Alexander, Lloyd (1924– ), major American author of fairy‐tale novels. He studied at the Sorbonne and translated Sartre and Éluard. His best‐known work, the so‐called Prydain Chronicles, consists of five novels, The Book of Three (1964), The Black Cauldron (1965), The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), and The High King (1968), which received the Newbery Medal. The cycle is based on the Welsh collection Mabinogion. Alexander's initial intention was simply to retell the stories, but instead he created his own fairy‐tale world, inhabited by wizards and dwarfs, the three wise witches Orddu, Orwen, and Ordoch, the invincible Cauldron‐born, and the Huntsmen. This world is threatened by Arawn, the Death‐Lord of Annuvin, assisted by the treacherous enchantress Achren. A variety of magical objects from Celtic folklore are featured, such as a cauldron, a magic sword, and a book of spells.
The central character of the cycle, Taran, is a typical folk‐tale ‘common hero’ of unknown origin. He becomes an Assistant Pig‐Keeper, and the disappearance of the sacred animal in his charge, the traditional Welsh folktale character Hen‐Wen, draws Taran into a struggle between good and evil. After many trials, Taran finds his true identity and wins the love of the brave and extravagant princess Eilonwy. When all the old magic forces, the Sons and Daughters of Don, leave Prydain, Taran is left to be the High King, endowed with great power, but also bearing responsibility for the country which has been delivered from evil.
For Alexander, the fairy‐tale form is a means to describe reality, and many real events, characters, and settings have been woven into Prydain stories. He makes use of European folklore heritage, overtly taking Tolkien and C. S. Lewis as his models. The Prydain Chronicles are also characterized by their humour and irony, uncustomary in the heroic fairy tale. Comical figures, like the ever‐hungry Gurgi, and the boastful bragging bard Fflewddur Fflam with his magic harp, give the novels an unforgettable charm. Alexander has also published a collection of fairy tales and two fairy‐tale picture books connected with the Prydain novels. In 1985, the Prydain cycle was made into a major Disney movie entitled ‘The Black Cauldron’.
In The First Two Lives of Lukas‐Kasha (1978) Alexander sends his hero to an alternative world which recalls the universe of The Arabian Nights, where he becomes involved in a struggle against a bloodthirsty tyrant. Unlike Taran, Lukas does not win a princess and a kingdom, but returns to his own world, presumably as a spiritually better person.
Two other sequel fairy tales, the Westmark Trilogy (1981–3) and the so‐called Vesper Books (1986–90), although they lack magic, follow closely the traditional narrative patterns of fairy tales.
In his most recent novels Alexander explores a number of ancient mythologies, always moulding them into stories of quest and maturation: Chinese in The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen (1991), Greek in The Arcadians (1995), and Indian in The Iron Ring (1997). A significant feature of these, as well as Alexander's earlier novels, is a presence of strong and independent young women, evolving from the fairy‐tale tradition of the active heroine.
Bibliography
- Kuznets, Lois, ‘ “High Fantasy” in America’,
The Lion and the Unicorn , 9 (1985). - May, Jill P., Lloyd Alexander (1991).
- Tunnell, Michael O., The Prydain Companion: A Reference Guide to Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles (1989).
— Maria Nikolajeva
