Transcript Calvin Academy of Life Long Learning Session V Spring 2003, AD

Calvin Academy of Life Long Learning
The Real C.S. Lewis: His Life and Writings
Compiled by Paulo F. Ribeiro, MBA, PhD, PE, IEEE Fellow
Session V
Spring 2003, AD
SB 101
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The Real C.S. Lewis: His Life and Writings
Provisional Schedule
3/13/ - Surprised by Joy: The Chronology and Development of a Tough And
Holistic Christian Mind
3/20 - Mere Christianity: Orthodoxy and Basic Christian Doctrines (Other
books: Reflections on the Psalms and Miracles)
3/27 - Screwtape Letters: Hell and Heaven
4/3 - God in the Dock: Common Sense Christian Practice
4/10 – Narnia: Imagination For Kingdom’s Service
4/24- The Last Ten Years: Shawdowlands (BBC Movie) ??????????
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C.S. Lewis: Making Pictures
To forbid the making of pictures about God would be to forbid thinking a about God at all, for
man is so made that he has no way to think except in pictures. Dorothy Sayers
". . . When [people] try to get rid of man-like, or, as they are called, 'anthropomorphic,'
images, they merely succeed in substituting images of some other kinds. 'I don't believe in
a personal God,' says one, 'but I do believe in a great spiritual force.' What he has not
noticed is that the word 'force' has let in all sorts of images about winds and tides and
electricity and gravitation. 'I don't believe in a personal God,' says another, 'but I do
believe we are all parts of one great Being which moves and works through us all' -not
noticing that he has merely exchanged the image of a fatherly and royal-looking man for
the image of some widely extended gas or fluid. A girl I knew was brought up by
'higher thinking' parents to regard God as perfect 'substance.' In later life she realized
that this had actually led her to think of Him as something like a vast tapioca pudding.
(To make matters worse, she disliked tapioca.) We may feel ourselves quite safe from this
degree of absurdity but we are mistaken. If a man watches his own mind, I believe he will
find that what profess to be specially advanced or philosophic conceptions of God, are,
in his thinking, always accompanied by vague images which, if inspected, would turn out
to be even more absurd than the manlike images aroused by Christian theology.
Miracles
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Myth
Lewis believed that Christian truth must be defended with sound logic and philosophy. But this apologetic needed to
be explicated in order that its meaning could be made clear to its hearers. That is why he felt this could best be
accomplished through the proper use of myths. By myth he did not mean legends and fairy tales but a real unfocused
gleam of truth falling on human imagination.
In his classic Experiment in Criticism, a book on how to read a book, Lewis lays out six characteristics of literature
that that make a myth:
1. it is extra-literary , or independent of the form of the words used;
2. the pleasure of myth depends hardly at all on such unusual narrative attractions as suspense or surprise ;
3. our sympathy with the character is minimal;
4. myth is always fantastic and deals with impossibles and preternaturals ;
5. though the experience may be sad or joyful , it always is grave and never comic;
6. the experience is not only grave but awe inspiring. We feel it to be numinous. It is as if something of great
moment has been communicated to us.
From a theological perspective Lewis saw true myths as memories or echoes of God Himself and He left us
with human imagination as their receptor. He explained this relationship in describing how he came to write the
Narnia Chronicles, as a mythological expression of the Gospel story:
"It was he [the imaginative man] who, after my conversion, led me to embody my religious belief in symbolical
or mythopoeic form, ranging from Screwtape to a kind of theological science fiction. And it was of course he
who has brought me, in the last few years, to write the series of Narnian stories for children; not asking what
children want and then endeavoring to adapt myself (this was not needed) but because the fairy tale was the
genre best fitted for what I wanted to say."
Lewis undertook the daunting task of awakening modernity's deadened imagination to the eternal realities by
telling stories of worlds of fixed moral order, serenity and blissfulness. He had help from a few friends in
understanding imagination as a vehicle to convey the Reality who stands behind and above the visible world.
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Lewis’s Concept of Nature: Spoiled Goodness
Lewis’s Response to Nature:
1 – Romantic Appreciation and Idealization
2 – Acceptance of the Supernatural
The Experience with the supernatural
Lucy’s tale - several hours in Narnia - less than a minute
3 – Moral Awareness of the force of evil in nature and the temporal
transient quality of our world.
Nature is more than a background setting for the action of his characters
“Either there is significance in the whole process of things as well as in human activities,
or there is no significance in human activity itself.” C.S. Lewis, The Personal Heresy,
1939.
Fresh exuberance of nature (This is no thaw; this is spring) - Glimpses of Redeemed Creation
Creation, Fall, Redemption
“They say Aslan is on the Move - Perhaps has already landed”
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Lewis’s Concept of God: The Coming of the Lion
"Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,
has prevailed.
Rev. 5:5
“’They say Aslan is on the move – perhaps has already landed’
And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any
more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite
different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says
something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous
meaning – either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a
lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you
remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It
was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump
inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and
adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had
just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning
and and realize that its the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.”
The LWW
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Lewis’s Concept of Humanity: Possible Gods and Goddesses
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to
remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one
day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to
worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all,
only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other
to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming
possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we
should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all
play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a
mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization--these are mortal, and their
life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with,
work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting
splendors.
The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses
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Narnia
Many Christian doctrines (Classical Christianity)
Doctrines fall into three categories:
Nature, God, Man’s Relationship to Nature, God and his fellow man.
Animal-Land (7-8 years old)
The Narnia Series: Different from other Stories - Magic, Fantasy … the Glimpsing of OtherWorlds
Stories
-(1-4)London Children being evacuated to the country during WW II. Children
Transported from this world into a world faire-tale creatures belonging to a great lion
(four books on this scheme). The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe,
- (5)The tale of two native children of that world who are also chosen by the great lion to
serve the land of Narnia and to know him in a special way.
- (6)The beginning of the world of Narnia - the intrusion of two Victorian children into
the newborn world begins the complications which give rise to all the later adventures.
(The Magician’s Nephew)
-(7)The end of Narnia (Last Battle)
Each story complete in itself - George MacDonald style.
Fragmented - Strong unity of philosophy and consistency of doctrine.
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Narnia:
Myth Made Truth:
The Origins of the Chronicles of Narnia
In the process of writing the Chronicles of Narnia,
C.S. Lewis gradually expanded the breadth and
scope of his literary ambitions. What was foreseen
from the outset as a collection of stories for
children developed into a complex depiction of an
entire moral universe. As the seven books
progress, Lewis unfolds the whole Divine plan for
this universe from its creation to its apocalypse.
However, the uniqueness of Lewis' literary
achievement stems from the fact that Lewis
manages to do two things at once. That is, he
remains faithful to his original intention to write
stories for children while adding in subtle moral
and spiritual complexities. Thus, the Chronicles of
Narnia are a series of books that can delight the
senses as they challenge and stir the soul.
(Mark Bane)
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Moral education. . . does not look much like teaching. One cannot have
classes in it. It involves the inculcation of proper emotional responses
and is as much a "knowing how" as a " knowing that." . . . The picture
we get when we think of “knowing how" is the apprentice working
with the master. And the inculcation of right emotional responses will
take place only if the youth has around him examples of men and
women for whom such responses have become natural.
