A bird of golden plumage
Appearance and Possessions
"Indeed, I was sure, when the Wanderer and I first met, that he had a pretty maiden in his thoughts."
Eilonwy had 'intensely blue eyes'
and a face that was 'delicate, elfin, with high cheekbones'
. Her most striking feature was her waist-length hair, the colour of which was variously called 'reddish gold'
, 'red-gold'
or simply 'golden'
.
Figure-wise, Eilonwy was tall and slender. She was the same height as Taran when the two first met as adolescents, despite Eilonwy being slightly younger (and female). As a grown woman, she had a slight rather than a curvy shape. At least, the outlaw Dorath mistook Eilonwy for a boy when he saw her for the first time dressed in warrior's garb.
Dress
Eilonwy was fairly careless about dress (often a marker of 'tomboy' qualities in a female character). As her younger self, she generally wore simple robes in varying states of disrepair. On her first appearance in the Chronicles, she was described as wearing a 'short, white robe, mud-stained'
, with a belt of silver links. Later, when Dallben sent her to finishing school on the Isle of Mona, he commented wryly on her 'skinned knees, torn robe, and unshod feet'
. It's noteworthy that, rips and stains notwithstanding, Eilonwy's clothing, possessions and personal appearance all consistently used the light-reflecting colours of white, silver and gold.
On Mona, the court dresssmakers smartened Eilonwy (Queen Teleria was horrified by her 'frightful clothes'
). She was fitted for a new robe and cloak and had her hair styled. Taran, observing the result, thought that 'among the [court] ladies, she shone like a bird of golden plumage'
. This transformation didn't last long, of course, since Eilonwy was then kidnapped by Achren and her new robe ended up being as 'torn and mud-spattered'
as the old one had been. However, a few more years at court had their effect on Eilonwy's own sense of propriety, and her days of running around barefoot were pretty well over.
During one period, Eilonwy adopted dress that was distinctively different from her usual robe combo. While fighting with the Commot army during the war, she wore a man's tunic and trousers and kept her hair closely braided beneath a helmet.
Personal Possessions
The Golden Pelydryn
Eilonwy's most precious possession was her 'bauble', a magical sphere of gold that emitted light. She had owned this since childhood. As a girl, Eilonwy didn't much think about the origins and implications of her magic bauble; she knew that she could make light with it when she needed to, and she sometimes tossed it like a ball when she was bored. During the early books of the Chronicles, she continued to use the bauble primarily as a convenient light source, although she realised that it was more than just a light: 'You see things differently in it, clearer, somehow'
(The Black Cauldron, ch. 14).
As the series progressed, she and her friends learned more about the magic of the bauble. An interesting scene occurred when Taran, Fflewddur, Gurgi and Rhun tried to use the bauble as a light while they were trapped in a cave-in. Until that point, no one but Eilonwy had tried to light it, and no one else had considered how exactly a magical light was switched on and off. None of the men could make it light by will, although Fflewddur tried everything including hitting it. That is, until Taran held the bauble and started thinking about Eilonwy, and how he missed her, and not about the need to make a light… and it ignited. Subsequently, when Rhun risked his life to help the others escape from their subterreanean prison, the bauble shone so brightly in his hand that it blinded their captor, Glew. Clearly, the bauble's power was linked in some way to selflessness and love.
Achren's plan to exploit the magic of the House of Llyr through Eilonwy revealed more about the bauble's nature: it was an ancient artefact of the princess' family. Called the Golden Pelydryn, it was used to read powerful spell books whose writing was invisible in normal daylight. Achren put the bauble into the hands of the bewitched Eilonwy, as the climax of her plan, to make her read and obtain the use of these long-lost spells. However, the Pelydryn had properties that Achren did not realise: when Eilonwy held it again, its light cut through the enchantment Achren had cast on her and she was able to understand where she was and what she was about to do. A great inward struggle ensued, with the call of her magical heritage fighting against her need to thwart Achren's plans, and finally the bauble – responding to her impassioned state – flared so brightly that it set the spells on fire, destroying them forever.
The Pelydryn had an important role in the final war. Spying Taran's company from a high vantage point as she travelled to rejoin them, Eilonwy saw that they were about to walk into a company of Huntsmen that waited, unseen by Taran, in a valley already filled with dusk. Trying to warn them, she snatched the bauble from her cloak while repeatedly calling Taran's name. The bauble ignited with such a brilliant light that those around Eilonwy had to shield their eyes. It lit up the valley like the sun, transforming the darkness into daylight, revealing the trap, and fulfilling this part of Hen Wen's prophecy:
Night turn to noon
Moon pendant
Eilonwy's most characteristic piece of jewellery was a silver necklace. When Taran first met her in the dungeons of Spiral Castle, he saw that 'A crescent moon of silver hung from a fine chain around her neck.'
This crescent turned out to be an emblem of the royal House of Llyr. We later learned that Eilonwy's mother, Angharad, wore a necklace of the same pattern; into Angharad's pendant, however, was set a jewel imbued with magical properties, whereas Eilonwy's necklace was non-magical. The necklace can be seen as symbolic of Eilonwy's status within the House of Llyr. Wearing the heraldic emblem complemented her pride in her ancestry and the general awareness of her position as Llyr's last princess. Unlike previous heirs of Llyr, however, Eilonwy never fully came into her magical heritage – indeed rejecting it – and this was represented by her necklace's missing the enchanted jewel.
Ring
After the defeat of the Horned King, all of the companions received gifts from Prydain's monarchy. Eilonwy's was a gold ring set with a Fair Folk jewel. She wore this for the remainder of the series, finally learning that it had the power to grant her a wish – the 'deepest wish of [her] heart'
. She used the ring to rid herself of her residual magic heritage, allowing her to stay in the now magic-free Prydain with Taran.
Crown
After Eilonwy learned to be a 'proper princess'
on the Isle of Mona, she occasionally wore a golden circlet as a sign of her royalty. Dallben commented that Eilonwy, like most royals, was quick to realise how burdensome a crown was; this particular crown gave her blisters and she found it useful mainly as a hairband. On returning from Mona, she modelled the circlet for her friends, but when war broke out she abandoned it as impractical. Presumably Eilonwy got another, hopefully more comfortable, crown when she became queen of Prydain.
Horse
Eilonwy's mount of choice was Lluagor, a horse formerly belonging to the companions' slain friend Adaon. Before he died, Adaon bequeathed Lluagor (and the rest of his possessions) to Taran, but since Taran already had a horse and Eilonwy's had run away, it was Eilonwy who ended up riding her. In the Marshes of Morva, Taran was still acting as Lluagor's owner when he offered to trade her to Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch in return for the Black Crochan. In fact if not in law, however, she soon became Eilonwy's horse. Eilonwy rode Lluagor when she left for the Isle of Mona, and when she joined the fighting in the final war against Arawn, she took the horse with her into battle. Lluagor was a tall bay. She had a foal with Taran's horse, Melynlas.