Cauldron-Born
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Lloyd Alexander's series of fantasy books The Chronicles of Prydain, the Cauldron-Born are a race of deathless warriors in the service of Arawn, Death-Lord of Annuvin.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
The Cauldron-Born were originally men who had died. Arawn, Death-Lord of Annuvin took their bodies and placed them inside the Black Cauldron. From inside the Cauldron, they rose as lifeless, mute, and merciless warriors. They originally served as sentries in Annuvin, only being used in force in The High King. Arawn generally used bodies of those already dead. However, following the death of his champion, The Horned King, Arawn sent his men to not only rob graves, but to slay the living and bring them to Annuvin to feed to the Black Cauldron and increase the Cauldron-Born ranks.
Arawn, in making his Cauldron-Born warriors, eradicated their memories. The warriors were thus stripped of all humanity, and had no memory of life. They were thus little more than Arawn's fingers, hating all life. Arawn made them in large numbers, creating a massive army for Annuvin.
[edit] The Black Cauldron
As described in the book, The Black Cauldron, the Black Cauldron is the source of the Cauldron-Born's power and life. Arawn borrowed it from the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch, and ruined it for any task other than making the Cauldron-Born. It is described as a large black iron pot with two rings and a mouth large enough to fit a man, and has what appears to be dried blood flecked on the rim. Wind across the mouth almost sounds like the moans of all those fed to the Cauldron.
It cannot be destroyed by normal tools, crafts, or skills. The Black Cauldron can only be destroyed when a living person willingly enters the Cauldron. Doing so, however, will kill the person. In the end, Ellidyr, son of Pen-Llarcau, gave his life in this manner.
[edit] Strengths and Weaknesses
The Cauldron-Born's greatest advantage is that they are not alive, and thus cannot be killed. They feel no pain or fear or mercy, do not need water or food or sleep, and they never question orders because they are mute and possess no memory of who they were in life. Simply put, they are merciless killing machines that will slay anything in their path. One such example is in The High King, when the Cauldron-Born ruthlessly cut down High King Math at the battle of Caer Dathyl. Consequently, in The High King, when the Companions must race the Cauldron-Born back to Annuvin, the Cauldron-Born are a fearsome foe.
However, the Cauldron-Born are not omnipotent. Their power diminishes the further they get from Annuvin and the Black Cauldron. It is possible for them to get far enough away to point where they fall, returning to a dead corpse. However, it seems they have an innate knowledge of exactly how far they can go before that happens. They have one true weakness, the flaming sword, the black sword Drynwyn. In The High King Taran strikes a Cauldron warrior with the sword, which in turn kills all of them.
More debatable is whether or not the Cauldron-Born are capable of being employed as cavalry. Only once in The Book of Three were they ever depicted as being on horseback. This was however as part of the Horned King's war party. In The High King, during the battle of Caer Dathyl, the attacking army drew back into formation, parting like a gate as the Cauldron-Born marched through towards the castle.
[edit] Equipment
Throughout the Chronicles of Prydain, there are few commonalities in the ways the Cauldron-Born are equipped. Specifics are never given. Firstly, all Cauldron-Born wear iron boots. Secondly, they carry swords. Thirdly, they wear armor, although the function of this last is most likely ceremonial, as all weapons except one have no effects against the Cauldron-Born and can only slow the warriors down.
It is also interesting to note that the Cauldron-Born are never described as wielding any weapon except a sword. Of course, the need for a ranged Cauldron-Born warrior would be minimal, if indeed extant.
[edit] Demise
Trying to escape an on-coming Cauldron-Born warrior on Mount Dragon, Taran discovers the black sword Drynwyn hidden under a rock. When he drew the sword, the Cauldron-Born warrior actually showed a sign of fear. Taran struck down the warrior. For the first time, the mute Cauldron-Born actually made a noise, screaming when it fell. All the Cauldron-Born dropped to the ground finally dead.
[edit] Appearances
The Cauldron-Born appear in all books except The Castle of Llyr and Taran Wanderer. However, they are mentioned in all of the books, and the very mention of them is enough to strike fear into the hearts of most.
[edit] Sources
Alexander, Lloyd. The Black Cauldron. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Children, New York, NY. 1965.
Alexander, Lloyd. The High King. Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Children, New York, NY. 1968.
| The Chronicles of Prydain |
|---|
| Books |
| The Book of Three (1964) | The Black Cauldron (1965) | The Castle of Llyr (1966) | Taran Wanderer (1967) | The High King (1968) | The Foundling and Other Tales from Prydain (1970) |
| Characters |
| Achren | Angharad | Arawn | Coll | Dallben | Doli | Eiddileg | Princess Eilonwy | Fflewddur Fflam | The Horned King | Glew | Gurgi | Gwydion | Magg | Maibon | High King Math | Medwyn | Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch | Prince Rhun | Pryderi | Rhitta | Taran |
| Other media |
| The Black Cauldron (film) | The Black Cauldron (video game) |
| Animals |
| Gwythaints | Hen Wen | Kaw | Llyan | Lluagor | Melyngar | Melynlas |
| Places |
| Annuvin | Caer Cadarn | Caer Colur | Caer Dallben | Caer Dathyl | Cantrevs | Free Commots | Isle of Mona | Marshes of Morva | Spiral Castle | Summer Country |
| Other |
| The Book of Three | The Black Cauldron | Cauldron-Born | Dyrnwyn | Fair Folk | Golden Pelydryn | Huntsmen | Mirror of Llunet |
