Dallben

Dallben is an important character in Lloyd Alexander's children's series The Chronicles of Prydain. Dallben is described as an ancient man with a long white beard. He lives on the farm known as Caer Dallben, where he acts as protector of Coll's oracular pig, Hen Wen. He also is the guardian and mentor of Taran, the protagonist of the Prydain Chronicles. When first introduced in The Book of Three, he was already 379 years old. Besides the lessons ... more

Dallben is an important character in Lloyd Alexander's children's series The Chronicles of Prydain. Dallben is described as an ancient man with a long white beard. He lives on the farm known as Caer Dallben, where he acts as protector of Coll's oracular pig, Hen Wen. He also is the guardian and mentor of Taran, the protagonist of the Prydain Chronicles. When first introduced in The Book of Three, he was already 379 years old. Besides the lessons he teaches Taran and protecting the oracular pig Hen Wen, Dallben's main activity on the farm is meditating. Those who know him recognize him as the most powerful enchanter in Prydain, and while his displays of power are quite potent they are used sparingly. Dallben's story begins while a baby, found by Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch in the Marshes of Morva, floating in a basket. They decided to keep him and gave him the name Dallben, reasoning that the name would last him his entire life. In an incident similar to the Welsh legend or Gwion Bach, one... less