouldn't tolerate his "colorful" facts.

"Coll and His White Pig" is the story of when the oracular pig Hen Wen was stolen from the retired farmer Coll, and how he rescued her with a little unexpected help.

As I said, these stories take place before the events of the Prydain Chronicles, but have far more weight if read afterwards. Then read the Prydain Chronicles again for the value that these stories add.

I read these books only very recently and I was really amazed. I don't know how it is I've never even heard of them till recently, they are that good.