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These books were a staple of my childhood, long before I ever knew what the Mabinogion was.
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Apr 24, 2023 04:09
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 18:29 |
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Alexander's version of Gwydion is a lot more like Tolkien's Strider than he is the rather sleazy trickster figure in the Mabinogion, much like Alexander's Arawn is more like Sauron than he is the Arawn who appears in the Mabinogion's "Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed."
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Apr 30, 2023 07:09
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I'm pretty sure Achren is derived from Arianrhod in the Mabinogion, especially since she's associated with Caer Sidi, the Revolving Castle, which Alexander turns into Spiral Castle. In the Mabinogion, Arianrhod and Gwydion are enemies as well, although Arianrhod actually has some pretty good reasons to hate Gwydion rather than just being an evil sorceress. Caer Sidi was a metaphor for the band of the zodiac; you can also see the association in Arianrhod's name, which means "silver wheel."
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May 6, 2023 16:47
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Wahad posted:Chapter 9: Fflewddur Fflam My knowledge of Welsh pronunciation is 100% derived from Susan Cooper's "The Dark Is Rising" books, but my recollection is that ew is pronounced like the English oo and dd is pronounced like th. So, kinda like "Floothur Flam"?
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May 17, 2023 15:27
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For me, it's the Evaline Ness covers or nothing.  As for Gurgi, there's a character named Gwrgi who appears in the Triads a few times, but he doesn't seem to have much relation to our Gurgi other than being sort of animal-like.
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May 28, 2023 22:39
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:We don't get that kind of "not good, only amazing" cover art any more, and the world is poorer for it. Lookit dat PIGGY! They get overlooked a lot, but Alexander also wrote, and Ness illustrated, a couple of picture books set in Prydain -- Coll and His White Pig (where Hen Wen gets kidnapped, again, and Coll has to save her) and The Truthful Harp (about how Fflewddur got his harp). Worth seeking out for kids who can't handle chapter books yet.
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Jun 1, 2023 17:13
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 18:29 |
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Alexander is cribbing a bit from the story of Finn McCool and the Salmon of Wisdom here. (Although in some versions of the story I've seen, Finn still has to stick his thumb in his mouth to access the wisdom he gained from the fish.)
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Jul 29, 2023 21:51
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