Gwydion (book series)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gwydion is a four-volume youth book series by Peter Schwindt . The first two volumes were published in 2006, the next in 2007, all by Ravensburger . In 2008 they came out again as a Ravensburger paperback.

content

Gwydion, a swinekeeper, lived in Britain in the time of King Arthur . The books are about the Holy Grail , Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table, especially Lancelot and Merlin . Gwydion realizes that he is the Fisher King and the last descendant of the Keeper of the Grail. As a result, he not only has the task of ruling his kingdom, but must also inherit two ancient bloodlines. But the Grail disappeared decades ago and must not fall into the wrong hands. Now it is up to Gwydion to find him again to save Britain.

Volumes

action

Gwydion - The Road to Camelot

After an attack by the Saxons on his homeland, the farmer's boy Gwydion, known as Gwyn, travels to Camelot Castle to ask King Arthur to join him as a squire at his court. He carries his unknown mother's unicorn medallion with him. His previous companion, Humbert von Llanwick, is captured by the knights of Mordred .

At first Gwyn is not allowed to enter Camelot, but saves Princess Aileen, daughter of Mordred and thus granddaughter of Arthur, and her maid Katlyn in the forest at the foot of the hill. These give him entry to Camelot, where he informs the king about the attack by the Saxons and the kidnapping of Sir Humbert by Mordred's men.

While the king is already familiar with the attack by the Saxons, he is worried about the reappearance of the "green dragon", as Mordred and his men are also known, believed to be dead.

Gwyn becomes Sir Urfin's squire and befriends Rowan, Sir Kays squire (and son), and Merlin, the king's adviser.

The old magician, when they first meet, creates a vision in Gwyn, who saw himself on a bridge in the mist. Pierced by the same lance, Artur and a man like him (Mordred) lay in each other's arms. Thereupon Merlin warned not to show anyone on Camelot his medallion, as an old legend says: "The unicorn will kill the dragon". And Artur, like his son, has a dragon (red) in the coat of arms. However, one is not sure which dragon (Mordred or Artur) is meant.

Gwyn overhears a secret conversation about the whereabouts of the Holy Grail, whereupon Merlin leaves immediately to protect him.

Rowan and Gwyn are locked in dungeon after an argument with other squires. During the night, the two of them are woken up by their masters to take them to the search for Merlin, whose horse has returned to Camelot without a master. At a ford, Gwyn falls into a raging river and meets the mysterious lady from the lake who saves him from drowning. From her he learns that Merlin rode west and Camelot's greatest enemy, Mordred, Arthur's son, has risen again.

They are captured by Mordred at Tintagel and locked in a cell with Merlin and Sir Humbert, from which they are able to escape. Knight Humbert, Gwyn's patron and friend, dies in a druid site (a burial mound underground ) to allow the others to escape because it collapses. Without the betrayal of Sir Urfin, who wants to steal the book of Joseph of Arimathea, which according to Merlin is necessary to recognize the Grail, this sacrifice would not have been necessary.

Back on Camelot, Gwyn manages to defeat the siege army of Mordred and the Saxons - who had formed an alliance - through his pig herding techniques and the strategic recommendations of Sir Urfin, who is meanwhile in the dungeon. While Mordred himself escapes and Sir Urfin is released for helping to free Camelot, Gwyn returns home.

Gwydion - The Power of the Grail

On his trip home, Gwyn feels haunted. When he got home, he met a sick man while tending pigs, whom he brought home, looked after and then transported to Camelot, as Merlin's help was needed. There it turns out that the man is Lancelot, the first knight of the king. Merlin finds out that Lancelot was poisoned. Lacking the ingredients for an antidote, he sends Gwydion with his friend Rowan to a healer who has the ingredients. Both are pursued by Mordred, and after they have freed Dinas Emrys Castle in the desert land of a curse that has withered for many years and the residents have almost no water, the residents see Gwyn as their new ruler . They also found various belongings of Lancelot in the castle. Later on, Gwyn learns that he is the heir of the Lord of Dinas Emrys, Goon Desert, who was thus the Lord of the Grail Castle, and that his mother Valeria was the keeper of the Grail. Gwyn reunites the two lines and is therefore the last fishing king, the guardian of the Grail, and thus actually also the most powerful king of Britain - if he would own the Grail. In addition, Rowan and Gwydion meet the remains of an ancient Roman legion under the blind general Decimus, who will later reveal himself to be an important ally. Back on Camelot, Lancelot, who has recovered, is supposed to be included in the round table again, but Sir Kay defends himself so that Lancelot has to defeat him in a tournament, which he also succeeds with with Gwyn's amulet on his neck. After the fight, Sir Kay is assassinated and almost dies. Rowan is nowhere to be found after the event, which naturally makes him suspect. Not least because Rowan and Sir Kay (who is his father) had major differences of opinion.

Gwydion - King Arthur's betrayal

King Arthur no longer cares about Camelot and his government. The knights of the round table have developed into drunken ruffians. Artur is tired and depressed in the search for the Grail. Gwyn, the former swineherd, searches for Sir Kay's assassin with Lancelot. He is confronted with his past as the last fishing king.

Gwydion - Merlin's Legacy

Gwyn now knows that as the Fisher King he is one of the keepers of the Grail. In the hidden fortress of Dinas Emrys he has his allies who should help him to stop the impending disaster. They travel around looking for Gwyn's missing amulet, without which they cannot find the Grail. Katlyn and Gwyn become a couple before Gwyn goes to battle. Mordred attacks Camelot, and Gwydion must choose to help Artur who betrayed the matter. With the lance of Longinus and his followers, he fights against the enemies of the empire. He has matured and now has to take a stand as an adult. But the fight ends with a great disappointment.

Reviews

  • In the Fantasyguide, Carsten Kuhr writes, among other things: “… what is it about the mysterious amulet that she [his mother] bequeathed to him, and why does Merlin know his name? Mysteries that arouse the reader's interest, the arc of tension itself is neatly laid out, the reading without breaks ... "
  • Christel Scheja writes about the series: “All in all,“ The Power of the Grail ”is not a novel that goes particularly in depth and conveys knowledge about culture and history, but he succeeds in entertaining both young and older readers. Peter Schwindt succeeds in depicting the search for the Grail in a different way than one is used to and yet lets a little magic resonate. By taking a somewhat critical look at Arthur and his knights, he paints a picture of the saga that one has seldom got to know. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carsten Kuhr: Gwydion - The way to Camelot by Peter Schwindt. FantasyGuide.de, accessed February 8, 2011 .
  2. ↑ Christel Scheja: Gwydion - The Power of the Grail by Peter Schwindt. FantasyGuide.de, accessed February 8, 2011 .