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Gurgi is a fictional character in The Chronicles of Prydain , the series of fantasy novels by Lloyd Alexander. Gurgi is the hero Taran's faithful companion, appearing in all five books.
He is described as being a cross between man and beast, having long arms, covered with fur and leaves, and ever hungry but really "just a sort of a, kind of a thing". His demeanor is extremely loyal and caring, almost to a fault. His manner of speech is filled with rhymed pairs of words ("crunchings and munchings", "smackings and whackings", "sneakings and peekings", etc.), and redundant phrases ("see with lookings!"); he refers to himself in the third person. Gurgi is humble and loyal toward his human companions, at first submitting even to Taran as a "noble lord".
Gurgi is one of the few characters to appear in all five books of the series, the others being Taran, Fflewddur, Dallben and Coll.
In The Book of Three , Taran first meets Gurgi in his quest to locate Hen-Wen, the oracular pig. [1] At first, Taran is disdainful of Gurgi, believing him to be more of a nuisance than anything else. By the end of the book, he learns the value of true companionship.
In The Black Cauldron , Gurgi, along with Princess Eilonwy, sneakily follows the Companions to the Black Gate of Annuvin. Gurgi would accompany the Companions to the Marshes of Morva and eventually be the one to find the Black Cauldron.
In The Castle of Llyr , Gurgi accompanies Taran in escorting the Princess Eilonwy to the Isle of Mona and faces all sorts of dangers when she is kidnapped by a foe long thought dead.
In Taran Wanderer , Gurgi loyally follows Taran on what might be the most important quest of his life, the search for his true identity (who his parents were, etc.), and proves to be a true friend.
In The High King , Gurgi's bravery is proven from beginning to end and when all is said and done, he must make the hardest choice of all.
According to a 1999 publisher's note, quoting Alexander on The Chronicles, "'The people in it were born, like most children, at unlikely and inconvenient times.. Gurgi, for example, appeared in the predawn hours. ... Suddenly there he was, with his groanings and moanings, looking like a disordered owl's nest." [2]
According to Alexander, nearly all of the proper names in Prydain are from Welsh myth or history, perhaps all except Eilonwy and Taran. [3] There are several characters named Gurgi in Welsh legend, the most important of whom was Peredur's brother.
In Disney's animated version of The Black Cauldron, Gurgi is portrayed as a small anthropomorphic dog-like creature. The voice was provided by actor/impressionist John Byner.
There used to be a restaurant in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom named after Gurgi, Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies, which closed in 1993. [4] To this date it has been one of only two vendor/attraction with a Black Cauldron theme at any Disney theme park. The other was an attraction; "Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour" at Tokyo Disneyland, which has also since closed in 2006.
The Disney version of Gurgi also appears in the world-building video game Disney Magic Kingdoms as a playable character to unlock for a limited time. [5] [6] .
Lloyd Chudley Alexander was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been translated into 20 languages. His most famous work is The Chronicles of Prydain, a series of five high fantasy novels whose conclusion, The High King, was awarded the 1969 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. He won U.S. National Book Awards in 1971 and 1982.
Goldberry is a character from the works of the author J. R. R. Tolkien. She first appeared in print in a 1934 poem, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, where she appears as the wife of Tom Bombadil. Also known as the "River-woman's daughter", she is described as a beautiful, youthful woman with golden hair. She is best known from her appearance as a supporting character in Tolkien's high fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings, first published in 1954 and 1955.
Morgoth's Ring (1993) is the tenth volume of Christopher Tolkien's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth in which he analyses the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R. Tolkien.
The Mythopoeic Awards for literature and literary studies are given annually for outstanding works in the fields of myth, fantasy, and the scholarly study of these areas. Established by the Mythopoeic Society in 1971, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award is given for "fiction in the spirit of the Inklings", and the Scholarship Award for non-fiction work. The award is a statuette of a seated lion, with a plaque on the base. It has drawn resemblance to, and is often called, the "Aslan".
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. The series includes: The Book of Three (1964), The Black Cauldron (1965), The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), and The High King (1968). The Black Cauldron earned a 1966 Newbery Honor, and The High King won the 1969 Newbery Medal.