Lewis, like Aristotle, believes that moral principles are learned
indirectly from others around us, who serve as exemplars. . . . This is
also the clue to understanding the place of the Chronicles of Narnia
within Lewis's thought. They are not just good stories. Neither are they
primarily Christian allegories (in fact, they are not allegories at all).
Rather, they serve to enhance moral -education, to build character. . . .
To overlook the function of the Chronicles of Narnia in communicating
images of proper emotional responses is to miss their connection to
Lewis’s moral thought.
Gilbert Meilaender:
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THE KINGDOM OF NARNIA
LEWIS RIGOROUSLY DEFENDS THE FAIRY TALE AGAINST ANY who claim
that it gives a false conception of life. The fact is, says he, that this is the direct opposite
of the truth and it is the so-called realistic stories which deceive children. The fairy tale,
like the myth, on the one hand arouses longing for more ideal worlds and on the other
gives the real world a new dimension of depth. The boy "does not despise real woods
because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all real woods a little more
enchanted." The child reading the fairy tale is delighted simply in desiring, while the
child reading a "realistic" story may establish the success of its hero as a standard for
himself and, when he cannot have the same success, may suffer bitter disappointment.
It seems obvious that two purposes guided Lewis in the writing of his Narnia stories.
One was to tell a good tale, the other to suggest analogies - I do not think Lewis would
wish them called allegories - of the Christian scheme of things. These books have been
among Lewis's most widely read. Charles Some think that they mark "the greatest
addition to the imperishable deposit of children's literature since the Jungle Books.
Chad Walsh says that he himself felt the fairy-tale atmosphere was curiously cut-anddried but that two of his daughters, aged six and eight, re-educated him after he had
read them the first chapter and they required two chapters a night thereafter, some times
followed by tears when a third chapter was not forth-coming.
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The Magician's Nephew
Digory Kirke (12) and Polly Plumber (11) are children living in London. After Digory moves in with
his Aunt Letty and crazy Uncle Andrew, he meets Polly and they do some exploring. They make
their way to Narnia, the new world created by the Great Lion, Aslan. They must save it from the evil
witch, Jadis. The book is usually numbered either first or sixth, but some people recommend reading
it second
The Main Theme: Weakness to Power
Key Symbol: Fruit of the Tree of Life
The Magician’s Nephew and The Bible
(Colossians 1:9-17) – Christ created and redeemed the world.
Paul prays for power in their lives.
When and Where in The Magician’s Nephew
Chapter 1,2 – London
Chapters 3,4,5 – Trip to Charn
Chapters 6,7,8 – London
Chapters 9,10,11 – Narnia
Chapters 12, 13 – Western Wild
Chapters 14 – Narnia
Chapters 15 – London
Stars themselves. ..singing (99. 88)
Job 38:7
It laughed for joy (101, 90)
Psalms 19:5
Land bubbling like water ( 113, 100-101)
Gen. 1: 24
For out of them you were taken (118, 105)
Genesis 3:19
Adam's race has done the harm (136, 121)
I Corinthians
15:21 Name all these creatures (138, 123)
Genesis 2:19
My son, my son (142, 127)
II Sam 18:33
Well done (166, 149)
Matthew 25:21
Oh, Adam's sons. ..good (171, 153 ) Luke 19:42
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The Magician's Nephew
To discover the very beginnings of Narnia one should read The Magician's Nephew, actually
the sixth book in the series of seven. The book might well be called The Beginnings of Narnia,
or How the Wardrobe Gained Its Magic. Digory Kirke was an old white-haired man when
Peter and his friends first discovered that the wardrobe was a doorway into Narnia, yet the
story really began when Digory was a boy in London and one morning stuck his head over the
garden wall and found Polly Plummer looking up at him. Digory and his invalid mother were
living with his uncle and aunt Ketterley while his father was away in India.'
Before the adventure was over they were to plant in Digory's yard the seeds of an apple
brought back from Narnia, and long afterwards the wood from that same tree was to be used
in making the magical wardrobe.
The original adventure started when Digory and Polly accidentally discovered that Digory's
queer and unpleasant uncle was a dabbler in magic. This uncle's godmother, one of the last
mortals on earth to possess any fairy blood, just before her death had given him a box
containing dust from the lost island of Atlantis. She warned him as she was dying to burn the
box. Instead he experimented with its contents and was able to make some little colored rings,
yellow and green, with which he caused guinea pigs to disappear. The uncle was too cowardly
to become his own subject but when Polly touched one of the yellow rings she disappeared.
Digory, thoroughly disgusted with his uncle, took two of the green rings into his pocket and
put a yellow one on his finger. Immediately he was transported to the Wood between the
Worlds, where he found Polly. They discovered that by putting on the yellow rings and
jumping into one of many' small lakes in the Wood they could go into other worlds.
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One they went to was called Charn, a world almost dead, and when Digory struck a bell he could not
resist, Jadis, a powerful, and haughty queen, came to life; and told them how by speaking the Deplorable
Word she had destroyed her rival sister and all of Charn. When Jadis discovered the children were from
a newer world, she coveted it for herself:, Scared, the children put their hands on the magic rings to
return to London., but they found Queen Jadis in London with them, for she had touched them at the
last moment. There Jadis went out in a hansom cab with Uncle Andrew and caused a riot. She had
wrenched off an iron guy from a light pole and was flailing policemen with it when Digory and Polly got
hold of her and touched their yellow rings:' Immediately they were back in the Wood between the
Worlds. They quickly jumped into one of the pools of water and went into a midnight world, the world
of Nothing. To their consternation, they found they had brought along not only Jadis but the cab driver,
Uncle Andrew, and the cabby's horse.
In this world of Nothing they saw Narnia created by a great Lion, AsIan. All, including the horse, were
delighted except Uncle Andrew and Jadis. The latter flung her iron guy at the Lion. It stuck in the
ground, and because Aslan’s great creativity was at work making grass, trees, and all sorts of beings, the
iron grew into a lamp post just like the one in London. The whole world seemed filled with right magic
as Aslan worked. Jadis ran away and Uncle Andrew hid himself. ¥-an created fauns, satyrs, dwarfs, and
talking beasts. Even the cabby horse was turned into a talking beast.
Before this new world was five hours old evil had entered into it. Uncle Andrew, refusing to believe that
Aslan was anything more than a beast, was unable to hear Asian's beautiful song as he created things
and could not even hear the animals talk and laugh. But Jadis was even a greater evil in Narnia. Digory
had brought the evil in, said AsIan to the beasts, but he promised to see that the worst fell upon himself.
Aslan told the cabby - and also his wife Helen, who had been brought to Narnia by Aslan's magic - that
they were to be the first king and queen of the land and were to name and rule all the creatures. Also
that their children would be kings of Narnia and of Archenland. Then Aslan, that Digory might help to
undo the wrong he had done in bringing in evil sent him far away into the mountains of the Western
Wild to a beautiful valley where in a garden on a hilltop grew an apple tree.
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To carry Digory and Polly to this spot the cabby horse was turned into a great flying Pegasus. Digory was to
bring back an apple the seed of which, when planted by AsIan, would produce a tree to protect Narnia from
Jadis for many years.
At the end of their aerial journey they found the garden and a tree loaded with beautiful fruit. But Digory also
discovered Jadis in the garden, eating an apple. Telling him how delicious it was and otherwise enticing him,
she almost persuaded him to eat, yet Digory remembered his instructions and was able to return to Aslan with
a perfect apple. From its seed a new tree sprang up quickly, and Aslan gave Digory an apple from it to carry
back to heal his sick mother. From the golden leaves of another tree the dwarfs fashioned crowns for the new
king and queen of Narnia, and AsIan himself, with all the creatures standing at attention, established King
Frank and Queen Helen as the first rulers of Narnia.
