- “Great Belin!”
- ―Fflewddur Fflam's catchphrase
Fflewddur Fflam is a self-styled bard and the tritagonist of Disney's 1985 animated feature film The Black Cauldron.
Background[]
Personality[]
Fflewddur has a magic harp that will break a string or two every time Fflewddur tells a lie or colors in the facts, which he does somewhat frequently (i.e. exaggerating his own courage or musical talent). His catchphrase is "Great Belin!". The witch Orwen has a romantic interest in him while Orgoch wants to turn him into a frog and eat him. Fflewddur, however, has his moments of bravery such as when he stands up to the witches so that they will revive Gurgi. Though not specified in the film, in the books Fflewddur is a king of a rather small kingdom and generally prefers to travel as a bard across Prydain.
Appearances[]
The Black Cauldron []
Fflewddur first appears in the film in the dungeons of the Horned King being menaced by a pair of chained attack dogs. He is freed by Eilonwy and Taran and joins their escape from the Horned King's castle. Afterward, Fflam is attacked by Gurgi, but the latter turns away after he realizes Fflam is a friend of Taran, who he likes. The four of them proceed to Morva, where they encounter three witches, one of whom is in love with him. After the new team realizes they don't know what to do with the Black Cauldron, he is ultimately recaptured by the Horned King. But Gurgi sneaks into the castle and rescues him along with Taran and Eilonwy. After which Gurgi sacrifices himself to the Cauldron so Fflewddur and the others could escape the castle alive.
Fflewddur convinces the three witches to accept the proposed deal of Taran returning the Black Cauldron to them in exchange for their bringing Gurgi back to life. After they do so, Fflewddur and the other heroes happily leave, taking Taran home to Caer Dallben.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In the original books, in Taran Wonderer, it's specified that "Fflewddur" is his given name while "Fflam" is his surname.
- Also, in the books, he is shown to have a long, pointed nose and spiky blond hair, and is implied to be years younger than his animated counterpart.
- Concept art implied that they were going to lean in this direction before going with the more elderly look.
- Additionally, in the books, Fflewdder is the king of a tiny cantrev (a small kingdom) in the north of Prydain. However, his kingdom was so small, dull, and quiet that he could leave it without much notice. He also did not take any effort to put pomp and glory into his role as a king, instead preferring to simply be himself. He is further shown to be a capable and skilled warrior in the books, and has a bond with the horse-sized, magically enlarged orange cat Llyan, who becomes his steed and friend. At the end of the Chronicles of Prydain, Fflewddur and Llyan leave Prydain for the Summer Lands, where all magically-gifted people who are related to or descended from the Sons of Don (Fflewddur included) must go when the Age of Enchantment ended. There, they spend all of existence living their lives happily as immortal beings.
- In Lloyd Alexander's inspirational source, the Mabinogi, Fflewddur is listed among King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.
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