The Chronicles of Prydain is a series of five children's fantasy novels by Lloyd Alexander. Henry Holt published one annually from 1964 to 1968, the second earning a 1966 Newbery Honor and the last winning the 1969 Newbery Medal.
The Internet Speculative Fiction Database catalogs all Prydain publications, Alexander's fiction and one reference companion, as the Prydain series. A nearly complete omnibus edition of the fiction was published in 1991 as The Prydain Chronicles.
The five novels may be considered a bildungsroman, for they follow one protagonist Taran from youth to maturity, most overtly in the fourth book, Taran Wanderer. Taran has the title Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben but initially dreams of being a grand hero. His most important companions in adventure are Princess Eilonwy, a girl his age; Fflewddur Fflam, a wandering bard and minor king; Gurgi, a wild hominid between animal and man; and Doli, a dwarf.
Read more about The Chronicles Of Prydain: Inspiration and Development, Setting, Reception, Characters
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“Our medieval historians who prefer to rely as much as possible on official documents because the chronicles are unreliable, fall thereby into an occasionally dangerous error. The documents tell us little about the difference in tone which separates us from those times; they let us forget the fervent pathos of medieval life.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)