After a wonderful farewell and parting advice from Aslan about evils that would come on Narnia, they were
transported back to their own world. The apple which Digory had brought along cured his mother.. Digory
buried the core of it in his back yard, and, to prevent Digory’s uncle from further mischief with his magical
rings, he ad Polly buried them near the apple seeds. This was the tree which Digory much later fashioned into
a wardrobe. He did not know that it retained some of its Narnian magic, for that was a discovery to be made
a long time afterwards by" Peter, .Edmund, Susan, and Lucy.
Back in Narnia King Frank and Queen Helen ruled. Their second son became King of Archenland. The boys
married nymphs and the girls wood-gods and river-gods. The lamp-post which had grown up in Narnia shone
always in the Narnian forest and the place where it stood came to be known as Lantern Waste. '"
Narnia was quite a different world from ours. This is the manner in which it was created. As Digory and the
others stood in the dark and empty land of Nothing, they heard a far-off song that appeared to come from
every direction at once, even from the very earth beneath their feet. Though it was hardly a tune at all, it was
almost too beautiful to bear. Suddenly the voice of AsIan, for it was he who began it all, was joined by many
other voices. At the same time the black sky above was filled with blazing stars which seemed to join their own
voices to the swelling music. Then in the east, to the sound of still more glorious music, the sun rose splendidly
and revealed fresh and colorful valleys and rivers and mountains. Yet it revealed no trees nor even a blade of
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grass.
The Lion now sang a new song that was softer and more lilting than before, and as he paced to and fro
the ground was covered with grass sprinkled with daisies and buttercups. It was then that Jadis,
fearful of the Lion's approach, flung her iron guy from the London light pole straight at him. The
object struck AsIan between the eyes and fell into the grass. It began to grow like the other new
creations. After this AsIan sang a wilder tune and the land in front of him began to take on queer
humps of many different sizes and out of these humps burst all sorts of animals, stags, panthers, dogs,
frogs, and elephants. Hundreds of birds came out of the trees, and bees and butterflies soon filled the
air and got busy. To Aslan's music were soon added hundreds of other sounds from the teeming land.
Then AsIan touched some pairs of animals and called them aside into a circle. They stood in perfect
silence with their eyes upon him, and it was apparent that something marvelous was about to happen.
As AsIan stared at them they turned their heads as if to understand. Yet Asian did not speak, but only
breathed out a long, warm breath. Then from far overhead the stars began to sing and there came a
blinding flash of light which made the children's bodies tingle. Asian in a deep, wild voice then sang,
"Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake.. Love. . Think. Speak. Be walking frees. Be talking beasts. Be divine
waters.“
This was the beginning of Narnia. It was all quite" perfect, except that the powerful vengeful Jadis,
brought to life by. Digory's sinful curiosity, had gone off to the edge of Narnia and would remain. Yet
she could not return as long as the apple tree flourished.
Narnia was a small land compared to some of those near it. Rabadash reminded the Tisroc that
Narnia was not one-fourth the size of the smallest of his provinces in Calormen, and even Edmund
confessed that Narnia might be overcome easily by its more powerful enemies roundabout. It was a
land of heather and thyme and of sweet air, of rivers and plashing glens, of mossy caves and great
forests filled with the noise of dwarfs' smithies. It was a land of freedom, where maidens were never
forced to marry against their will, and where even a mouse like Reepicheep had a great sense of honor
and chivalry.
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Just to the south of Narnia, and connected with it by a pass through high mountains, lay
Archenland, a country ruled over by King Lune from his castle at Anvard and later by his son
Ram the great, the most famous of all Archenland kings. Farther south, across a great desert,
was the large and cruel country of Calormen. Its dark-skinned and proud people always
dreamed of capturing both Narnia and Archenland. The capital of Calormen was the great city
of Tashbaan, and the country had many provinces.
To the west of Narnia lay a wild land of big mountains covered with dark forests or else with
snow and glaciers. It was called the Western Wild. A river rushing down from it created a vast
and thundering waterfall, underneath which was Caldron Pool, and out of this flowed the River
of Narnia which ran all the way across to the sea. On the east side of the Western Wild was
Lantern Waste, where the children first entered Narnia and where Jadis, the White Witch, had
her kingdom.
The capital of Narnia was Cair Paravel, located in a beautiful spot on the east coast near the
River of Narnia, and this was where Aslan established Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy as kings
and queens of Narnia and where they reigned for many years. A little to tenor of Cair Paravel
lived the marsh-wiggles, and above them one crossed the River Shribble and came to a desolate
moorland called Ettinsmore which led, finally, to mountainous country and the giants'
stronghold of Harfang. Nearby were the ruins of a great city underneath which once lay the
kingdom of the Green Witch and her unwilling vassals. Here also in a deep cave had slept Father
Time until AsIan awakened him to sound his final horn over Narnia.
On the east of Narnia lay the ocean, over which, if one were courageous enough, he could sail to
alma, Terebinthia, the Seven Islands, the Lone Islands, Dragon Island, Deathwater Island,
Darkness Island, and World's End Island to the Silver Sea and the very end of the world, and
there he could look beyond the sun itself into the high mountains of Aslan's own country.
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In olden times there were many chinks or chasms between the world and
Narnia, but they had grown rarer. One of the last was a magical cave on an
island in the South Sea, upon which a few men and women had once
accidentally blundered and discovered the Land of Telmar, which was then
unpeopled. They lived there for generations and became a proud, fierce
nation. Finally Telmar suffered a great famine and its people, led by King
Caspian the First, went a long distance to the Western Mountains of
Narnia, crossed them, and conquered Narnia which was then in some
disorder. It was not then a land of men at all but of talking beasts, walking
trees, fauns, dwarfs, and giants. Actually it was the Telmarines who
silenced the beasts and trees and fountains and killed and drove away
dwarfs and fauns, and even tried to cover up the very memory of such
things.
These are the places in which the events of the Narnian stories take place.
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The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, whose eyes never blinked, stared at the animals as hard
as if he was going to burn them up with his mere stare. And
gradually a change came over them. The smaller ones - the
rabbits, moles, and such-like - grew a good deal larger. The very
big ones - you noticed it most with the elephants - grew a little
smaller. Many animals sat p on their hind legs. Most put their
heads on one side as if they were trying very hard to understand.
The Lion opened his mouth, but no sound came from it; he was
breathing out, a long, warm breath; it seemed to sway all the
beasts as the wind sways a line of trees. Far overhead from
beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again; a
pure, cold, difficult music. Then there came a swift flash like fire
(but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself,
and every drop of blood tingled in the children's bodies, and the
deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: "Narnia,
Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be
talking beasts. Be divine waters."
Uncle Andrew
(The founding of Narnia)
The Tree with Silver Apples
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The Magician's Nephew
"Child," he (Aslan) replied, "that is why all the rest
are now a horror to her. That is what happens to those
who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the
wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loath it ever
after."
"Oh I see," said Polly. "And I suppose because she
took it in the wrong way it won't work for her. I mean
it won't make her always young and all that?"
