History Literature / ChroniclesofPrydain

* TheHecateSisters: Orddu, Orwen, and Orgoch are a textbook case.

Disney produced a movie version of ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985, which notably blended elements from the first two books.

* NoManOfWomanBorn: A prophecy states that the BigBad will be vanquished only when such things as "rivers burn with frozen fire" and "night turn to noon" occur. [[spoiler: Some characters set a fire to melt a frozen waterfall and the burning logs are carried on top of the ensuing deluge, while another uses magic to light up an entire valley in the middle of the night.]]

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: The Huntsmen of Annuvin literally become stronger when one of their number is killed.

* GenreSavvy: Fflewddur, occasionally. He's WrongGenreSavvy almost as often.

* TreacherousAdvisor: Magg, chancellor to King Rhuddlum of Mona. Fflewddur, in one of his more GenreSavvy moments, is suspicious of him immediately.

** Inverted with Achren, who is as wicked as she is beautiful. And for further inversion, [[spoiler:her beauty fades after her sort-of HeelFaceTurn in books four and five]].

* BerserkButton

* BigBadEnsemble: Achren is actively opposed to Arawn. [[spoiler:Morgant]] tries to steal the Black Cauldron out from under both Arawn and Gwydion in order to try and become a FromNobodyToNightmare. Morda is an EvilSorcerer who plans to outmatch Arawn some day. Dorath, meanwhile, was just a PsychoForHire bandit with an "[[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker everything burns]]" worldview; the companions often encounter him out of pure bad luck, yet he's always willing to make their lives miserable just for the hell of it. [[spoiler:Pryderi]]...[[BigBadWannabe thinks he's playing Arawn for his own benefit,]] [[OutGambitted but isn't]].
* BigDamnHeroes: This is Taran's tale, so Gwydion tends to appear as TheCavalry (or, more rarely, be rescued by Taran's band.)

* BigGood: High King Math, son of Mathonwy, and Dallben the Enchanter.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Arawn is defeated, but Prydain has been ravaged by war, many heroes have fallen, the power of magic has been lost forever, and Taran and Eilonwy give up eternal life and are separated from nearly all of their friends in order to stay in Prydain to help rebuild. On the other hand, Taran became High King of Prydain, married Eilonwy, and they both led happy and fulfilling lives and were such prosperous rulers that the bards wrote songs about them.]]

* ChekhovsGun
** The ring Eilonwy receives at the end of the first book ends up coming [[DeusExMachina in quite handy]] in the finale.
* ChekhovsGunman
** Nearly everyone Taran befriends on his journey in ''Taran Wanderer'' comes back to help out in the campaign against Arawn in ''The High King''.
** Or gets [[spoiler: killed tragically]] to provide more personal drama for the final conflict.

* CloudCuckooLander: Eilonwy, while still managing to be the only person in the group with any common sense.

** The blade Taran forged is an example. It's a pretty ugly weapon, but it's actually better than his finely-shaped old weapon.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
** Gwystyl deliberately hides his competence and badassery so well that he can come across like a wiener while helping Taran and his crew ''break into a castle''.

** Pryderi was sent to kill Dallben and retrieve The Book of Three, and Arawn told him that "no man had ever died by [Dallben's] hands." He did ''not'' tell Pryderi that [[spoiler:Caer Dallben was enchanted with a defensive spell that would immolate the farm and everyone in it if Dallben die]], or that [[spoiler:The Book of Three itself would kill him if he tried to mishandle it.]]
** Arawn promised Magg that "someday, he would wear the Iron Crown of Annuvain." Magg did. [[spoiler:It turned white-hot and burned through Magg's head in the most gruesome death in the series - although Magg deserved it as fully as anyone in the series.]]

* TheFairFolk: A bit of a subversion, as they have no particular liking for men but are willing to work with them against Arawn. The king is grudgingly fond of Taran and Eilonwy, and Doli has more affection for the entire group than he likes to admit.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Lloyd Alexander loves to take readers on cultural visits. Prydain is heavily based on Welsh mythology, especially evident in the character names. Of course, this is [[BilingualBonus no surprise to those knowing]] that "Prydain" is the Welsh spelling of "Britain".

* FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome: Adaon's brooch has this effect on people, particularly Taran. [[spoiler:He [[BroughtDownToNormal gives it up]] in order to get the Black Cauldron]].

* GreaterScopeVillain: The mysterious master that directs Gwyn the Hunter may fit the bill.

* {{Hellhound}}: The dogs of Gwyn the Hunter.

