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Authors: Lloyd Alexander

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BOOK: The Castle of Llyr
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Achren
AHK-ren
Adaon
ah-DAY-on
Aeddan
EE-dan
Angharad
an-GAR-ad
Annuvin
ah-NOO-vin
Arawn
ah-RAWN
Arianllyn
ahree-AHN-lin
 
Briavael
bree-AH-vel
Brynach
BRIHN-ak
 
Caer Cadarn
kare KAH-darn
Caer Colur
kare KOH-loor
Caer Dathyl
kare DA-thil
Coll
kahl
 
Dallben
DAHL-ben
Doli
DOH-lee
Don
dahn
Dwyvach
DWIH-vak
Dyrnwyn
DUHRN-win
 
Edyrnion
eh-DIR-nyon
Eiddileg
eye-DILL-eg
Eilonwy
eye-LAHN-wee
Ellidyr
ELLI-deer
 
Fflewddur Fflam
FLEW-der flam
 
Geraint
GHER-aint
Goewin
GOH-win
Govannion
go-VAH-nyon
Gurgi
GHER-ghee
Gwydion
GWIH-dyon
Gwythaint
GWIH-thaint
 
Islimach
iss-LIM-ahk
 
Llawgadarn
law-GAD-arn
Lluagor
lew-AH-gore
Llunet
LOO-net
Llyan
lee-AHN
Llyr
leer
 
Melyngar
MELLIN-gar
Melynlas
MELLIN-lass
Oeth-Anoeth
eth-AHN-eth
Orddu
OR-doo
Orgoch
OR-gahk
Orwen
OR-wen
 
Prydain
prih-DANE
Pryderi
prih-DAY-ree
 
Rhuddlum
ROOD-lum
Rhun
roon
Smoit
smoyt
 
Taliesin
tally-ESS-in
Taran
TAH-ran
Teleria
tell-EHR-ya
Readers who have enjoyed Mr. Alexander's partiality to cats will find particular satisfaction with the first appearance of a feline in Prydain in this book. In fact, Mr. Alexander claims that Llyan was “inspired by the letters of two literary-minded cats, denizens of the household of a certain editor. They insisted that in a land like Prydain the prototype of cat-greatness must exist—and it turned out they were right.”
 
Lloyd Alexander was born and raised in Philadelphia. As a boy he decided that he wanted to be a writer. “If reading offered any preparation for writing, there were grounds for hope. I had been reading as long as I could remember. Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, and so many others were my dearest friends and greatest teachers. I loved all the world's mythologies; King Arthur was one of my heroes; I played with a trash-can lid for a knightly shield, and my uncle's cane for the sword Excalibur.”
During World War II, Mr. Alexander trained as a member of an army combat intelligence team in Wales. This ancient, roughhewn country with its castles, mountains, and its own beautiful
language made a tremendous impression on him, but not until years later did he realize that he had been given a glimpse of another enchanted kingdom.
After the war, while attending the University of Paris, he met his future wife, Janine. They were married, and moved back to Philadelphia, where Mr. Alexander wrote novel after novel. It was seven years before his first novel at last was published. Ten years later, he tried writing for children. It was, Mr. Alexander says, “the most creative and liberating experience of my life. In books for young people, I was able to express my own deepest feelings far more than I could ever do in writing for adults.”
While doing historical research for a Welsh episode in his first children's book,
Time Cat,
he discovered such riches that he decided to save them for a whole book. He delved into all sorts of volumes, from anthropology to the writings of an eighteenthcentury Welsh clergyman to the
Mabinogion
, the classic collection of Welsh legends. From his readings emerged such characters as Gwydion Son of Don, Arawn Death-Lord of Annuvin, Dallben the old enchanter, and the oracular pig Hen Wen. The landscape and mood of Prydain came from Mr. Alexander's vivid recollections of the land of Wales that had so enchanted him twenty years earlier.
The five books in the Chronicles of Prydain are
The Book of Three
(an ALA Notable Book),
The Black Cauldron
(a Newbery Honor Book),
The Castle of Llyr
(an ALA Notable Book),
Taran Wanderer
, and
The High King
(winner of the 1969 Newbery Medal). He followed the chronicles in 1973 with a collection of short stories,
The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain.
Henry Holt
®
is a registered trademark of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 1966 by Lloyd Alexander. Renewed 1994.
Map copyright © 1966 by Evaline Ness
Pronunciation Guide copyright © 1999 by Henry Holt and Company
All rights reserved.
 
 
Henry Holt and Company, LLC,
Publishers since 1866
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
www.HenryHoltKids.com
 
 
eISBN 9781429961967
First eBook Edition : August 2011
 
 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alexander, Lloyd.
The castle of Llyr / by Lloyd Alexander.
p. cm.—(The chronicles of Prydain; 3)
Summary: When Princess Eilonwy is sent to the Isle of Mona for training, she is bewitched by the evil enchantress Achren, so Taran and other friends must try to rescue her.
[1. Fantasy.] 1. Title. 11. Series: Alexander, Lloyd. Chronicles of Prydain; 3.
PZ7.A3774Cas 1999 [Fic]—dc21 98-40897
BOOK: The Castle of Llyr
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