"Alas," said Aslan, shaking his head. "It will. Things
always work according to their nature. She has won
her heart's desire; she has un-wearing strength and
endless days like a goddess. But length of days with
an evil heart is only length of misery and already she
begins to know it. All get what they want; they do not
always like it."
The Wood Between the Worlds
(The Planting of the Tree)
20
The Magician's Nephew
They looked and saw a little hollow in the grass, with a
grassy bottom, warm and dry.
"When you were last here," said Aslan, "that hollow was a
pool, and when you jumped into it you came to the world
where a dying sun shone over the ruins of Charn. There is
no pool now. That world is ended, as if it had never been.
Let the race of Adam and Eve take warning."
"Yes, Aslan," said both the children. But Polly added, "But
we're not quite as bad as that world, are we, Aslan?"
"Not yet, Daughter of Eve," he said. "Not yet. But you are
growing more like it. It is not certain that some wicked
one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the
Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living things.
And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an
old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by
tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy
than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware. That is the
warning."
Fledge, Polly and Digory
(The End of This Story and the Beginning of All The Others)
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The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Main Theme: Frozen to Thawed – Winter to Spring
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN:
C.S. Lewis played in this
wardrobe as a child.
Key Symbol: The Stone Table
Favorite Quotes
LWW and the Bible (see next page)
When and Where in LWW
1. Lucy accidentally found herself in Narnia
2. After a visit with Mr. Tumnus the Faun, Lucy returned to England
3. Edmund accidentally found himself in Narnia and met the Queen of Narnia
4. Edmund became addicted to magic candy (Turkish Delight)
5. Peter and Susan assumed that Lucy’s Narnia was unreal
6. All four children found themselves in Narnia
7. The four learned about Narnia while visiting Mr. And Mrs. Beaver
8. Edmund sneaked away to betray the others to the White Witch
9. Edmund made his way to the Witch’s castle and became captive there
10. As the children and the Beavers fled, Father Christmas arrived with gifts
11. The Witch discover that her perpetual winter was beginning to thaw
12. Aslan appeared, greeted his friend ands knighted Peter
13. The Witch demand her right to kill Edmund
14. Aslan gave himself to the Witch to die in Edmund’s place
15. Aslan came back to life
16. Aslan revived all victims of the Witch who had turned to statues
17. The children ruled Narnia for many happy years before returning to England
Prof. Digory
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The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and The Bible
Daughter of Eve (9,8)
Romans 5:12
I should live to see this day (68, 58)
Luke 2:30
Wrong will be right when. ..(74, 64)
Mat. 12:18-20
At the sound of his roar. ..(74, 64 )
Hosea 11:10-11
Sorrows will be no more (74,64)
Isaiah 65:19
When Adam's flesh and Adam's bone (76, 65 )
Genesis 2:23
They are tools, not toys ( 104, 87 )
Eph. 6:11-17
No need to talk about what is past ( 136, I 12)
Is. 65:16
Deep Magic ( 138, I 14)
I Corinthians 2:5-8
He just went on looking at Asian (138, 114)
Hebrews 12:2
I should be glad of company tonight (147, 121 )
Matthew 26:38
I am sad and lonely ( 147, 121 )
Matthew 26:38
Let him first be shaved (150,124)
Matthew 27:28
Jeering at him saying ( 150, 124 )
Matthew 27:29
In that knowledge, despair and die (152,126)
Matthew 27:46
Warmth of his breath. ..came all over her ( 159, 132 )
John 20:22
A magic deeper still ( 159, 132 )
I Corinthians 2:7-8
Asian provided food (178, 147)
John 6:1-14
He has other countries to attend to (180, 149)
John 10:16
23
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
The first of the adventures, after the creation of Narnia by Asian, began about sixty years later
when the four Pevensie children, Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy, left London because of airraids during the war and went to stay with old Professor Kirke in his great country mansion. One
day Lucy, while playing in an old wardrobe, accidentally discovered it was a doorway - one never
reached Narnia twice in the same way – to Narnia and eventually all four of the children got in.
Just inside was the lamp-post of Jadis the White Witch. She was now queen of Narnia, having
slain most of its inhabitants and turned its weather to perpetual winter yet with never any
Christmas.
Jadis had overcome most of Narnia and had as her henchmen a vast number of giants,
werewolves, …. bull-headed men, evil dwarfs. and spirits of evil trees and poisonous plants_ Even
though Jadis magically turned all her enemies to stone, there were many loyal Narnian talking
beasts hidden away and eager for her downfall. One of these was Tumnus the Faun, whose
friendship with Lucy brought on Jadis's wrath and lined up the forces of good and evil. Mr. and
Mrs. Beaver led the children southwards toward the Stone Table. They were followed by the
furious Jadis, who had learned of Asian's return to Narnia.
In the south, where once again spring had returned, Asian took Peter to a high hill and showed
him in the distance on a peninsula jutting into the sea the castle of Cair Paravel where he and the
other children were to reign. AsIan also predicted the death of Jadis. Meanwhile she and her
cohorts arrived at the Stone Table and she was about to kill Edmund,..now her prisoner, with her
stone knife when Aslan volunteered to die in his place and thus appease the Deep Magic involved.
That night Lucy and Susan met AsIan near the Stone Table, wept bitterly at the sadness in his
countenance, and later horrifiedly saw Aslan bound by his enemies, spit upon, jeered at, and
finally slain by the White Witch. At sunrise the Stone Table itself split into two great pieces. Later
Lucy and Susan returned sorrowfully to the dead body of their leader.
24
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Yet with the coming of daylight Lucy and Susan were overjoyed to hear a great voice behind
their backs and turning saw Aslan shining in the early sunrise. He was larger and more
more glorious than ever. When they inquired how he could be alive again, he told them it was
a very Deep Magic. After a happy romp, Aslan took the two girls upon his back and traveled
like the wind to the White Witch’s castle in the West. There he brought all the stone animals
back to life and laid her castle waste. Hurrying back eastward, they found peter and his
friends in deadly combat with the White Witch’ and her followers. The result was a complete
victory, Aslan himself joining the battle and slaying the White Witch herself.
Then Aslan and all the loyal inhabitants of Narnia took the children to Cair Paravel and
crowned them, and they grew up to be as dignified kings and queens as one could imagine.
Long afterwards while one day in the west hunting the White Stag, who could give you wishes
if you caught him, they came upon the lamp-post in the Lantern Waste. At first they did not
recognize it. Later they became convinced that if they passed the post they would either find
strange new adventures or else some great change in their fortunes. They passed through the
thicket in which the post was located and the next moment were children again among the
clothes hung in the wardrobe of the old professor's mansion. To their amazement they found
that though they had been in Narnia a great many years no earth time at all ‘had elapsed.
Old Professor Kirke comforted. them by saying, “Once a King in Narnia, always a King in
Narnia” and assuring them that sooner or later they would again discover an entrance to that
marvelous country.
25
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
"Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?" asked the Witch.
"Let us say I have forgotten it," answered Aslan gravely.
"Tell us of this Deep Magic."
"Tell you?" said the Witch, her voice growing suddenly
shriller. "Tell you what is written on that very Table of
Stone which stands behind us? Tell you what is written
in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the
Secret Hill? Tell you what is engraved on the scepter of
the Emperor-beyond the sea? You at least know the
Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very
beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as
my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a
right to a kill."
"Oh," said Mr. Beaver. "So that's how you came to
imagine yourself a queen -- because you were the
Emperor's hangman. I see."