* HeroesWantRedheads: Eilonwy, whom the narrative notes has red-gold hair. A lot of artwork inaccurately depicts her as blonde, however, probably because of TheFilmOfTheBook. And when she ''is'' shown with red hair (see some editions of The Black Cauldron), it's pure red, not the more subtle shade that "red-gold" is probably supposed to describe.
* HeroicBSOD: Taran, following the death of [[spoiler:Craddoc the shepherd.]] Not just because [[spoiler:Craddoc]] died, but that his first thought on seeing him was that he was finally free from his life as [[spoiler:a shepherd]]. He was so ashamed and disgusted with himself for having ever had the thought that he never got over it or forgave himself for it.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Ellidyr]] in ''The Black Cauldron,'' [[spoiler:Rhun and Coll]] in ''The High King.'' Maybe [[spoiler:Achren]], depending on your point of view.

* HorseOfADifferentColor: Llyan, a small wildcat who grew to the size of a horse through the use of potions. She eventually adopts [[spoiler:Fflewddur]] and allows him to ride on her back.
* HumiliationConga: Queen Achren. Starts off as a powerful sorceress and queen, and rules Prydain as an absolute tyrant. Later, she is overthrown by her more powerful protege and consort [[spoiler: Arawn]], and is moved to Spiral Castle. The castle is destroyed by the heroes, robbing Achren of her powers, which she attempts to replace by draining Eilonwy. She is also repeatedly spurned by the object of her affections, Gwydion. By the fourth book, she's a powerless refugee who works as a maid in Caer Dallben. Quite a long way to fall.

* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: The outlaw Dorath threatens to rape Princess Eilonwy and have her raped by his fellows "until she is a match for a swineherd." Subverted slightly in that Dorath never states precisely what it is he intends to do to her; he says he intends to "remove her charms." The dialogue is written just vaguely enough that the book's younger readers only know that Eilonwy is in danger, without knowing the specifics that might traumatize them. [[LateToThePunchline Older readers can ferret out Dorath's meaning for themselves, as Eilonwy did.]] It's possible that [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he had something else in mind]], however.

* IKnowYourTrueName: Used by Gwydion to defeat Horned King, but only in the background. A bit of FridgeBrilliance, when this somewhat out of place logic is applied to the rest of the series. Gwydion claims that naming something is to imply mastery over it. No one knows Taran's true name, thus making him master of his own destiny.

* InformedAbility: Many characters are said to be enchanters, but they rarely if ever use these abilities. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] with Eilonwy as she never finished her training. And she [[spoiler: destroys any hope of mastering her magic in the third book.]]

* KidHero: Taran

** The closing body count at the end of the book is: [[spoiler:Coll, Achren, Magg, High King Math, Annlaw Clay-Shaper, Llonio, King Rhun, King Pryderi, Arawn, Achren, and Taran's gwythaint]]. If you count returning to the "Summer Country" as a metaphor for death (which it is in some belief systems), then the book also claims [[spoiler:Gwydion, Fflewddur, Llyan, Doli, Taliesin, Gurgi, Glew, and the Fair Folk and Sons of Don]] ''writ large'', since following Arawn's death TheMagicGoesAway, so to speak.
* KingIncognito: Prince Gwydion and Fflewddur. Gwydion travels around the countryside in common garb because he doesn't buy into the "[[SharpDressedMan clothes make the man]]" cliche; in ''The Castle of Llyr'', he is deliberately disguised to avoid detection. Fflewddur does much the same, only he goes out of his way to remind everyone that he's a king.
* LargeHam: Fflewddur
* LastOfHerKind: Eilonwy, the last descendant of the royal House of Llyr. As the last Princess of Llyr, she alone is heir to a sizeable number of enchantments and magic powers, which reside in her by birth; but because her father was a non-magical commoner, she tends to refer to herself as being only "half an enchantress". This only really becomes relevant starting from the third book in the series, when she is returned to her ancient family castle, Caer Colur; having been kidnapped as an infant, she never realized the scope of her magical heritage.
* LeftForDead: Happens to Gwydion with surprising regularity, usually allowing him to go off and do something just as or even more badass than Taran's group elsewhere.

** Spiral Castle collapses after Achren is defeated in ''The Book of Three'', but it was more of a happy accident. Taran pulling Dyrnwyn (a load-bearing ''sword'') from the tombs in Spiral Castle lead to its collapse--it just happened to perfectly coincide with Gwydion warding off Archen.
** Caer Colur collapses after Achren is defeated in ''The Castle of Llyr''.
** In a non-villainous example, Dallben claims that his home will be consumed with magical fire if he is killed, along with anyone foolish enough to kill him. [[spoiler: He may have been bluffing about this, we never actually find out either way.]]

