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''The High King'' (1968) is a high fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander, the fifth and last of The Chronicles of Prydain. It was awarded the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1969.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Newbery Medal & Honor Books, 1922-Present )〕 The series follows the adventures of Taran, the Assistant Pig-Keeper, as he nears manhood while helping to resist the forces of Arawn Death-Lord. In the concluding volume Taran and companions join the rest of Prydain in a great effort to defeat Arawn directly. Finally Taran must decide whether to be High King. Thirty years later, Alexander explained to Scholastic students: "The High King was the final logical development of the first four books in the Prydain Chronicles. It was not an easy book to write, but at least I was building on a foundation that I had already made. I never considered a different ending ...". He did cry afterward, as the exchange implies many readers have done. After seven years "the characters were as close to me as my own family. ... I wept at the end – to see Taran confronted with such a brutally difficult decision."〔(Lloyd Alexander Interview Transcript ) (1999). Interview with Scholastic students. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved 2011-12-17.〕 "The final choice is never offered to us in the real world ... In another sense we face this kind of choice again and again because for us it is never final."〔 ''The High King'', Author's note, p. viii.〕 ==Origins== The series was inspired by Welsh mythology and by the castles, scenery, and language of Wales, which the author experienced during World War II intelligence training.〔 At one stage it would conclude with a fourth book entitled ''The High King of Prydain'', approximately following the first three as published.〔Lloyd Alexander: A Bio-Bibliography by Jacobs and Tunnel 〕 "While it grew from Welsh legend, it has broadened into my attempt to make a land of fantasy relevant to the world of reality."〔 ''The High King'', Author's note, p. ix.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The High King」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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