Lucy and Mr. Tumnus
(Deep Magic from The Dawn of Time)
26
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
"Oh, you're real, you're real! Oh, Aslan!" cried Lucy, and both girls flung
themselves upon him and covered him with kisses.
"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
"It means, said Aslan, that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is
a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only
to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into
the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read
there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing
victim who has committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the
Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."
(Deeper Magic From Before The Dawn of Time)
"Of course," said Aslan. "And now! Those who can't keep up - that is,
children, dwarfs, and small animals - must ride on the backs of those who
can - that is, lions, centaurs, unicorns, horses, giants and eagles. Those who
are good with their noses must come in the front with us lions to smell out
where the battle is. Look lively and sort yourselves."
And with a great deal of bustle and cheering they did. The most pleased of
the lot was the other lion who kept running about everywhere pretending to
be very busy but really in order to say to everyone he met, "Did you hear
what he said? Us Lions. That meant him and me. Us Lions. That's what I
like about Aslan. No side, no stand-off-ishness. Us Lions. That meant him
and me." At least he went on saying this till Aslan had loaded him up with
three dwarfs, one dryad, two rabbits, and a hedgehog. That steadied him a
bit."
(What Happened About The Statues)
And I saw a strong angel, who
shouted in a loud voice: "Who is
worthy to break the seals on this
scroll and unroll it?" But no one in
heaven or on earth or under the
earth was able to open the scroll
and read it. Then I wept because no
one could be found who was worthy
to open the scroll and read it. But
one of the twenty-four elders said
to me, "Stop weeping! Look, the
LION of the tribe of Judah, the heir
to David's throne has conquered.
He is worthy to open the scroll and
break the seven seals." Rev 5:2-5
And Aslan stood up and as he
opened his mouth to roar his face
became so terrible that they did not
dare to look at it. And they saw all
the trees in front of him bend
before the blast of his roaring as
the grass bends in a meadow before
the wind.
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe
27
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
"Is--is he a man?" asked Lucy.
"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you
he is the King of the wood and the son of the great EmperorBeyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan
is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I
shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and no mistake,' said Mrs. Beaver, 'if
there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees
knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells
you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But
he's good. He's the King I tell you."
"I'm longing to see him," said Peter, "even if I do feel frightened
when it comes to the point.“
28
Christian Creed in Narnian terms:
I believe in the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea who has put within time the Deep Magic, and,
before all time, the Deeper Magic.
I believe in his Son Asian who sang into being all the worlds and all that they contain:
Talking Beasts and humans, dumb animals and shining spirits. And I believe that Asian was a
true beast, the king of beasts, a Lion; that for Edmund, a traitor because of his desire for
Turkish Delight, he gave himself" into the power of the White Witch, who satisfied the
requirements of the Deep Magic by killing him most horribly. At the dawn following that
darkest, coldest night, he was restored to full life by the Deeper Magic, cracking the Stone
Table and, from that moment, setting death to work backwards. He exulted in his new life
and went off to rescue all those who had been turned into stone by the Witch’s want and to
deliver the whole land from everlasting winter. He will be behind all the stories of our lives;
and, when it is time, he will appear again in our world to wind it up, calling all of his
creatures whose hearts' desire it is to live "farther in and farther up" in his country which
contains all real countries.
I believe that upon us all falls the breath of Asian and that ours are the sweet waters of the
Last Sea which enable us to look steadily at the sun. I believe that all who have thrilled or
will thrill at the sound of Asian's name are now our fellow voyagers and our fellow kings and
queens; that all of us can be for ever free of our dragonish thoughts and actions; and that one
day we will pass through the door of death into "Chapter One of the Great Story, which no
one on earth has read; which goes on for ever; in which every chapter is better than the one
before.” (Paul Ford)
29
The Horse and His Boy
Shasta escapes from the land of Calormen with a Narnian warhorse, Bree. Along with Aravis
and her horse. They uncover a Calormene plot to conquer Narnia and must find a way to save
Narnia and its people.
The Main Theme: Slavery to Freedom
Key Symbol: Living Water
Favorite Quotes
The Horse and His Boy and the Bible:
Zechariah 1:7-17, 3, 4:6, 6:1-8, 7:8-10,
9:9, 9:12, 10:3-6, 13:1, 14:8, 14:20
Isaiah58:8-11; John 4:14
Not the breath of a ghost ( I 57 , 140)
Luke 24;39
Tell me your Sorrows (157,140)
I Peter 5:7
Joy shall be yours ( 193, 172 )
Mat. 25:21
Touch me (193,172)
John 20:27
AsIan was among them (208, 186 )
John 20:19
Not a Donkey! (210,189 )
Daniel 4:24-33
30
The Horse and His Boy
At that moment everyone's feelings were completely altered by a sound from behind.
... It was the same snarling roar [Shasta] had heard that moonlit night when they
first met Aravis and Hwin. Bree knew it too. His eyes gleamed red and his ears lay
flat back on his skull. And Bree now discovered that he had not really been going as
fast - not quite as fast - as he could. Shasta felt the change at once. Now they were
really going all out.
Aslan, speaking to Shasta: "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was
the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove
the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new
strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I
was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near
death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight to receive you."
Shasta: "Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"
Aslan: "It was I."
Shasta: "But what for?"
Aslan: "Child, I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no-one any story but his
own."
Corin: "Hurrah! Hurrah! I shan't have to be King... I'll always be a prince. It's
princes have all the fun."
King Lune: "And that's truer than thy brother knows, Cor. For this is what it means
to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat,
and when there's hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear
finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land."
31
Prince Caspian
Troubled times have come to Narnia as it is gripped by civil war. Prince Caspian is forced to blow The Great
Horn of Narnia, summoning the help of past heroes, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Now they must
overthrow Caspian's uncle, King Miraz, to restore peace to Narnia. Prince Caspian emphasizes
education more than of the other Chronicles.
The Main Theme: Fasting to Feasting
Key Symbol: A Door in the Air
Favorite Quotes
Prince Caspian and the Bible: Psalm 148
When, Where and How Long
1. In the LWW Peter was thirteen, Susan was twelve, Edmund was ten and Lucy eight.
2. One year has passed in England and it is 1941 there.
3. In Narnia 1303 years have passed while one year passed England
How Long
1. Chapters 1-3: Arrival in Narnia
2. Chapters 4-7: The dwarf’s story
3. Chapters 8-11: The long journey
4. Chapters 12-14: Accomplishing the task
Prince Caspian and the Bible
The People That Lived in Hiding (68, 59 )
Help may be even now at the door (158, 134)
A few join his company (195, 166)
Not water but richest wine(198,168)
Isaiah 9:1
Mark 13:29
John 6:66
John 2:9
32
5. Chapters 15: Rewards
Prince Caspian
"Great Scott!" said Peter. "So it was the horn - your own horn, Su - that
dragged us all off that seat on the platform yesterday morning! I can
hardly believe it, yet it all fits in."
"I don't know why you shouldn't believe it," said Lucy, "if you believe
in magic at all. Aren't there lots of stories about magic forcing people
out of one place - out of one world - into another? I mean, when a
magician in The Arabian Nights calls up a Jinn, it has to come. We had
to come, just like that."
"Yes," said Peter, "I suppose what makes it feel so queer is that in the
stories it's always someone in our world who does the calling. One
doesn't really think about where the Jinn's coming from."
