Young Taran tires of making horseshoes all day and grabs a length of iron, hoping to forge a sword. He pounds on it artlessly until it’s warped and looks like a snake. His teacher, Coll, explains that sword-making requires a different approach on a different type of metal.

Taran begs Coll to teach him swordplay. He picks up a fire poker and takes a few showy, bad swings. Coll quickly parries them with another poker. Taran is losing badly when they’re interrupted by Dallben, the tall, bearded, 379-year-old master of the Dallben stronghold. He tells them to stop their “nonsense,” and orders Taran to report to his cottage.

In the crowded, book-lined study, Dallben sits at his desk, on which lies a mysterious volume of wisdom, The Book of Three. He tells Taran the history of Prydain. It’s a land of many kingdoms ruled by a high king, Math Son of Mathonwy, and guarded by a mighty hero, Prince Gwydion. Both descend from the Sons of Lady Don and King Belin, who came long ago from the Summer Country, built a castle at Dathyl in the far-north

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