Son of Two Worlds

Synopsis

This is a richly illustrated retelling of one of the most powerful and exciting sagas from the Heroic Age of Britain. Haydn Middleton has drawn not only on the Mabinogion (that rich source of Celtic folklore and mythology) but on the Triads of the Island of Britain, early Welsh verse, and the legends of the Irish, to capture the authentic flavour of the story of Pryderi, the great chieftain of Dyfed. Pryderi was born of a remarkable union between the goddess Rhiannon (who links him to the Otherworld, Annwvyn) and Pendaran, chief of the island of Prydein. Pryderi's destiny — as a man linked to the realms of immortality — is to offer his people human dignity, self-reliance and hope, to be a bridge between two worlds. This is far more than a simple retelling of a great it is an attempt to recapture the spirit of the pre-Christian Celts, a spirit complex and subtle, profound and elemental, which contains within it a cosmic vision. But above all, it is a great story — readable, passionate, moving, and one which can be read for the sheer pleasure of entering its strange (yet strangely familiar) world. And Anthea Toorchen's powerful paintings and drawings add a further imaginative dimension to a book which is as unique in its presentation as it is in its contents.