The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander

The Iron Ring by Lloyd Alexander

Adventure, Fantasy

age 11-14

grade 6-9

280 pages, hardcover

c. 1997

          Lloyd Alexander is one of my favorite authors. I have read and enjoyed many of his books and hope to blog on more of them in the future. I think The Iron Ring is one of his more complicated books due to it being rooted in the mythology of ancient India and the philosophical questions it raises.

            The Iron Ring is a tale of adventure, magic, romance and treachery, but mostly the journey of Tamar, the king of Sundari, in self-awareness and the understanding of honor. The story begins when a mysterious king arrives in Sundari in the middle of the night with his elephants and courtiers and demands an immediate audience with Tamar. The king, Jaya, insists they play a dice game of chance. Though Tamar is winning and wants to stop Jaya demands one more game in which Tamar loses and forfeits his life to Jaya. An iron ring immediately appears on Tamar’s finger. Tamar is now honor bound to travel to Jaya’s mysterious kingdom and accept the fate that awaits him there. In the morning no one in the palace remembers this night visit and they all encourage Tamar not to make the journey. However, according to his warrior’s code of honor Tamar feels he must go and sets out on the journey.

            Along the way Tamar will be accompanied with a great variety of interesting characters, some of them human and some talking animals. Among the more humorous of the animals are Hashkat, the thieving, lazy but amazingly loyal monkey king and Garada, the ugly, annoying and whiny eagle who has a soft spot for the beautiful, brave and cunning milkmaid Mirri. He also encounters the heroic and wise deposed king Ashwara, from whom he gains a more mature concept of honor, true justice and compassion. On the eve of a great battle against his brother who has usurped his throne Ashwara comments, “And yet… a throne, a kingdom, what are they worth in blood? Is it honor that demands such a price? Or arrogance? Is it truly dharma that compels me? Or wrath? Can a warrior’s virtue lead to evil ends? Have I misunderstood what I thought I knew?” In the end Tamar will confront a truly evil king but in a way that is a spiritual victory. The description of this great battle makes it clear that Alexander believes that killing is not the path to victory. Tamar’s final meeting with the mysterious king Jaya also challenges the reader to consider questions about reality and illusion.

            There is much to enjoy in this book from exciting adventure scenes to wise cracking conversations between the animals. There is magic and fantasy and cold realism in the way the lower caste people are viewed and treated and the evil cruelty of the treacherous king. Finally there is love, the loyalty and bravery of true friends and much real wisdom.