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Eiddileg
Eilonwy
Fair Folk
Fflewddur Fflam son of Godo
Eiddileg. The king of the Fair Folk (see below). Eiddileg seems easily annoyed and has a bad temper, but Taran and his companions see that he puts on a show of being rough, stern, and miserly. Eiddileg is actually a powerful and generous king, but he tries to hide it. He possesses some magical powers, shown when Taran and Fflewddur try to use their weapons in his presence. Eiddileg freezes them in place to convince them to avoid fighting him.
Lady Charlotte Guest, in her notes about The Mabinogion, mentioned Eiddilig the Dwarf as having taught the power of creating illusions to Rhuddlwm the Giant, a great enchanter [8]. Eiddileg in Prydain has the use of magic, but he shows it only once, so the extent of his powers isn't clear.
Eilonwy. A Princess of Llyr who frees Taran from Spiral Castle and accompanies him on his quest. The two are at odds much of the time; Taran holds a traditional view that a girl shouldn't carry or use a sword, while Eilonwy can see herself as doing nothing else. One of her prominent personality traits is her tendency to make funny and sometimes confusing analogies, such as "calling me those horrid names; that's like putting caterpillars in somebody's hair" [p. 95]. Eilonwy was stolen from her mother by Achren for her powers as an enchantress of Llyr. Eilonwy tries to use her powers when Cauldron-Born chase the companions; she shoots an arrow above them and casts a spell to turn it into a web that would fall over the enemies and stop them. Unfortunately, the spell doesn't quite work.
Eilonwy has no direct link from Welsh legend. However, she brings the concept of a strong heroine into the Prydain Chronicles, matching a few of the women in Welsh tales (such as Rhiannon in "Pwyll Prince of Dyfed" [8]). In the tunnels underneath Spiral Castle, she said she had no beans to spit at what she thought could be a ghost; Robert Graves has pointed out that in Greek and Roman tradition, spitting beans at ghosts was the typical way to get rid of them; this tradition probably transferred to Britain because of Roman conquering [8].
Fair Folk. One of the names given by people living above ground to the dwarfs who dwell below. Their kingdom of Twylyth Teg spreads all over Prydain underground. Other names given to these people, much to their annoyance, are "Happy Family" and "Little People." Though many are dwarfs, some are taller, such as the Children of the Evening, whom Taran and his companions see in the Fair Folk realm. The Fair Folk generally see humans as bumbling, clumsy, thoughtless, and greedy.
Lady Charlotte Guest noted that Twylyth Teg was the name of a race also called "Family of Beauty." They wore various colors and danced in the moonlight [8]. It is unknown whether they looked any different from humans.
Fflewddur Fflam son of Godo. A king who poses as a bard. Fflewddur was imprisoned in Spiral Castle and freed by Eilonwy. He would rather wander as a bard than rule a small kingdom he knows can get along just as well without him. His kingdom is located several days east of Caer Dathyl. Fflewddur failed to become an official bard, but he wanders from castle to town anyway. His harp, a gift from Chief Bard Taliesin, has strings that will break whenever Fflewddur stretches or bends the truth or outright lies.
Fflewdwr Fflam was a ruler mentioned by Culhwch when he was trying to convince Arthur to help him in his quest in The Mabinogion. In "The Dream of Rhonabwy," Fflewdwr appeared as an advisor to Arthur. Lady Charlotte Guest's notes further identify him as one of three sovereigns of Arthur's court. The name "Fflam" means "flame" in Welsh. Alexander's Fflewddur carries on the idea of fieriness with his determination to be a bard and also to help Taran in his quest. His being a king holds less significance than his traveling as a bard, which leads to his meeting Taran in the first place.
