244:. He writes "Malebron", draws a unicorn and writes "Findhorn". On the way home, a unicorn suddenly appears in the mist. David thinks the static comes from Elidor in an attempt to home in on the signal from the buried Treasures. When all four children observe the shadows, they resolve into Elidor men who escape into the Manchester suburbs. After the Watson parents go out for a party, the children dig up the Treasures but are not sure what to do with them. The door rattling intensifies and they decide they cannot remain in the house while it is dark.
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209:. The neighbourhood is deserted except for a strange fiddler. Roland kicks a ball into the window of a partly demolished church. When his three siblings, who separately entered the church to retrieve the ball, all fail to return, Roland follows. The fiddler's music opens a portal to the world of Elidor and he instructs Roland to step through.
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for him to sing. Helen finds
Findhorn and appears to listen to her. The men kill Findhorn whereupon he sings; a portal to Elidor opens showing the darkness gone. The children toss the Treasures into the portal where they resume their original form, and the story abruptly ends with the children alone in the slum.
232:
in their garden. While digging, Helen finds a vase with a unicorn picture and a cryptic inscription, later revealed to mean that only a woman can communicate with the unicorn. Over the next year, Nicholas rationalises their experience as a "mass hallucination", but Roland, having imagined their front
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Malebron explains the children are part of a prophesy. Elidor is being overcome by an unspecified darkness and can only be saved by hearing the Song of
Findhorn. Should Elidor perish, it "would not be without echo in world". The darkness chases the children back to where Malebron opened the portal.
220:
that seems alive. The fiddler, Malebron, then reveals himself and says the other siblings are in the mound. To enter, Roland must picture the porch of the family's new home in his mind, which causes it to appear on the hillside. Inside, Helen, David and
Nicholas are entranced by a tree, whose spell
247:
They encounter a drunk bus passenger who reports seeing a unicorn, and the bus happens to take them back to the church from which they entered Elidor. In the dark, the children are separated. Roland finds
Findhorn fighting the Elidor men. David and Nicholas turn up but Findhorn ignores their pleas
327:
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
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Late in the book a dying unicorn sings a 'swan song' and by this act brings a restitution of light to Elidor. According to the medieval legend, only the calming presence of a virgin can tame the wild and ferocious nature of the unicorn and only thus may it be killed.
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the Spear of Ildana is associated with Gorias, whereas the Irish mystical 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).
36:
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He says they must keep the
Treasures safe in England. The children emerge back in the church where no time has passed and the Treasures have become mundane objects, but they are later found to interfere with electronics and give off static electricity.
436:
Henry Z. Walck published the first US edition in 1967. German and
Japanese-language translations were published in 1969 followed by Catalan, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, and Dutch in the next two decades; Persian and Chinese in 2005.
280:
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.
166:, it features four English children who enter a fantasy world, fulfill a quest there, and return to find that the enemy has followed them into our world. Translations have been published in nine languages and it has been
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The story concerns the adventures of a group of children as they struggle to hold back a terrible darkness by fulfilling a prophecy from another world. The setting moves to and from the world of Elidor, and the city of
484:
503:
Since 1995 there are usually eight books on the
Carnegie shortlist. According to CCSU, there were about 160 commendations of two kinds in 48 years from 1955 to 2002, including six for 1965.
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Roland breaks by severing it with a spear
Malebron gave him. The other children find a cauldron, sword and keystone before exiting. With the spear, these are the Four Treasures of Elidor.
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door to enter Vandwy, believes that strange rattling sounds mean it is still connected to Elidor. He also sees shadows above the
Treasures which have no real counterpart.
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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.
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The four castles of Elidor – Findias in the South, Falias in the West, Murias in the North, and Gorias in the East – correspond to the four cities of the
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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
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424:. The series consisted of six half-hour episodes broadcast weekly from 4 January to 8 February 1995, starring Damian Zuk as Roland and
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The Watson children, Nicholas, David, Helen and Roland, wander towards a street which Roland randomly selected from a map of
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The music leads Roland through a barren castle and a desolate forest, to the Mound of Vandwy (a reference to the artificial
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311:: "Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came" (Act III, sc. 4). This is also an allusion to the
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For the Turkish branch of British hair care brand known inside Turkey as Elidor, see
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command a door to open in a hillside, wherein he finds Burd Ellen under a spell.
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367:. However, the associations between the treasures and the castles differ – in
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529:(first US edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
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201:. This fictional street is later revealed to be roughly in the
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568:, Vol 1. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Salem Press, Inc., 1983.