"And now we know what it feels like for the Jinn," said Edmund with a
chuckle. "Golly! It's a bit uncomfortable to know that we can be
whistled for like that. It's worse than what Father says about living at
the mercy of the telephone."
(How They Left The Island)
"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."
"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.
"Not because you are?"
"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."
(The Return of the Lion)
33
Prince Caspian
"I say, Peter," whispered Edmund. "Look at those carvings on the walls.
Don't they look old? And yet we're older than that. When we were last here,
they hadn't been made."
"Yes," said Peter. "That makes one think."
(Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance)
"I am confounded," said Reepicheep to Aslan. "I am completely out of countenance. I must crave your indulgence
for appearing in this unseemly fashion."
"It becomes you very well, Small One," said Aslan.
"All the same," replied Reepicheep, "if anything could be done... Perhaps her Majesty?" and here he bowed to
Lucy.
"But what do you want with a tail?" asked Aslan.
"Sir," said the Mouse, "I can eat and sleep and die for my King without one. But a tail is the honor and glory of a
Mouse."
"I have sometimes wondered, friend," said Aslan, "whether you do not think too much about your honor."
"Highest of all High Kings," said Reepicheep, "permit me to remind you that a very small size has been bestowed
on us Mice, and if we did not guard our dignity, some (who weigh worth by inches) would allow themselves very
unsuitable pleasantries at our expenses. That is why I have been at some pains to make it known that no one who
does not wish to feel this sword as near his heart as I can reach shall talk in my presence about Traps or Toasted 34
Cheese or Candles: no, Sir - not the tallest fool in Narnia!" (Aslan Makes a door in the Air)
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'
Lucy, Edmund, and their cousin Eustace, are magically transported onto the ship, Dawn Treader,
where King Caspian is searching for the seven lost friends of his father. On the voyage, the
children meet many fantastical creatures, including the great Aslan himself.
The Main Theme: West to East (God-ward – Gen2:8)
Key Symbol: A Magic Spell
Favorite Quotes
VDT and the Bible: Ezekiel 43:2-4,47:1-12
When, Where and Who
Edmund, Lucy and Eustace joined voyage
The storm
Limping east in a bad condition
Dragon Island
“Oh, Aslan, said Lucy. Will you tell us how to get
into your country from our world?
I shall be telling you all the time, said Aslan”
VDT and the Bible
As bad as I was (91, 91)
Well-he knows me (92,91)
Caspian obeyed (173,169)
A little live coal ( 178, 173)
Come and have breakfast (214, 208)
James 5: 16
I Cor. 13:12
Ephesians 5:21
Isaiah 6:6
John 21:12
35
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'
Parts of the voyage
1. The 400-league journey from Cair Paravel to the four western islands, taking 30 days
2. The Lone Islands adventures at Felimath, where the voyagers were captured by slave traders, and Doorn,
where they cleaned the corrupt government of Narrowhaven.
3. Twelve days in a great storm followed by eights of anxiety
4. A week on Dragon Island and a brief stop at Burnt Island
5. Five days at sea and a deadly struggle with the Sea Serpent
6. Escaping the evil spell of Deathwater Island
7. The Island of the Voices and the Magic Book, where Coriakin ruled
8. Ramandu’s Island, where Aslan’s table was spread with food.
10. To the World’s End, where the sky joins the earth
Aslan appears seven times in this book
1. To Eustace and transformed him
2. Walked by and broke the spell of the greed at Goldwater
3. Magic Book to save Lucy from temptation
4. To Lucy when she made hidden things visible
5. As a bright albatross Aslan led the ship from the Dark island
6. The Lion’s head on the wall came to life and directed Caspian
7. The Lamb became Aslan
36
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader‘
At first the only people who cheered were those who had been warned by Bern's
messenger and knew what was happening and wanted it to happen. But then all
the children joined in because they liked a procession and had seen very few.
And then all the schoolboys joined in because they also liked processions and
felt that the more noise and disturbance there was the less likely they would be
to have any school that morning. And then all the old women put their heads
out of doors and windows and began chattering and cheering because it was a
king, and what is a governor compared with that? And all the young women
joined in for the same reason and also because Caspian and Drinian and the
rest were so handsome. And then all the young men came to see what the young
women were looking at, so that by the time Caspian reached the castle gates,
nearly the whole town was shouting.
Then her face lit up till, for a moment (but of course she didn't know it), she
looked almost as beautiful as that other Lucy in the picture, and she ran
forward with a little cry of delight and with her arms stretched out. For what
stood in the doorway was Aslan himself, The Lion, the highest of all High Kings.
And he was solid and real and warm and he let her kiss him and bury herself in
his shining mane. And from the low, earthquake-like sound that came from
inside him, Lucy even dared to think that he was purring.
"Oh, Aslan," said she, "it was kind of you to come."
"I have been here all the time," said he, "but you have just made me visible."
"Aslan!" said Lucy almost a little reproachfully. "Don't make fun of me. As if
anything I could do would make you visible!"
"It did," said Aslan. "Do you think I wouldn't obey my own rules?"
37
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader‘
"Secondly," said Caspian, "I want to know why you have permitted this
abominable and unnatural traffic in slaves to grow up here, contrary to
the ancient custom and usage of our dominions."
"Necessary, unavoidable," said his Sufficiency. "An essential part of the
economic development of the islands, I assure you. Our present burst of
prosperity depends on it."
"What need have you of slaves?"
"For export, your Majesty. Sell ‘em to Calormen mostly, and we have
other markets. We are a great center of the trade."
"In other words," said Caspian, "you don't need them. Tell me what
purpose they serve except to put money into the pockets of such as Pug?"
"Your Majesty's tender years," said Gumpas, with what was meant to be
a fatherly smile, "hardly make it possible that you should understand the
economic problem involved. I have statistics, I have graphs, I have--"
"Tender as my years may be," said Caspian, "I believe I understand the
slave trade from within quite as well as your Sufficiency. and I do not see
that it brings into the islands meat or bread or beer or wine or timber or
cabbages or books or instruments of music or horses or armor or
anything else worth having. But whether it does or not, it must be
stopped."
(What Caspian Did There)
38
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader‘
"The King who owned this island," said Caspian slowly, and his face flushed as he
spoke, "would soon be the richest of all Kings of the world. I claim this land forever as
a Narnia possession. It shall be called Goldwater Island. And I bind all of you to
secrecy. No one must know of this. Not even Drinian--on pain of death, do you hear?"
"Who are you talking to?" said Edmund. "I'm no subject of yours. If anything it's the
other way round. I am one of the four ancient sovereigns of Narnia and you are under
allegiance to the High King my brother."
"So it has come to that, King Edmund, has it?" said Caspian, laying his hand on his
sward-hilt.
"Oh, stop it, both of you," said Lucy. "That's the worst of doing anything with boys.
You're all such swaggering, bullying idiots--oooh!--" Her voice died away into a gasp.
And everyone else saw what she had seen.
Across the gray hillside above them--gray, for the heather was not yet in bloom-without noise, and without looking at them, and shining as if he were in bright sunlight
though the sun had in fact gone in, passed with slow pace the hugest lion that human
eyes have ever seen. In describing the scene Lucy said afterward, "He was the size of an
elephant," though at another time she only said, "The size of a cart-horse." But it was
not the size that mattered. Nobody dared to ask what it was. They knew it was Aslan.
And nobody ever saw how or where he went. They all looked at one another like people
waking from sleep.
