50 pages • 1 hour read
Lloyd AlexanderThe Book of Three
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1964A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Literary Context: High-Fantasy
The Book of Three is a high-fantasy adventure. High-fantasy stories describe realms where magic is a constant in the lives of the characters: It imbues their world like a law of physics. In The Book of Three, wizards and evil rulers possess magical abilities, some people can talk to animals, swords contain thunderous power, and a pig foretells the future. Low-fantasy stories, in contrast, involve magic that occurs in a limited way. For example, a character develops super-abilities, or someone finds a magic implement that gives them power.
High-fantasy stories often take place in a medieval context. Much of the lore of Western nations derives from stories told during the European Middle Ages, the period roughly between the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE and the Renaissance that began around 1400 CE. These tales and myths include knights on horseback, magical swords, gray-bearded wizards, spells and potions, and strange creatures—faeries, ogres, giants, and enchanted animals. The Book of Three includes many of these tropes.
Well-known high-fantasy sagas that depict medieval-style realms include Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) operas and the books and screen adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, and The Witcher. The children’s books The Chronicles of Narnia and The Ranger’s Apprentice have been, or will be, adapted for the screen. Not all high-fantasy stories take place in medieval settings; notable exceptions include The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, The NeverEnding Story, His Dark Materials, and many others. What binds them all is the magic that courses through their worlds.
Historical and Cultural Context: Prydain and Wales
Prydain, the region described in The Book of Three, shares many similarities with the country of Wales. They resemble each other geographically, culturally, and in the stories told about each.
After the Romans left the island of Great Britain in the 400s CE, tribes from northern Europe—Angles, Saxons, Danes, and Norwegians—invaded the island. Over several centuries, the newcomers spread across the island, pushing west the Celtic peoples who had inhabited the region for thousands of years. The Romans referred to those early Britons as the Volcai, or Welsh, a people closely related to today’s Irish and Scots. Currently, the Welsh, their culture, and their language thrive in Wales, the western portion of Great Britain that faces the Irish Sea.
Wales is about 100 miles long and not much bigger than the US state of New Jersey; its current population is roughly three million. Lloyd Alexander spent some of the Second World War stationed in Wales, and in later years he studied its history and literature. He incorporated what he saw and learned into the fictional world that makes up the Chronicles of Prydain book series, including the first novel, The Book of Three.
Much of the story derives from the Mabinogion, a book of ancient Welsh adventure stories. Characters who appear in both Mabinogion and The Book of Three include the king of Prydain—”Math Son of Mathonwy” (6)—Prince Gwydion, Dallben, Arawn, and the oracular pig Hen Wen.
The Book of Three includes a map of Prydain, which resembles Wales. Both Prydain and Wales protrude to the west of a larger region, which, in real life, is England. Just east of the Welsh border is the Severn, the largest river in Great Britain. The book’s map shows a similar river called the Great Avren. Mountains in the north of Prydain resemble those in northern Wales, where lies Mount Snowdon, the tallest point in Britain. Like Wales, Prydain contains many great castles.
The Book of Three honors the myths, legends, heroes, geography, and history of Wales. The novel’s great popularity has made it an appendix of sorts to the ancient legends. For many readers, it’s their introduction to the lore of medieval Wales.
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