162:, published by Collins in 1965. Set primarily in modern
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1965, UK, Collins (Pre-ISBN), Pub date 1965, Hardback
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is a children's fantasy novel by the British author
400:, recognising the year's best children's book by a
1001:British television shows based on children's books
691:. 2007(?). Curriculum Lab. Elihu Burritt Library.
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236:At a Christmas party, Roland is made to operate a
621:The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin Through Wales
927:
319:", from which several elements of the plot of
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675:Webster, R., pp. 266–267. Webster, R. (2008)
1006:British children's fantasy television series
420:into a children's television series for the
344:– Finias (sic), Falias, Murias, and Gorias.
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1011:1990s British children's television series
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392:was a commended runner-up for the annual
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739:catalog) —immediately, first US edition
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996:1995 British television series endings
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349:Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann
264:whose title is commonly translated as
991:1995 British television series debuts
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749:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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228:The children bury the Treasures in a
693:Central Connecticut State University
485:Celtic religion and spiritual legend
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566:Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature
452:, Pub date 5 August 2002, Paperback
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216:), where Roland mentally battles a
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587:St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers
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677:The Encyclopedia of Superstitions
593:, London, St. James Press, 1996,
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1016:Children's books set in Cheshire
585:K.V. Bailey, "Garner, Alan" in
542:"Formats and Editions of Elidor"
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800:The Weirdstone of Brisingamen
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650:English Folk And Fairy Tales
342:Irish legend and old history
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986:William Collins, Sons books
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611:Elidor and the Golden Ball
266:Elidor and the Golden Ball
205:area, which is undergoing
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956:British children's novels
951:Children's fantasy novels
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285:Allusions and references
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77:Children's fantasy novel
886:Short story collections
548:. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
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971:Novels set in Cheshire
961:British fantasy novels
894:The Stone Book Quartet
689:"Carnegie Medal Award"
665:The History of Ireland
182:and parts of northern
168:adapted for television
121:159 pp (first edition)
976:Novels by Alan Garner
941:1965 children's books
747:title listing at the
477:Children's literature
408:Television adaptation
86:William Collins, Sons
629:Itinerarium Cambriae
365:The Dagda's Cauldron
274:Itinerarium Cambriae
16:Novel by Alan Garner
946:1965 fantasy novels
936:1965 British novels
808:The Moon of Gomrath
792:Brisingamen trilogy
716:27 May 2010 at the
679:Woodbury Minnesota.
625:Giraldus Cambrensis
623:, a translation of
432:Publication history
398:Library Association
303:William Shakespeare
270:Giraldus Cambrensis
186:in the real world.
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617:Richard Colt Hoare
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905:Adaptations
859:Strandloper
785:Alan Garner
412:Garner and
385:Recognition
323:are drawn.
160:Alan Garner
56:Illustrator
50:Alan Garner
930:Categories
867:Thursbitch
558:John Clute
511:References
428:as Helen.
238:planchette
199:Manchester
180:Manchester
164:Manchester
851:Red Shift
396:from the
308:King Lear
256:The name
82:Publisher
816:Boneland
737:WorldCat
714:Archived
648:(1892),
627:(1191),
619:(1806),
546:WorldCat
527:"Elidor"
457:See also
416:adapted
414:Don Webb
361:Lia Fáil
299:epigraph
184:Cheshire
66:Language
278:dwarves
134:8060803
69:English
29:Elidor
21:Sunsilk
916:(1969)
897:(1979)
878:(2021)
870:(2003)
862:(1996)
854:(1973)
846:(1967)
838:(1965)
835:Elidor
819:(2012)
811:(1963)
803:(1960)
744:Elidor
733:Elidor
597:
589:, ed.
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463:Portal
448:
418:Elidor
390:Elidor
369:Elidor
363:, and
351:– the
321:Elidor
295:Elidor
258:Elidor
242:séance
155:Elidor
46:Author
644:from
615:from
564:ed.,
491:Notes
252:Title
240:in a
172:radio
118:Pages
74:Genre
697:CCSU
595:ISBN
570:ISBN
446:ISBN
315:of "
193:Plot
170:and
128:OCLC
97:1965
422:BBC
340:in
305:'s
272:in
932::
656:^
544:.
534:^
519:^
404:.
359:,
355:,
174:.
777:e
770:t
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695:(
465::
23:.
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