as well as details for other characters, see: John Cowper Powys, " 'Preface' or anything you like to Porius". The Powys Newsletter 4, 1974–5, pp. 7–13. , "The Characters of the Book”. The Powys Newsletter 4, 1974–5, pp. 14–21. W. J. Keith, John Cowper Powys: 'Porius', A Reader's Companion: Romance It is not surprising that Powys describes Porius as a romance, because it draws heavily on Arthurian romance as well as the Welsh classic the Mabinogion, parts of which contain Arthurian stories; furthermore it includes both giants and magic. However, Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin), and Nineue, the Lady of the Lake are the major Arthurian characters and King Arthur only has a minor role. There are other Arthurian figures, including Medrawd (Mordred or Modred), Galahaut, and Powys also makes use of the Arthurian name Creiddylad. Creiddylad in the novel is Porius's giantess great-grandmother and as well it is the name Porius gives to the young giantess that he encounters. In Arthurian literature Creiddylad is the daughter of Lludd Silver Hand, a lady living at the court of King Arthur. She is considered to be the most beautiful girl in the British Isles, and is loved by two of Arthur's warriors: Gwythyr and Gwyn. Other characters include Taliessin, based on the possibly mythic Welsh poet of that name and the Henog, Powys's fictional author of the Mabinogion. The novel's eponymous protagonist Porius, is the son of Prince Einion, "reigning Prince of Edeyrnion [who is the] great-great-grandson of Cunedda", a Welsh king who lived in the 5th century AD. Themes Porius is a bildungsroman concerned with "the sentimental education of" Porius, and early in the novel we learn that Porius "has reached "the first great turning point of his life". Porius's education includes a wide variety of experience, but his encounters with Myrddin, Nineue, and the giantess Creiddylad have the profoundest influence on him. Yet Michael Ballin of Wilfrid Laurier University, comments that "The structural and thematic unity of the novel is obscured […] if we read it as mainly being the personal biography of its protagonist". American Powys scholar Denis Lane goes as far as to suggest that there are "no less than half a dozen spokesmen" in Porius, and names Myrddin, Brochvael, Morfydd, Taliessin, and Einion, in addition to its eponymous hero. This polyphony of voices creates an "intricate work" with "a welter of accessory action, little of which is trivial