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The Iron Ring is a 1997 fantasy novel for children by American author Lloyd Alexander. It features a young king Tamar who leaves Sundari Palace on a quest in a land of humans and talking animals, which are inspired by Indian mythology. The caste system of India is one ground for conflict in the novel.
In the author's note, a preface, Alexander acknowledges that "mythology of ancient India has always delighted and fascinated me—but, at first, in bits and pieces"; later, he studied it. He explains one term from the glossary: "Dharma, the driving force of the present tale". The Iron Ring is not "a picture of India some thousands of years ago" or a retelling of Indian stories, although it "evokes the atmosphere, themes, and concerns threading through Indian literature".[2]
As a boy, Alexander "loved all the world's mythologies";[3] "the King Arthur stories, fairy tales, mythology—things like that".[4] His publisher attributes inspiration for many of his books to "the world's mythologies".[5]
The narrative consists of 36 chapters, in four parts.
Part II: In the Forestedit
The party arrives in Muktara to engage in durbar with King Bala, only to find that Nahusha is already there. There is nearly a violent confrontation between Ashwara and Nahusha, before Bala restores order to the durbar. Nahusha is a hateful man with no respect for anyone save himself, not even for the revered brahmana. He reveals that one of Hashkat's faithful subjects, Akka, has been captured and cruelly enslaved for Nahusha's amusement. Finally, Bala reaches the decision that he will take neither side in the struggle, giving neither military support to Nahusha nor protection to Ashwara.
They leave the city cautiously, as Bala has warned Ashwara that Nahusha will only be unable to harm him inside Muktara, and are charged by a large talking elephant named Arvati, who ran into them while fleeing from her captors. Adi-Kavi has a plan for dealing with the approaching soldiers who are trying to recapture Arvati. He ties up Hashkat and paints him with mud. When the hunters arrive, Adi-Kavi claims that the elephant was actually a demonic rakshasa. He gets them to fall into a net trap to avoid being killed by the false demon.
^ Lloyd Alexander Interview Transcript 2011-10-03 at the Wayback Machine (1999). Interview with Scholastic students. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
iron, ring, other, uses, iron, ring, disambiguation, this, article, need, rewritten, comply, with, wikipedia, quality, standards, help, talk, page, contain, suggestions, june, 2011, 1997, fantasy, novel, children, american, author, lloyd, alexander, features, . For other uses see Iron Ring disambiguation This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia s quality standards You can help The talk page may contain suggestions June 2011 The Iron Ring is a 1997 fantasy novel for children by American author Lloyd Alexander It features a young king Tamar who leaves Sundari Palace on a quest in a land of humans and talking animals which are inspired by Indian mythology The caste system of India is one ground for conflict in the novel The Iron RingFirst editionAuthorLloyd AlexanderIllustratorClaudia Carlson map Cover artistJane RayCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishGenreFantasy children s literaturePublished1997 Dutton Media typePrint hardcover amp paperback Pagesxv 283 pp first ISBN0 525 45597 3 first edition hard The book includes an author s note a list of characters and places a map and a glossary with 27 entries from acharya to suta 1 Contents 1 Origins 2 Plot 2 1 Part II In the Forest 2 2 Part III Ranapura 2 3 Part IV Jaya 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksOrigins editIn the author s note a preface Alexander acknowledges that mythology of ancient India has always delighted and fascinated me but at first in bits and pieces later he studied it He explains one term from the glossary Dharma the driving force of the present tale The Iron Ring is not a picture of India some thousands of years ago or a retelling of Indian stories although it evokes the atmosphere themes and concerns threading through Indian literature 2 As a boy Alexander loved all the world s mythologies 3 the King Arthur stories fairy tales mythology things like that 4 His publisher attributes inspiration for many of his books to the world s mythologies 5 This article s plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise July 2011 Learn how and when to remove this message Plot editThe narrative consists of 36 chapters in four parts Part II In the Forest edit The party arrives in Muktara to engage in durbar with King Bala only to find that Nahusha is already there There is nearly a violent confrontation between Ashwara and Nahusha before Bala restores order to the durbar Nahusha is a hateful man with no respect for anyone save himself not even for the revered brahmana He reveals that one of Hashkat s faithful subjects Akka has been captured and cruelly enslaved for Nahusha s amusement Finally Bala reaches the decision that he will take neither side in the struggle giving neither military support to Nahusha nor protection to Ashwara They leave the city cautiously as Bala has warned Ashwara that Nahusha will only be unable to harm him inside Muktara and are charged by a large talking elephant named Arvati who ran into them while fleeing from her captors Adi Kavi has a plan for dealing with the approaching soldiers who are trying to recapture Arvati He ties up Hashkat and paints him with mud When the hunters arrive Adi Kavi claims that the elephant was actually a demonic rakshasa He gets them to fall into a net trap to avoid being killed by the false demon Part III Ranapura edit Part IV Jaya editSee also editMythology Indian epic poetry Vedic mythology Hindu mythology Buddhist mythology Portal nbsp Children s literatureReferences edit Lloyd Alexander The Iron Ring New York Dutton 1997 The Iron Ring Author s Note ix x Quoted in About the Author The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain New York Henry Holt 1999 p 97 Lloyd Alexander Interview Transcript Archived 2011 10 03 at the Wayback Machine 1999 Interview with Scholastic students Scholastic Inc Retrieved 2011 12 17 The Iron Ring About the Author p 285 External links editLloyd Alexander at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Iron Ring amp oldid 1217578206, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