"What were we talking about?" said Caspian. "Have I been making rather an ass of
myself?"
"Sire," said Reepicheep, "this is a place with a curse on it. Let us get back on board at
once. And if I might have the honor of naming this island, I should call it Deathwater."
(Two Narrow Escapes)
39
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader‘
..."Do not look so sad. We shall meet soon again."
"Please, Aslan," said Lucy, "what do you call soon?"
"I call all times soon," said Aslan; and instantly he was vanished away and
Lucy was alone with the Magician.
(The Dufflepuds Made Happy)
"Fly! Fly! About with your ship and fly! Row, row, row for your lives away
from this accursed shore. This is the Island where Dreams come true."
"That's the island I've been looking for this long time," said one of the sailors.
"I reckon I'd find I was married to Nancy if we landed here."
"And I'd find Tom alive again," said another.
"Fools!" said the man, stamping his foot with rage. "That is the sort of talk that
brought me here, and I'd better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear
what I say? This is where dreams--dreams, do you understand--come to life,
come real. Not daydreams: dreams."
There was about half a minute's silence and then, with a great clatter of armor,
the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and
flinging themselves on the oars to row as they had never rowed before; and
Drinian was swinging round the tiller, and the boatswain was giving out the
quickest stroke that had ever been heard at sea. For it had taken everyone just
that half-minute to remember certain dreams they had had--dreams that make
you afraid of going to sleep again--and to realize what it would mean to land on
a country where dreams come true.
(The Dark Island)
40
The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader‘
"I saw them long ago," said the Old Man, "but it was from a great
height. I cannot tell you such things as sailors need to know."
"Do you mean you were flying in the air?" Eustace blurted out.
"I was a long way above the air, my son," replied the Old Man. "I
am Ramandu." But I see that you stare at one another and have
not heard this name. And no wonder, for the days when I was a
star had ceased long before any of you knew this world, and all the
constellations have changed."
"Golly," said Edmund under his breath. "He's a retired star."
"Aren't you a star any longer?" asked Lucy.
"I am a star at rest, my daughter," answered Ramandu. "when I
set for the last time, decrepit and old beyond all that you can
reckon, I was carried to this island. I am not so old now as I was
then. Every morning a bird brings me a fire-berry from the valleys
in the Sun, and each fire-berry takes away a little of my age. And
when I have become as young as the child that was born yesterday,
then I shall take my rising again (for we are at earth's eastern rim)
and once more tread the great dance."
(The Beginning of the End of the World)
41
The Silver Chair
King Caspian's beloved son Prince Rilian has disappeared. Aslan sends Eustace and his school
friend Jill to Narnia on a quest to search for the young prince and defeat the evil Witch
The Main Theme: Darkness to Light
Key Symbol: A Shield of Faith
Favorite Quotes
SC and the Bible:
John 8:12-32
Isaiah 57:13-16
When, Where
London in Narnia
The Silver Chair and the Bible
I have swallowed up. ..(17, I7)
Psalm 2 I:9
There is no other stream ( 17 , I7 )
John 7:37-38
Do so no more (18, IS)
John 8:11
Remember the signs (21, 2I )
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Aslan will be our good Lord (168, 163 )
Romans 14:8
Commend yourself to the Lion (173, 169)
Psalm 31:5
I will not always be scolding (210, 202)
Psalm 103:9
A great drop of blood ( 21 2' 204 )
I John 1:7
It turned into a fine new riding crop (214, 206)
Exodus 4:4
His golden back ( 2 I 5, 206 )
Exodus 33:23
42
The Silver Chair
"And how shall we start?" said Scrubb.
"Well," said the Marsh-Wiggle very slowly, "all the others who ever
went looking for Prince Rilian started fro the same fountain where Lord
Drinian saw the lady. They went north, mostly. And as none of them ever
came back, we can’t exactly say how they got on."
"We’ve got to start by finding a ruined city of giants," said Jill. "Aslan
said so."
"Got to start by finding it, have we?" answered Puddleglum. "Not
allowed to start by looking for it, I suppose?"
"That’s what I meant, of course," said Jill.
Puddleglum
"Don’t you lose heart, pole," said Puddleglum. "I’m coming, sure and
certain. I’m not going to lose an opportunity like this. It will do me good.
They all say --- I mean, the other wiggles all say -- that I’m too flighty;
don’t take life seriously enough. If they’ve said it once, they’ve said it a
thousand times. ‘Puddleglum,’ they’ve said, ‘you’re altogether too full of
bobance and bounce and high spirits. You’ve got to learn that life isn’t
all fricasseed frogs and eel pie. You want something to sober you down a
bit. We’re only saying it for your own good, Puddleglum.’ That’s what
they say. Now a job like this -- a journey up north just as winter’s
beginning, looking for a Prince that probably isn’t there, by way of a
ruined city that no one has ever seen -- will be just the thing. If that
doesn’t steady a chap, I don’t know what will."
Puddleglum
Puddleglum
43
The Silver Chair
It tool them some time to reach the foot of the slope and, when they did, they looked down
from the top of the cliffs at a river running below them from west to east. It was walled in
by precipices on the far side as well as on their own, and it was green and sunless, full of
rapids and waterfalls. The roar of it shook the earth even where they stood.
"The bright side of it is," said Puddleglum, "that if we break our necks getting down the
cliffs, then we’re safe from being drowned in the river."
The Wild Waste Lands of the North
"Very well. We’ll have to manage without it. But there’s one thing more I want to know. If
this owls’ parliament, as you call it, is all fair and above board and means no mischief,
why does it have to be so jolly secret -- meeting in a ruin in dead of night, and all that?"
"Tu-whoo! Tu-whoo!" hooted several owls. "Where should we meet? When would anyone
meet except at night?"
"You see," explained Glimfeather, "most of the creatures in Narnia have such unnatural
habits. They do things by day, in broad blazing sunlight (ugh!) when everyone ought to be
asleep. And, as a result, at night they’re so blind and stupid that you can’t get a word out
of them. So we owls have got into the habit of meting at sensible hours, on our own, when
we want to talk about things."
A Parliament of Owls
"O-ho!" said the Porter. "That’s quite a different story. Come in, little people, come in.
You’d best come into the lodge while I’m sending word to his Majesty." He looked at the
children with curiosity. "Blue faces," he said. "I didn’t know they were that color. Don’t
care about it myself. But I dare say you look quite nice to one another. Beetles fancy other
beetles, they do say."
"Our faces are only blue with cold," said Jill. "We’re not this color really."
The Hill of the Strange Trenches
44
The Silver Chair
"So it’s no good, Pole. I know what you were thinking because I was thinking the same. You were
thinking how nice it would have been if Aslan hadn’t put the instructions on the stones of the ruined
city till after we’d passed it. And then it would have been his fault, not ours. So likely, isn’t it? No. We
must just own up. We’ve only four signs to go by, and we’ve muffed the first three."
The House of Harfang
Suddenly Puddleglum turned to them, and his face had gone so pale that you could see the paleness
under the natural muddiness of his complexion. He said:
"Don’t eat another bite."
"What’s wrong?" asked the other tow in a whisper.
"Didn’t you hear what those giants were saying? ‘That’s a nice tender haunch of venison,’ said one of
them. ‘Then that stag was a liar.’ said another. ‘Why?’ said the first one. ‘Oh,’ said the other. ‘They
say that when he was caught he said, Don’t kill me, I’m tough. You won’t like me.’" For a moment
Jill did not realize the full meaning of this. But she did when Scrubb’s eyes opened wide with horror
and he said:
"So we’ve been eating a Talking stag."