The Black Cauldron is a 1985 American animated dark fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions in association with Silver Screen Partners II and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 25th Disney animated feature film, it is loosely based on the first two books in The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, a series of five novels that are in turn based on Welsh mythology.
The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his fantasy writings. These encompass The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, along with his legendarium that remained unpublished until after his death, and his constructed languages, especially the Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin. Scholars from different disciplines have examined the linguistic and literary origins of Middle-earth, and have explored many aspects of his writings from Christianity to feminism and race.
Princess Eilonwy is a fictional character in Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain. She appears in four of the five novels in the series, as well as Disney's 1985 animated film adaptation The Black Cauldron. Eilonwy is a member of the Royal House of Llyr, and the women in her line are formidable enchantresses, including her mother, Angharad, and grandmother Regat. She has inherited this characteristic, most readily visible in her manipulation of a magical item she calls her "bauble", a small golden sphere that glows with magical light when activated by her willpower. Eilonwy's father, Geraint, was a commoner with whom her mother fell in love.
The Black Cauldron (1965) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the second of five volumes in The Chronicles of Prydain. The story continues the adventures of Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, as he joins in a quest to capture the eponymous Magical Cauldron from Arawn Death-Lord. It was a Newbery Honor book in 1966, runner-up for the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".
The Black Cauldron is an adventure game designed by Al Lowe of Sierra On-Line and published in 1986. The game is based on the Disney film The Black Cauldron, which was itself based on the Chronicles of Prydain novel of the same name by Lloyd Alexander. It was made shortly after the first King's Quest game, so it resembles that game in many ways. Along with The Dark Crystal it remains one of only a few adventure games by Sierra to be based on films.
The High King (1968) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the fifth and last of The Chronicles of Prydain. It was awarded the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1969.
Taran Wanderer (1967) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the fourth of five volumes in The Chronicles of Prydain. The series follows Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, as he nears manhood while helping to resist the forces of Arawn Death-Lord.
The Castle of Llyr (1966) is a high fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander, the third of five volumes in The Chronicles of Prydain. The story continues the adventures of Taran, the "Assistant Pig-Keeper", and his companions.
The Book of Three (1964) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the first of five volumes in The Chronicles of Prydain. The series follows the adventures of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper, a youth raised by Dallben the enchanter, as he nears manhood while helping to resist the forces of Arawn Death-Lord.
Taran is a fictional character from Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain series of novels. Serving as the series's central protagonist, he is first introduced as the assistant pig-keeper at Caer Dallben charged with the care of Hen Wen, the oracular white pig. With dreams of becoming a great hero, over the course of the series, his character matures as he is drawn into the war against Arawn Death-Lord.
Once Upon a Halloween is a 2005 British animated fantasy film featuring the Evil Queen and Disney Villains. The film is an anthology that features clips from Disney animated films plus shorts and songs. While the scenes shown as flashbacks are from traditional animated films, the original scenes of the film featuring the Evil Queen with her cauldron were animated in CGI.
The naming of weapons in Middle-earth is the giving of names to swords and other powerful weapons in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. He derived the naming of weapons from his knowledge of Medieval times; the practice is found in Norse mythology and in the Old English poem Beowulf. Among the many weapons named by Tolkien are Orcrist and Glamdring in The Hobbit, and Narsil / Andúril in The Lord of the Rings. Such weapons carry powerful symbolism, embodying the identity and ancestry of their owners.
John Garth is a British journalist and author, known especially for writings about J. R. R. Tolkien including his biography Tolkien and the Great War and a book on the places that inspired Middle-earth, The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien. He won a 2004 Mythopoeic Award for Scholarship for his work on Tolkien. The biography influenced much Tolkien scholarship in the subsequent decades.
J. R. R. Tolkien was attracted to medieval literature, and made use of it in his writings, both in his poetry, which contained numerous pastiches of medieval verse, and in his Middle-earth novels where he embodied a wide range of medieval concepts.
Master of Middle-earth: The Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, alternatively subtitled The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien, is a 1972 book of literary criticism of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, written by Paul H. Kocher, and one of the few to be published in Tolkien's lifetime. It focuses especially on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and also covers some of his minor works such as "Leaf by Niggle" and "Smith of Wootton Major".
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