As described in the book, The Black Cauldron, the Black Cauldron is the source of the Cauldron-Born's power and life. Arawn borrowed it from the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch, and ruined it for any task other than making the Cauldron-Born. It is described as a large black iron pot with two rings and a mouth large enough to fit a man, and has what appears to be dried blood flecked on the rim. The wind passing across the cauldron's mouth sounds like the moans of all those who have been fed to the Cauldron.
The cauldon is impervious to all normal forms of destruction including magic. The only way it can be destroyed is if a living person willingly enters the Cauldron "knowing full well what he does". Doing so, however, will kill the person. In the end, Ellidyr, son of Pen-Llarcau, gave his life in this manner.
Read more about this topic: Cauldron-Born
Famous quotes containing the words black and/or cauldron:
“The brotherhood of men does not imply their equality. Families have their fools and their men of genius, their black sheep and their saints, their worldly successes and their worldly failures. A man should treat his brothers lovingly and with justice, according to the deserts of each. But the deserts of every brother are not the same.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
Thrice and once the hedge-pig whin’d.
Harper cries: ‘Tis time, ‘tis time.
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.”
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