Gurgi
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Gurgi is a fictional character in ''
The Chronicles of Prydain ''The Chronicles of Prydain'' is a five part series of children's high fantasy coming-of-age novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company. The series includes: ''The Book of Three'' (1964), '' The Bla ...
'', the series of
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
novels by
Lloyd Alexander Lloyd Chudley Alexander (January 30, 1924 – May 17, 2007) was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children's literature, children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and ...
. Gurgi is the
hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...
Taran's faithful companion, appearing in all five books.


Profile

He is described as being a cross between
man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...
and
beast Beast most often refers to: * Animal, a multicellular, eukaryotic organism in the biological kingdom Animalia * The Beast (Revelation), one of three beasts described in the Book of Revelation * Monster, a type of creature found in fiction, folklo ...
, having long arms, covered with fur and leaves, and ever hungry but really "just a sort of a, kind of a thing". His demeanor is extremely loyal and caring, almost to a fault. His manner of speech is filled with rhymed pairs of words ("crunchings and munchings", "smackings and whackings", "sneakings and peekings", etc.), and redundant phrases ("see with lookings!"); he refers to himself in the
third person Third person, or third-person, may refer to: * Third person (grammar), a point of view (in English, ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', and ''they'') ** Illeism, the act of referring to oneself in the third person * Third-person narrative, a perspective in p ...
. Gurgi is humble and loyal toward his human companions, at first submitting even to Taran as a "noble lord".


Appearances

Gurgi is one of the few characters to appear in all five books of the series, the others being Taran, Fflewddur, Dallben and Coll. In ''
The Book of Three ''The Book of Three'' (1964) is a high fantasy novel by American writer Lloyd Alexander, the first of five volumes in ''The Chronicles of Prydain''. The series follows the adventures of Taran (character), Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper, a youth ...
'', Taran first meets Gurgi in his quest to locate Hen-Wen, the oracular pig. At first, Taran is disdainful of Gurgi, believing him to be more of a nuisance than anything else. By the end of the book, he learns the value of true companionship. In '' The Black Cauldron'', Gurgi, along with
Princess Eilonwy Princess Eilonwy ( ) is a fictional character in Lloyd Alexander's ''The Chronicles of Prydain''. She appears in four of the five novels in the series, as well as Disney's 1985 animated film adaptation '' The Black Cauldron''. Eilonwy is a membe ...
, sneakily follows the Companions to the Black Gate of Annuvin. Gurgi would accompany the Companions to the Marshes of Morva and eventually be the one to find the Black Cauldron. In '' The Castle of Llyr'', Gurgi accompanies Taran in escorting the Princess Eilonwy to the Isle of Mona and faces all sorts of dangers when she is kidnapped by a foe long thought dead. In ''
Taran Wanderer ''Taran Wanderer'' (1967) is an American high fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander. It follows '' The Castle of Llyr'' and precedes '' The High King'' in the series ''The Chronicles of Prydain'', which takes place in a setting inspired by Welsh myt ...
'', Gurgi loyally follows Taran on what might be the most important quest of his life, the search for his true identity (who his parents were, etc.), and proves to be a true friend. In '' The High King'', Gurgi's bravery is proven from beginning to end and when all is said and done, he must make the hardest choice of all.


Origins

According to a 1999 publisher's note, quoting Alexander on ''The Chronicles'', "'The people in it were born, like most children, at unlikely and inconvenient times.. Gurgi, for example, appeared in the predawn hours. ... Suddenly there he was, with his groanings and moanings, looking like a disordered owl's nest." According to Alexander, nearly all of the proper names in Prydain are from Welsh myth or history, perhaps all except Eilonwy and Taran.Lloyd Alexander Interview Transcript
(1999). Interview with Scholastic students. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
There are several characters named Gurgi in Welsh legend, the most important of whom was
Peredur Peredur (, Old Welsh ''Peretur'') is the name of a number of men from the boundaries of history and legend in sub-Roman Britain. The Peredur who is most familiar to a modern audience is the character who made his entrance as a knight in the Ar ...
's brother.


Adaptations


Disney version

In
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
's animated version of ''The Black Cauldron'', Gurgi is portrayed as a small anthropomorphic
dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...
-like creature. The voice was provided by actor/impressionist
John Byner John Byner (né Biener; born June 28, 1938) is an American actor, comedian and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and film career. His voice work includes the cartoon series '' The Ant and the Aardvark'', in which the title characte ...
. There used to be a restaurant in Walt Disney World's
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...
named after Gurgi, Gurgi's Munchies and Crunchies, which closed in 1993. To this date it has been one of only two vendor/attraction with a Black Cauldron theme at any Disney theme park. The other was an attraction; "Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour" at Tokyo Disneyland, which has also since closed in 2006. The Disney version of Gurgi also appears in the world-building video game ''
Disney Magic Kingdoms ''Disney Magic Kingdoms'' is a 2016 city-building game developed and published by Gameloft for iOS, Android, and Windows. It is themed off the Disney Parks. The game was officially launched on March 17, 2016. Gameplay and story The game ta ...
'' as a playable character to unlock for a limited time.


Additional information

*The cover on one edition of ''The Black Cauldron'' shows Gurgi looking like a raggedy humanoid with bushy hair and thin limbs, almost like a starving vagrant. Another has him illustrated similar to a
Chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...
. *Gurgi possesses a magical
wallet A wallet is a flat case or pouch, often used to carry small personal items such as physical currency, debit cards, and credit cards; identification documents such as driving licence, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, b ...
, a gift from Prince Gwydion, which provides an indefinite supply of nourishing, though somewhat tasteless and dry food. *While his mount has no name per se, he is often seen riding a shaggy
pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...
.


References


Sources

* * * {{The Chronicles of Prydain Fictional humanoids Literary characters introduced in 1964 The Chronicles of Prydain characters Fictional illeists