Last post, I discussed a novel series called The Chronicles of Prydain, and while I spoke of enjoying the stories, I mentioned there to be two major issues I encountered. The first involved the generic nature of the fantasy world. The second I shall unpack in this post.
Before I go on, I wish to give fair warning. As the post title says, from here on out there will be spoilers. If you intend to read either Prydain or The Lord of the Rings, I suggest you skip this post until you finish them. Finished reading or simply don’t care about spoilers? Okay. Then let’s move on.
In case you somehow did not gather this from the previous post, I like The Chronicles of Prydain. I love the characters, the connected themes gave me an increased appreciation for theme as a whole, and the varied plot lines kept me interested in the events. I think they are excellent children’s literature. However, there is one part, a vital part, of the series I thought poorly done: the conclusion. More accurately, I do not think the ending is necessarily bad but rather badly executed.
Looking back up to the blog title, you might have figured out the nature of the ending. This story, just like The Lord of the Rings, ends with characters, including main characters, leaving Prydain for another land where there is no pain, suffering, or death. To be more specific, any evidence of magic, including people who can use magic, and the descendants of Prydain’s version of the Dúnedain, must leave Prydain after the Death-Lord, Arawn, is destroyed. Like the elves leaving Middle Earth, it is time for the rule of men and for magic to leave for the “Undying Lands,” with the main character offered a place on the ship for the service he has done in the war.1 The major difference between the two endings, though, is that while Frodo left Middle Earth after his duty was fulfilled, Taran remains in Prydain, feeling he has duties he must not abandon.
Right off the bat, you might understand some of my frustration. Already the land of Prydain has a sense of a generic, fantasy world. Now, at the end, there’s a near copy of Tolkien’s ending. However, while this does bother me, I can forgive Alexander due to just how different the stories themselves are. The Chronicles of Prydain is far from a Lord of the Rings knockoff, even with some strong similarities.
No, my issue is not that Alexander wrote the ending like Tolkien’s trilogy’s but that he executed it poorly. The ending comes out of nowhere! Not once in the whole story has there been even the hint that, with the Arawn killed, magic and those who use it must leave Prydain, and because it was so sudden, the ending left me totally unsatisfied, which is perhaps the worst feeling upon which a story can end.
Contrast that with The Lord of the Rings. From part one, we know the elves are leaving Middle Earth. Frodo and Sam encounter and befriend a troop of elves who speak of soon going to Grey Havens to sail to the West.2 Then, after the ring is destroyed and Aragorn (now King Elessar) marries the elf Arwen, Arwen tells Frodo he is welcome to take her place on the ship, should he choose it. After this, the hobbits end up accompanying the elves Galadriel and her husband as they head in the direction of the Harbor. All this keeps telling us that the elves are leaving. Magic is departing from Middle Earth. The Third age is ending, and it is time for the Age of Men. Frodo’s fate has been foreshadowed.
Then, after reclaiming the Shire from Saruman’s scouring and during the description of the next few years, we realize not all is well. Over time, Frodo has become increasingly sick. The wound he received from the Nazgul on Weathertop in The Fellowship causes him pain and illness, even with the ring destroyed. He has suffered so much, all for the sake of going back to his simple, peaceful life, and yet he can never return. He can never go back.
Therefore, when he tells Sam he shall accompany Bilbo to the Undying Lands, our hearts are broken with Sam’s because we don’t want Mister Frodo to leave, but we know he must. If ever he is to find healing, he must go. And so we let him. With shattered hearts and tears soaking our cheeks, we watch him sail away. Then, when Tolkien writes “Frodo… heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And it seemed to him… the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise,” we cry tears of joy, for we know.3 We know Frodo can finally rest.
In that moment, we know the story has earned this ending. In Prydain, there is no such sense. Because there was practically no build up into this ending, I felt cheated. What is this other land? Why do they have to leave? There had been no sign that such a thing was or had to happen. It didn’t make sense. The only consolation I could find upon later consideration is that the ending fit the tone of the final volume. The last volume of The Chronicles of Prydain is a story about loss, sacrifice, and knowing you must still live. Even with a broken and heavy heart, there are things that must be done, promises that must be kept, and so we must live on. However, even without the out of the blue ending, I think that message had been transmitted. We didn’t need a sudden twist ending without foreshadow. We didn’t need an ending that had not been earned.
Satisfaction in stories comes in receiving what was deserved, and as much as I love The Chronciles of Prydain, I do not think the story, or we readers, deserved that ending.
1Alexander, Lloyd. The High King. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1968. Print.
2Tolkien, J. R. R. The Fellowship of the Ring. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. Print.
3Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. Print.
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