The Chronicles of Prydain is a pentalogy of children's high fantasy Bildungsroman novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company.

Taran, who dreams of being a great hero, is named "Assistant Pig-Keeper" and tasked with helping to care for and protect Hen Wen, a white oracular pig magically empowered with clairvoyance.

Taran has a series of adventures wherein he helps protect the land of Prydain from various threats, chief among them the evil Arawn, whose forces include an undead army known as the Cauldron-Born.

Throughout the novels, Taran's major companions are the Princess Eilonwy, the bard Fflewddur Fflam, the wild beast-man Gurgi, and the dwarf Doli.

The heroes frequently work alongside the Fair Folk (a society of elves and similar beings) and the warriors known as the Sons of Don.

The first two novels of The Chronicles of Prydain were loosely adapted into the 1985 Disney film The Black Cauldron and led to a video game of the same name produced by Sierra Entertainment.

During World War II, Lloyd Alexander received army combat intelligence training in Wales; he also became familiar with Welsh culture, geography, and language.

In the author's note for The Castle of Lyr, Alexander said The Prydain Chronicles are meant to communicate "the feeling, not the fact, of the land of Wales and its legends.

"[6] In the author's note for The High King, Alexander said of the series, "While it grew from Welsh legend, it has broadened into my attempt to make a land of fantasy relevant to the world of reality.

The Prydain Chronicles Omnibus (1991) comprises the five novels and the material of the original edition of The Foundling, but not the stories of the first two illustrated picture books.

[15] In 1999, Holt and Company published an expanded edition of The Foundling that included the original book's material while adding the short stories (but not the illustrations) of Coll and his White Pig and The Truthful Harp, along with a new "Prydain Pronunciation Guide" with entries for 49 proper names.

Known as the Death-Lord, Arawn's warriors include the "Cauldron-Born" (undead soldiers reanimated by the magical Black Cauldron), the fearsome war commander called the Horned King, and the bloodthirsty Huntsmen of Annuvin (who in death transfer their power to their surviving comrades).

Underneath and within Prydain is the kingdom of the Fair Folk, a society of diminutive supernatural beings that use magic to stay hidden and mostly keep to their own affairs.

Significant locations in Prydain include: Caer Dallben, the simple home of series protagonist Taran, his mentor Dallben, and the retired warrior Coll; Caer Colur, which stands near the Isle of Mona and is the ancestral home of the House of Llyr; The Spiral Castle, fortress of the sorceress Achren; Annuvin, fortress of Arawn; and the Marshes of Morva, a haunted swamp inhabited by the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch.

In addition to the races of humans and Fair Folk, Prydain is home to many strange creatures, such as the odd forest man called Gurgi.

Taran, a young boy in his early or mid-teens, lives with his mentor Dallben, a 379 year old enchanter, and the aged farmer and retired warrior Coll, son of Collfrewr.

Escaping imprisonment, Taran finds the legendary sword Dyrnwyn and befriends Eilonwy, a princess from a family of enchantresses, and Fflewddur Fflam, a king by birth who chooses to be a bard.

Together, the new companions (later joined by a dwarf named Doli) determine to stop the plans of the Horned king and his master Arawn, Lord of the Land of Death.

[18] Eighteen months after the end of The Black Cauldron, Eilonwy of the House of Llyr is encouraged to go to the royal court of the Isle of Mona so she may continue her education as a proper princess.

"[14] All six stories explore a time "before the birth of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper,"[21] meaning they take place at least fifteen years before the events of the first novel.

An expanded edition was published in 1999, adding the original two short stories Coll and his White Pig and The Truthful Harp, but not including the illustrations Ness made for those picture books.

Entries cover major characters, locations, and so on, with insight gained by Tunnell's interviews with Alexander as well as research into the Mabinogion and The White Goddess.

Then newly appointed studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg was dismayed by the product, and the animators felt that it lacked "the humor, pathos, and the fantasy which had been so strong in Lloyd Alexander's work.

Ruth Hill Viguers wrote in the 1969 Critical History of Children's Literature, "Like most good fantasies, the books are related to humanity; the characters have failings but also the potential for greatness.

"[27] In 2012, The Book of Three was ranked #18, and The High King #68, among the all-time best children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily U.S.

[29] Living on Coll's farm in Caer Dallben, he acts as the protector and mentor of Taran and helps protect the prophetic pig Hen Wen.

A retired warrior of great skill, Coll now lives in his farm in Caer Dallben, acting as caretaker for the oracular pig Hen Wen.

Often referring to himself in the third person, his manner of speech is filled with rhymed pairs of words ("crunchings and munchings", "smackings and wackings", "sneakings and peekings"), and redundant phrases ("see with lookings").

Living as Arawn's subject in the Spiral Castle, she despises the Death-Lord and makes her own plans to take over Prydain, while finding herself drawn to and protective of the noble warrior Gwydion.

Although their identities seem fluid and interchangeable, each persona has a distinctive appearance: Orwen wears a necklace of milky stones, Orddu's hair is adorned with many ornaments, and Orgoch's face is shadowed by a black cowl.