Plot introduction

Originally written as a short radio play, the book concerns the adventures of a group of young teenagers as they struggle to hold back a terrible darkness by fulfilling a prophecy from another world. The plot moves to and from the world of Elidor, and the city of Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 and parts of northern Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 in the real world.

Like many of Garner's books, the emphasis of the narrative is on the hardships, cost and practicalities of the choices and responsibilities that the protagonists face.

Explanation of the novel's title

The name Elidor originates in a Welsh folktale

Welsh mythology

Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....

 whose title is commonly translated as Elidor and the Golden Ball, described by Giraldus Cambrensis

Giraldus Cambrensis

Gerald of Wales , also known as Gerallt Gymro in Welsh or Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin, archdeacon of Brecon, was a medieval clergyman and chronicler of his times...

 in Itinerarium Cambriae, a record of his 1188 journey across the country. Elidor was a priest who as a boy was led by dwarves to a castle of gold in a land that, while beautiful, was not illuminated by the full light of the sun. This compares with Garner's description of the golden walls of Gorias contrasting with the dull sky of the land of Elidor.

English folklore

Elidor begins with an epigraph

Epigraph (literature)

In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...

 quoting from William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's King Lear

King Lear

King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...

:

"Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came - " KING LEAR, act iii, sc. 4

This is an allusion to the English folktale

English folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...

 of Childe Rowland

Childe Rowland

"Childe Rowland" is a fairy tale, the most popular version being by Joseph Jacobs in his English Folk and Fairy Tales, published in 1892, and written partly in verse and part in prose.-Synopsis:...

, from which several elements of the plot of Elidor are drawn. Childe Rowland features the eponymous Rowland, his two brothers, and his sister Burd Ellen. Rowland kicks a ball over a church and when Burd Ellen attempts to retrieve it she disappears. Rowland's brothers then leave to find her but they do not return, leaving Rowland to rescue his siblings. Later Rowland must command a door to open in a hillside, wherein he finds Burd Ellen under a spell.

Irish mythology

The names of the four castles of Elidor - Findias in the South, Falias in the West, Murias in the North, and Gorias in the East - are allusions to the four cities of the Tuatha Dé Danann

Tuatha Dé Danann

The Tuatha Dé Danann are a race of people in Irish mythology. In the invasions tradition which begins with the Lebor Gabála Érenn, they are the fifth group to settle Ireland, conquering the island from the Fir Bolg....

 in Irish mythology

Irish mythology

The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...

 - Finias (sic), Falias, Murias, and Gorias.

The four treasures of Elidor - the Spear Of Ildana held by Malebron, David's sword, Nicholas's stone, and Helen's cauldron - correspond to the Four Treasures

Four Treasures

In the Mythological Cycle of early Irish literature, the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann are four magical items which the mythological Tuatha Dé Danann are supposed to have brought with them from the four island cities Murias, Falias, Gorias and Findias, when they arrived in...

 of the Tuatha Dé Danann - the Spear of Lugh

Spear of Lugh

In the Ulster Cycle of early Irish literature, the Lúin of Celtchar is the name of a long, fiery lance or spear belonging to Celtchar mac Uthechar and wielded by other heroes, such as Dubthach, Mac Cécht and Fedlimid....

, Claíomh Solais, Lia Fáil

Lia Fáil

The Lia Fáil , also known as the Coronation Stone of Tara, is a stone at the Inauguration Mound on the Hill of Tara in County Meath in Ireland, which served as the coronation stone for the High Kings of Ireland. In legend, all of the kings of Ireland were crowned on the stone up to Muirchertach...

, and The Dagda's Cauldron. However, the associations between the treasures and the castles differ - in Elidor the Spear of Ildana is associated with Gorias, whereas the Irish mythological equivalent, the Spear of Lugh, is associated with Finias (although the treasure associated with Gorias, Claíomh Solais, is sometimes called the Sword Of Lugh, which may explain the confusion).

Medieval fable

The end of the book references the Medieval fable of 'the maiden and the unicorn

Unicorn

The unicorn is a legendary animal from European folklore that resembles a white horse with a large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead, and sometimes a goat's beard...

.' Only by the calming presence of a young virgin can the wild and ferocious nature of the unicorn be tamed, allowing it to be killed. In the book the dying unicorn sings a 'swan song' and by this act brings a restitution of light to Elidor.

Television adaptations

Garner and Don Webb

Don Webb (playwright)

Don Webb is a playwright and script writer based in the UK. He has written for British TV and the West End and is currently working on a novel for children.-Biography:Don Webb started writing fairly late in life...

 adapted Elidor into a children's television series for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. The series consisted of six half-hour episodes starring Damian Zuk as Roland and Suzanne Shaw

Suzanne Shaw

Suzanne Shaw is an English actress, singer and television personality...

as Helen.

Release details

• 1965, UK, Collins (Pre-ISBN), Pub date 1965, Hardback
• 2002, UK, CollinsVoyager ISBN 0-00-712791-X, Pub date 5 August 2002, Paperback