# The Belgariad - Work: Book series - Date: 1982–84 - Made by: David Eddings (Author (with uncredited collaboration by Leigh Eddings)) - Houses: Del Rey Books, Ballantine Books - Canonical: https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-belgariad/ > A farm boy named Garion learns he is the heir to a prophecy millennia in the making: David Eddings's five-book quest was built deliberately to give fantasy readers exactly what they wanted, and it did. **Why it matters:** The Belgariad is the purest example of the 1980s Del Rey fantasy formula and, for many readers, the gateway into epic fantasy; Publishers Weekly called it one of the founding mega-sagas of modern English-language fantasy. ## Quick answers **When was The Belgariad first published?** The Belgariad was first published in 1982–84. **Who created The Belgariad?** The Belgariad was made by David Eddings (author (with uncredited collaboration by Leigh Eddings)). **Who published or developed The Belgariad?** Del Rey Books and Ballantine Books. **What kind of work is The Belgariad?** The Belgariad is a book series in the High / Epic Fantasy tradition. **Why is The Belgariad important?** The Belgariad is the purest example of the 1980s Del Rey fantasy formula and, for many readers, the gateway into epic fantasy; Publishers Weekly called it one of the founding mega-sagas of modern English-language fantasy. ## Overview If [The Sword of Shannara](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-sword-of-shannara/) proved that readers would buy a new Tolkien-style epic, *The Belgariad* showed how to manufacture one on purpose — and how much pleasure could survive the process. [David Eddings](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/david-eddings/)'s five novels, published by [Del Rey Books](https://www.lanternhall.org/houses/del-rey-books/) between April 1982 and December 1984, follow an orphaned farm boy toward a destiny laid out in prophecy, with a crew of bickering companions and an ancient enemy god at the end of the road. They were warm, funny and briskly paced, and for a generation of readers in the 1980s they were the door into [High / Epic Fantasy](https://www.lanternhall.org/atlas/high-fantasy/). ## Origins Eddings had written contemporary novels without much success when, by his own account, he noticed how often *The Lord of the Rings* was being reprinted and concluded that fantasy was an underserved market. He began by doodling a map, then wrote extensive invented histories, theologies and genealogies before drafting the story itself — material later published, with commentary, as *The Rivan Codex* (1998). The books bore only his name, but his wife Leigh Eddings was an uncredited collaborator from the beginning; later Eddings books were published under both names. At Del Rey, Lester del Rey provided heavy editorial guidance. The sequence ran *Pawn of Prophecy* (April 1982), *Queen of Sorcery* (November 1982), *Magician's Gambit* (June 1983), *Castle of Wizardry* (May 1984) and *Enchanters' End Game* (December 1984). ## The story Garion grows up in the kitchen of Faldor's farm in Sendaria, cared for by his stern "Aunt Pol" and visited by a disreputable old storyteller. When the Orb of Aldur, a sacred jewel guarding the West, is stolen, the storyteller is revealed as Belgarath the Sorcerer, seven thousand years old, and Aunt Pol as his daughter Polgara. Garion is swept into a quest across a map of kingdoms, each with a vivid national character: sly Drasnians, plain-spoken Algars, fanatical Murgos, bickering Arends. The company — the thief-prince Silk, the giant Barak, the horse-lord Hettar, the knight Mandorallen and others — reads much like an adventuring [The party](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/party/), each member with a signature skill. Garion discovers that he is the lost heir of the Rivan King and [the Chosen One](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/the-chosen-one/) of a cosmic prophecy that literally speaks inside his head, and the saga ends in a duel with the maimed god Torak. ## Reception & impact The books were steady bestsellers and have never gone out of print. *Publishers Weekly* called the series "one of the founding mega sagas in modern English-language fantasy," while critics have noted that it represents a kind of last flowering of the traditional quest before the genre turned toward the moral complexity of the 1990s. Eddings himself was candid that he was using well-worn materials; the pleasure lay in the telling, particularly in the banter among the companions. The series also marks how closely 1980s fantasy fiction and fantasy gaming were marching together. The Belgariad appeared during the [The Tabletop Golden Age & the Satanic Panic](https://www.lanternhall.org/chronicle/tabletop-golden-age/) of [Dungeons & Dragons](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/original-dungeons-and-dragons/), when many readers encountered both at once, and its structure of a mixed party of specialists, a cleanly mapped world of distinct realms, and a clear [The Dark Lord](https://www.lanternhall.org/lexicon/dark-lord/) made it easy for players to imagine themselves inside it. It was not a game tie-in, but its readership overlapped heavily with the audience buying [Dragonlance](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/dragonlance-chronicles/) novels a few shelves away. ## Legacy Eddings followed with *The Malloreon* (1987–91), a five-book sequel with the same cast, then the prequels *Belgarath the Sorcerer* (1995) and *Polgara the Sorceress* (1997). The formula he refined — a young hero, a mentor figure, a prophecy, a map at the front of the book — became so standard that later writers built careers on subverting it. [Robert Jordan](https://www.lanternhall.org/makers/robert-jordan/)'s [The Wheel of Time](https://www.lanternhall.org/works/the-wheel-of-time/) would take the same farm-boy-with-a-destiny opening and stretch it across fourteen volumes. Eddings died in 2009, and Leigh in 2007. *The Belgariad* remains a common first epic fantasy for young readers, a book many people name not because it was the most original thing they read, but because it was the first. ## Facts - Its five volumes appeared in under three years: Pawn of Prophecy (April 1982) through Enchanters' End Game (December 1984). - Eddings said he turned to fantasy after noticing how often The Lord of the Rings was being reprinted. - Leigh Eddings, his wife, was an uncredited collaborator from the start and was later named as co-author. - The Rivan Codex (1998) published the Eddingses' working notes, including the invented histories written before the novels. - A five-book sequel, The Malloreon, followed from 1987 to 1991. ## Sources and further reading - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Belgariad) --- From The Lantern Hall (https://www.lanternhall.org/), a museum of fantasy literature and roleplaying games.