* LordErrorProne: Prince Rhun; not overly proud, but certainly foolish and bumbling enough for two, and a WideEyedIdealist to boot.

** Following [[spoiler:Arawn's death]] at the end of ''The High King'' the [[spoiler:Fair Folk, the Sons of Don, and other magically-adept humans like Dallben]] use this as an excuse to leave Prydain, claiming they're no longer needed. [[spoiler:Eilonwy]] gives up her powers rather than leave Prydain out of love for [[spoiler:Taran]].
** Now now, only "the enchantments of evil" have been vanquished.

* MegaNeko: Llyan

* MonsterShapedMountain: ''The High King''. Mount Dragon was so named because its peak was in the rough shape of a monstrous, crested dragon's head with gaping jaws, and on either side the lower slopes spread like outflung wings.

* MotorMouth: In the first three books, Eilonwy talks so much that it annoys the villains to the extent that, on an occasion when everyone else is merely tied up, Eilonwy is BoundAndGagged; in the fifth book she's a bit more subdued.

* NighInvulnerable: The Cauldron-Born, and [[spoiler: Morda.]] At least until their respective weaknesses are discovered....

* NonHumanSidekick
** Gurgi
** And Hen Wen, upon occasion.

** Melyngar, in the first book.
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Gwydion]]

* OlderSidekick: Fflewddur to Taran & Eilonwy.

* OutGambitted: [[spoiler:Pryderi]] thinks he is tricking Arawn into serving him. [[spoiler:He isn't]].

* PositiveDiscrimination: Eilonwy at Taran's expense in the first three books. Although she herself is pretty shrewish at the beginning.

* RunningGag: A string on Flam's harp breaks whenever he lies (which is often). The bigger the lie, the more strings break.
* SandInMyEyes: In ''The High King'', when Fflewdur Flam sacrifices his harp for firewood, he complains of how it smokes, though it burns with very little smoke. He then comments that he's glad to be rid of it, and two strings break.

* SchmuckBait: The Book of Three. Taran, what is your fascination with this mysterious and forbidden tome?! Fortunately, the book seems to be sentient, and it punishes Taran's innocent curiosity with the equivalent pain of a few mere bee stings. [[spoiler: King Pryderi, on the other hand, wanted to steal the book and use its secrets to gain power, and he [[ShockAndAwe was not so lucky.]]]]
** Reading into the backstory a bit, turns out the Book of Three was a bit of SchmuckBait for ''Dallben'', too. Evidently in Prydain, wisdom comes with a high price. [[spoiler:It turned Dallben from a youth to an old man overnight.]]

* SolarAndLunar: The emblem of the House of Don is the sun, on account of the fact that the Sons and Daughters of Don are descended from the Lady Don and her consort, Belin the sun king. Meanwhile, the emblem of the House of Llyr (Eilonwy's all-but-extinct lineage) is the crescent moon; this is on account of the fact that they are descended from Llyr Half-Speech the Sea King, and the tides of the sea are governed by the phases of the moon.

** A bit of a twist, current BigBad Arawn was in fact TheStarscream to former BigBad, Achren. [[spoiler: [[DoubleSubversion Twisted back]] in that Achren [[KarmicDeath turned right around and Starscreamed back at him.]]]]

* WarIsGlorious: Opinions vary. King Smoit and Fflewdur Fflam would agree, but most of the other warriors regard it as a necessary evil.

* WeCanRuleTogether

* WillTheyOrWontThey
** Dragged out until the ''very last page'' of the final book with Taran and Eilonwy. [[spoiler: TheyDo, of course.]]

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Taran has a brief period of this in ''The Black Cauldron,'' through magical aid. Gwydion predicts that if Taran manages to live long enough, he'll earn the real deal: and sure enough, numerous painful sacrifices eventually lead to him fulfilling the trope by the end of ''Taran Wanderer.''
* TheWisePrince
** Prince Gwydion is very knowledgeable and intelligent.

Generations of youngsters have struggled in vain to pronounce the names in '''The Chronicles of Prydain''', a five-book series of fantasy novels by the late American author LloydAlexander. Based (very) loosely on the {{Mabinogion}} and taking place in the fantasy world of Prydain, which bears no small resemblance to UsefulNotes/{{Wales}}, the novels feature a series of epic adventures in a land of HighFantasy, but place more emphasis on [[ComingOfAgeStory the protagonist's growing maturity and his journey into manhood.]]

* HornsOfVillany: The Horned King. Somewhat subverted, as the horns are part of a helmet he wears, not a part of the Horned King himself.

