Fflewddur Fflam - Character Description

Character Description

Fflewddur is described as a tall, thin man with spiky blonde hair, although in the Disney film The Black Cauldron he is depicted as a white-haired older man, semi-lanky, with a bit of a pot belly. The movie's Fflewddur has apparently been stripped of his royalty, or at least it never gets mentioned, and is the object of intense, disturbing attraction from the overweight enchantress Orwen. He is voiced by Nigel Hawthorne.

Fflewddur Fflam is a good-hearted soul, much less interested in the pomp and circumstance of his role than in doing right—if children wander into his throne room, he'd far rather play hide-and-seek with them than chase them out. Inside, though, he has the heart of a bard; he is restless and prone to wanderlust, and in fact he is mostly met more or less accidentally on one on his wanderings. His catchphrase is "Great Belin!"

Alexander has indicated that he modeled Fflewddur Flam partly after himself: "Rumor has is that we have very similar personalities. I will neither confirm nor deny that".

Despite his bard training and the use of a magical harp, Fflewddur has a distinct manaphobia (fear of magic), and is especially fearful about what he considers "black magic". He steadfastly refuses even to look at magic things unless they have proven themselves to be harmless (like Eilonwy's Pelydryn) or are bardic in nature (his own harp and Adaon's brooch).