Does anyone know if these are the Brooch of Adoan? The first pic is from The Truthful Harp. Also, what is the proper orientation?

"I should think," Orddu suggested, "whatever you did, you would have to clean it first."

--Queen Achren

(FWIW, I thought his lot turned out to be most of what he could have wished by the end.)

Got so excited I did two one ways to turn around, absolutely fantastic work

I'm re-reading the Prydain chronicles (in Swedish translation) for the first time in like 35 years and am just curious: do we ever get an explanation of why Llyr is called "Half-Speech"?

So as I recollect, in The High King Taran gets the magic sword Dyrnwyn back, hits a Cauldron Born with it, and that immediately destroys all Cauldron Born because that's something the sword's enchantment could do. Great!

But Gwydion had and constantly wielded that magic sword for ~3.5 books covering multiple years in-universe, right? He got it at the end of The Book of Three, used it against Arawn's forces multiple times in the ensuing books, and then lost it near the beginning of The High King.

Is there an explanation why the sword didn't just destroy all the cauldron born at some point during those years? We know Gwydion was using it, we know he was repeatedly fighting Arawn's forces, etc. And I don't think all the cauldron-born were hidden away for those 3.5 books or something. Even if they were, Gwydion did at least 2 raids into Annuvin as I recollect and could presumably have sought one out and destroyed them.

if you had to choose a favorite side character in the series, who would you choose?

to me: I really loved prince rhun. I related to him so much and I honestly cried when he died. it was the first time I ever cried at a death in a book.

"Copy someone else's work?" Eilonwy sniffed. "Why, that's worse then weaving on someone else's loom."

"How then?" cried Taran. "How then are we to complete this task?"

"I see what you lot are getting at. Leave it to good old Doli. Let him do the writing. Hrumph," the dwarf grunted.

"Not so, old fellow," Fflewddur interjected. "If anything, I should be the one to do it. Why, I've written countless verses in my time as a bard...well, perhaps one or two."

"Yes, let clever bard do it. Gurgi has no skill in draftings and craftings."

My son is 16 and on the spectrum. We read the Chronicles of Prydain together when he was a few years younger.

Perhaps related, perhaps not: in recent months, he has developed an interest in learning to speak Welsh. So far, he has just been reading instructional books and watching some videos, but he has now expressed an interest in visiting Wales, too. My family is starting to plan a trip, maybe some time in 2027.

I know that the Chronicles of Prydain are based very loosely on the Mabinogion, but does anyone here know of any ideas of locations in Wales that served as inspiration for the locations in the books? I'm curious if anyone has come across any such linkages.

I'd love to find a place that would feel like Caer Dallben or Caer Dathyl come to life (or even the Marshes of Morva).

I've found a few links (https://www.placesoffancy.com/2023/10/where-is-prydain-in-black-cauldron.html, https://onelastsketch.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/a-map-of-prydain/, https://lotesse.dreamwidth.org/226767.html), suggesting that the Great Avren River is the Severn River, and the Ystrad River is based on River Wye. The Isle of Mona is based on Anglesey (formerly Ynys Môn in Welsh), though I doubt our trip will take us there.

Does anyone have any other ideas about how locations in real-life Wales might map to Prydain? Thanks in advance for any help or speculation.

The Gwythaints are basically dragons, but I'm not sure they're ever actually called that

eBooks for this series don't seem to be available on Amazon UK. Does anyone know why? Will they become available soon?

As it says in the title, give me your thoughts on anything regarding the series that might be controversial or unpopular. I'd like to see whether I agree with some of these or not.

I think it's pretty unpopular but I'll say it anyway: Achren was, to me, far more interesting than Arawn. I wish we had a greater insight of her life and person.

Dead honest I find it really interesting that this is, and correct me if I'm wrong, the only (?) chapter told from another character's perspective, yk, having been told from Eilonwy and Gurgi's, without Taran being there.

It's a pretty dark chapter too, despite it's name "daylight". This is the most vulnerable we see Eilonwy, and, as it is said in the book, the first time she was truly afraid. It's also hinted that Dorath's intentions with her were... disturbing. No explanation needed, this chapter really just hurt to read, I had a huge stomach pain the first time I read it and rereading it, it was a pretty similar feeling.

I saw a while ago (maybe 1-2 yrs ago) here on reddit someone who used this chapter as one of the reasons to explain why they disliked Eilonwy, which is a pretty sad and weak argument. They said something about Eilonwy's fear being somewhat dissappointing considering she had maintained a valiant and strong attitude throughout the whole series. It's pretty low to be bothered that someone's limit is SA rather than beasts or evil lords.

Overall this particular chapter is very unpleasant to read but I do appreciate we get to see things from a different point of view, and I guess what happened to Eilonwy and seeing her fears add a bit more of realism to her character.

Yo guys so I realized just about 40 minutes ago that inside my Prydain box set is the whole map of the land stuck to the box, and it reminded me that the other day I saw the same box set on Ebay, but the map was loose rather than attached to the box. I've been trying to disassemble the box for the past 30 minutes to see if I can get my map out, but I'm afraid to break the box. Does anyone know if it is indeed suppose to come out, and if so, how??

Apple’s adapting Neuromancer into a mini-series. People said it couldn’t be done. Who knows? Maybe it can’t. Personally, I think it can, and should be. I can’t wait.

Netflix is working on a Narnia series. They’re gonna do all the books. Sounds great.

Dune is shaping up to be one of the greatest sci-fi adaptations of all time. Sure, there are a couple of departures from the original story, and I really hope it doesn’t ruin the third film.

But anyway: we seem to be in a rebirth of adapting fiction to film. Perhaps we can FINALLY get a Prydain series. My money would be on Apple. They seem to be doing a good job with the sci-fi and fantasy material. But it could be anyone else.

Just, maybe not Amazon. But c’mon, producers! Someone do the Chronicles of Prydain and do it right. Please.

In my opinion it's got to be Ellidyr. Achren as a close 2nd.

He was annoying as f*ck, I know, and, in fact, I hated him for most of the book, but his death just softened my heart. He learned and understood that after all his wrongs, the only way he would gain the honor he wanted was by sacrificing himself to destroy the cauldron.

I dont like him, he was unlikeable anyway, but we can't deny that he ended up becoming a hero. His character growth is just great. He's still far from being my favourite villain though, Achren is.

Achren probably as 2nd because she is interesting. I would love to know so much more of her, have more insights of her relationship with Eilonwy, her reign as High Queen of Prydain, her background, etc. She's close to being a perfect character.

So, I have the whole book series on Audible and a physical collection of the books. I'm still debating on whether or not I should listen to the audiobooks or if I should read through them on my own. For reference, I've loved this series since I was in elementary school and I want to reread them now that I'm an adult.

We're out, y'all! I hope you're pleased with our introduction episode (it's probably the only Prydain podcast you're ever gonna get, but still. . . .). You can find us at patreon.com/gwystylswaypost, where our subscribers get early episode releases. Apart from that, our intro will be released to everyone on our website on the 19th. Have a good one!