* MildlyRoyal: [[spoiler: Taran]] is implied to be one of these kings due to CharacterDevelopment.

* HornedHumanoid: The Horned King. Somewhat subverted, as the horns are part of a helmet he wears, not a part of the Horned King himself.

* DragonAscendent: Magg tries it when the heroes invade Annuvain and Arawn flees. [[spoiler:Arawn's crown burns him to death.]]

* BiggerBad: The mysterious master that directs Gwyn the Hunter may fit the bill.

** Taran harbors some unfortunate ideas about women in his youth. Some time spent as the apprentice of the spry Dwyvach Weaver-Woman helps him learn better.

* TheUnreveal: We never learn who [[spoiler: Taran's biological parents]] are. They're probably nobody we know. Also, we never really learn who/what [[spoiler:Arawn]] really is. After he's killed, he reverts to his true form which ends up lying face down on the floor, but before anyone can go near him, [[LoadBearingBoss his fortress starts to crumble]] and everyone has to split.

* UnusualEuphemism: Dorath threatens Eilonwy by claiming he will "remove her charms". Hey, it's a kid's book after all.

* WarIsGlorious

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Taran, starting in book four, but by this point he's pretty well earned it by making numerous painful sacrifices.

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: Eilonwy's similes fall somewhere between this and {{Malaproper}}.

* IsItSomethingYouEat?: Even the HecateSisters seem a bit fuzzy (sorry) about what Gurgi is, exactly.

* IsItSomethingYouEat?: Orddu asks, "What is a Gurgi? Do you eat it or sit on it?"

* HonorBeforeReason: A recurring theme. A major part of Taran's growth is learning when to put aside his honor.

* BalefulPolymorph: One of Morda's more frightening powers.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness

* BigBadEnsemble: Achren is actively opposed to Arawn. [[spoiler:Morgant]] tries to steal the Black Cauldron out from under both Arawn and Gwydion in order to try and become a FromNobodyToNightmare. Morda is an EvilSorcerer who plans to outmatch Arawn some day. Dorath, meanwhile, was just a PsychoForHire bandit with an "[[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker everything burns]]" worldview; the companions often encounter him out of pure bad luck, yet he's always willing to make their lives miserable just for the hell of it. Whoever Gwyn the Hunter answers to may be a BiggerBad, but even Prince Gwydion doesn't know that entity's identity or whether he's evil. [[spoiler:Pryderi]]...[[BigBadWannabe thinks he's playing Arawn for his own benefit,]] [[OutGambitted but isn't]].
* BigDamnHeroes: Gwydion is in love with this trope.

* BiggerBad: Possibly the mysterious lord of Gwyn the Hunter fits the bill.

** "A Fflam..."

* ChekhovsBoomerang: Admit it, you never saw the [[spoiler:gwythaint]] coming in ''The High King''.

** Also, the [[spoiler:gwythaint]]. When it [[AndroclesLion finally returns the favor]], the reader's probably already forgotten the incident. A GenreSavvy reader would note that she ''already'' rendered Taran and co. one favor, and that was all most of us would have expected.

* ConsummateLiar: Fflewddur. Ironically, his most outrageous claim (that he's actually a king) is true.

** Fflewddur Fflam is the less than popular king of a tiny kingdom and a semi-talented bard who tells grandiose lies. By the end of the first book we find out that he is also a deadly swordsman and a tried warrior. Amusingly, a prequel short story implies that most of the time, Fflewddur himself is unaware of his own badassery.

* DeathByNewberyMedal: ''The High King'' won a Newberry Medal and is a veritable named-character bloodbath. [[spoiler: Even if none of the characters on the cover die. No, not even the ReallyBigCat]]. ''The Black Cauldron'', by comparison, won a Newberry Honor and only has a body count of two.

Disney produced a movie version of ''TheBlackCauldron'' in 1985, which notably blended elements from the first two books.

* BigBadEnsemble: Achren is actively opposed to Arawn. [[spoiler:Morgant]] tries to steal the Black Cauldron out from under both Arawn and Gwydion in order to try and become a FromNobodyToNightmare. Morda is an EvilSorcerer who plans to outmatch Arawn some day. Dorath, meanwhile, was just a PsychoForHire bandit with an "[[SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker everything burns]]" worldview; the companions often encounter him out of pure bad luck, yet he's always willing to make their lives miserable just for the hell of it. Whoever Gwyn the Hunter answers to may be a BiggerBad, but nobody knows precisely what's going on there. [[spoiler:Pryderi]]...[[BigBadWannabe thinks he's playing Arawn for his own benefit,]] [[OutGambitted but isn't]].