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Little Gems - Emlyn's Moon

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Emlyn's Moon

Emlyn's Moon was the second in The Snow Spider Trilogy written by a great children's author Jenny Nimmo. It was often suggested (unfairly in my opinion) that the books were difficult to get into because of the complicated subject of child loss (for more information see the Snow Spider pages on Little Gems). However the books always gives more detail than can be adapted for television (even though Julia Jones did a superb job). Emlyn's Moon continues the saga of Gwyn Griffiths who is a magician, a fact which Gwyn does not really believe until he starts to develop powers of his own. Throughout the trilogy Arianwen, his silver spider plays an integral role in helping Gwyn deal with the events that unfold. The first part of the trilogy, The Snow Spider dealt with the issue of a family child member vanishing without trace on a cold mountain. Gwyn's father blames him for this loss since he asked his sister Bethan (she was older than Gwyn) to go and find his black ewe which was lost. Bethan never returned and Gwyn's father always blamed him for that. As these events unfolded in the first series, a strange girl arrives at the school bearing an uncanny resemblance to Bethan. The Griffiths family instantly take to her. Her name is Eirlys and she appears in name only during the second series Emlyn's Moon. During this story we come to learn that Eirlys is in fact something more sinister in nature and tries to allure lonely children away in a similar manner to the way in which Bethan vanished.

Emlyn's Moon concerns an issue which exists between several families based in the Village of Pendewi. Emlyn Llewelyn, his father, mother and baby brother were, in Emlyn's mind, a happy family living a normal life. Things were not so cordial between the mother and father especially as Emlyn's mother did not like her husband's obsession with his work (he is a painter of paintings and things). Things came to crunch the day a fire accidentally got started and the mother (Elinor Llewelyn) got a little burnt whilst rescuing the baby. The mother blamed the father and his obsession with the work and that she could not stand living like a Gypsy. In a fit of rage she burns most of her husbands pieces of art and then takes the baby away. They are never seen again by Emlyn or Mr. Llewelyn. Emlyn only remembers his mother saying to him "Perllan yr hanner Lleuad" The Orchard of the Moon but Emlyn only heard the latter half of this sentence. For most of his life he assumed his mother was in the Moon. One further thing he did see was the Landrover his mother and brother went away in was owned by Mr. Ivor Griffiths father, Emlyn's Uncle. Emlyn was therefore Gwyn's cousin. Emlyn's Moon does give answers to questions that were posed in the first part of the trilogy.

The television adaptation was by the great Julia Jones whose list of superb children's dramas is as long as your arm (A Little Silver Trumpet, The Snow Spider, Tom's Midnight Garden, A Likely Lad, The Cuckoo Sister to name but a few). Some critics have been a bit dismissive of Emlyn's Moon but I believe it to be a great children's drama remaining true to the mold in which all the great ones were cast, intriguing story from a great book, great children/adult acting, superb location and more than one episodes. Children of today should be allowed to experience dramas of this kind where the story was split over several weeks and where there was no initial DVD to buy.

Transmission Details

Remember that the first and third books in the trilogy can be found here by clicking in the table below.

The Snowspider Book One	Emlyn's Moon Book Two	The Chestnut Soldier Book Three

Characters from Emlyn's Moon

Click below to follow the story.

Emlyn's Moon Main Page	Episode One The Move	Episode Two A Fight	Episode Three Cold Flowers	Episode Four The Wrong Reflection	Episode Five The Orchard of the Moon

Emlyn's Moon Credits

Fondly remembered by those who have requested it. Comments, thoughts and suggestions etc. to the usual address.