This discovery didn’t have exactly the same effect on all of them. Jill, who was new to that world, was
sorry for the poor stag and thought it rotten of the giants to have killed him. Scrubb, who had been in
that world before and had at least one Talking beast as his dear friend, felt horrified; as you might
feel about a murder. But Puddleglum, who was Narnian born, was sick and faint, and felt as you
would feel if you found you had eaten a baby.
"We’ve brought the anger of Aslan on us," he said. "That’s what comes of not attending to the signs.
We’re under a curse, I expect. If it was allowed, it would be the best thing we could do, to take these
knives and drive them into our own hearts."
And gradually even Jill came to see it from his point of view. At any rate, none of them wanted any
more lunch As soon as they thought it safe they crept quietly out of the hall.
Something Worth Knowing
45
The Silver Chair
"One thing I’d like to know," said Puddleglum, "is whether anyone form our
world--from up-a-top, I mean--has ever done this trip before?"
"Many have taken ship at the pale beaches," replied the Warden, "and--"
"Yes, I know," interrupted Puddleglum. "And few return to the sunlit lands.
You needn’t say it again. You are a chap of one idea, aren’t you?"
Travels Without the Sun
"What is a lion?" asked the Witch.
"Oh, hang it all!" said Scrubb. "Don’t you know? How can we describe it to
her? Have you ever seen a cat?"
"Surely," said the Queen. "I love cats."
"Well, a lion is a little bit--only a little bit, mind you--like a huge cat--with a
mane. At least, it’s not like a horse’s mane. you know, it’s more like a judge’s
wig. And it’s yellow. And terrifically strong."
The Witch shook her head. "I see," she said, "that we should do no better
with your lion, as you call it, than we did with your sun. Well, ‘tis a pretty
make-believe, though, to say truth, it would suit you all better if you were
younger. And look how you can put nothing into your make-believe without
coping it from the real world, this world of mine, which is the only world. But
even you children are too old for such play. As for you, my lord Prince, that
art a man full grown, fie upon you! Are you not ashamed of such toys? Come,
all of you. Put away these childish tricks. I have work for you all in the real
world. There is no Narnia, no Overworld, no sky, no sun, no Aslan. And now,
to bed all. And let us begin a wiser life tomorrow. But, first, to bed; to sleep;
deep sleep, soft pillows, sleep without foolish dreams."
The Queen of the Underland
46
The Silver Chair
"One word, Ma’am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping,
because of the pain. "One word. All you’ve been saying is quite
right, I shouldn’t wonder. I’m a chap who always liked to know the
worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won’t deny any of
what you said. But there’s one thing more to be said, even so.
Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees
and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose
we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things
seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this
black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes
me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come
to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right.
But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks
your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the playworld. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it.
I’m going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any
Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two
gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court
at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for
Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but
that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say."
The Queen of the Underland
King and Queen of the Giants
47
The Silver Chair
"Do you know the way to those new diggings, by which the sorceress meant to lead out an army
against Overland?"
"Ee-ee-ee!" squeaked Golg. "Yes, I know that terrible road. I will show you where it begins. But it
is no manner of use your Honor asking me to go with you on it. I’ll die rather."
"Why?" asked Eustace anxiously. "What’s so dreadful about it?"
"Too near the top, the outside," said Golg, shuddering. "That was the worst thing the Witch did
to us. We were going to be led out into the open--into the outside of the world. They say there’s no
roof at all there; only a horrible, great emptiness called the sky. And the diggings have gone so far
that a few strokes of the pick would bring you out to it. I wouldn’t dare to go near them."
"Hurrah!" Now you’re talking!" cried Eustace, and Jill said, "But it’s not horrid at all up there.
We like it. We live there."
"I know you Overlanders live there," said Golg. "But I thought it was because you couldn’t find
your way down inside. You can’t really like it--crawling about like flies on top of the world!"
The Bottom of the World
"Down there," said Golg, "I could show you real gold, real silver, real diamonds."
"Bosh!" said Jill rudely. "As if we didn’t know that we’re below the deepest mines even here."
"Yes," said Golg. "I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Topdwellers call
mines. But that’s where you get dead gold, dead silver, dead gems. Down in Bism we have them
alive and growing. There I’ll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze out a cupful
of diamond juice. You won’t care much about fingering the cold, dead treasures of your shallow
mines after you have tasted the live ones in Bism." The Bottom of the World
...After that, the Head’s friends saw that the Head was no use as a Head, so they got her made an
Inspector to interfere with other Heads. And when they found she wasn’t much good even at that,
they got her into Parliament where she lived happily ever after.
The Healing of Harms
48
The Last Battle
A false Aslan is roaming Narnia, commanding everyone to work for the cruel
Calormemes. Can Eustace and Jill find the true Aslan and restore peace to the land? The
last battle is the greatest of all and the final struggle between good and evil.
The Main Theme: Death to Life
Key Symbol: The Stable
Favorite Quotes
The Last Battle and the Bible:
Rev. 5:1-14
Trembled with a small earthquake (10,10)
Mark 13:8
Worst thing in the world (20, 20 )
Psalms 77:10
Is not like the Aslan (25,25 )
Psalms 77:10
By whose blood (33,33 )
Ephesians I :7
Seeing is believing ( 104, 99 )
John 20:25-29
Between the paws of the true Aslan(107,101)
Deuteronomy 33:27
Lovely fruit trees (135-137,127-129)
Revelation 22:2
A Stable once. ..inside (140-141, 133)
Luke 2:7
Well done (146,138)
Matthew 25:21
Stars will fall from heaven ( 150-1 51, 142-143 )
Mark 13:25
Moon … looked red (156,148)
Joel 2:31
To know more of him (162,154)
Phil. 3:10
To look upon his face (162,154)
Ps. 27:8
Though he should slay me (163, 155)
Job 13:15
No one get hot or tired (171, 1620
Is. 40:31
One can’t feel afraid (173,164)
I John 4:18
49
The Last Battle
"You will go to your death, then," said Jewel.
"Do you think I care if Aslan doomes me to death?"
said the King. "That would be nothing, nothing at all.
Would it not be better to be dead than to have this
horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the
Aslan we have believed in and longed for? It is as if
the sun rose one day and were a black sun."
"I know," said Jewel. "Or if you drank water and it
were dry water. You are in the right, Sire. This is the
end of all things."
(The Ape in Its Glory)
"There! You see!" said the Ape. "It's all arranged. And
all for your own good. We'll be able, with the money
you earn, to make Narnia a country worth living in.
There'll be oranges and bananas pouring in--and
roads and big cities and schools and offices and
whips and muzzles and saddles and cages and
kennels and prisons--Oh, everything."
"But we don't want all those things," said an old Bear.
"We want to be free. And we want to hear Aslan
speak himself."
"Now don't you start arguing," said the Ape, "for it's a
thing I won't stand. I'm a Man: you're only a fat,
stupid old Bear. What do you know about freedom?
You think freedom means doing what you like. Well,
you're wrong. That isn't true freedom. True freedom
means doing what I tell you."
(The Ape in Its Glory)
When, Where
1. Trouble in Narnia, Chapters 1-4: three weeks
2. Hope from our World, Chapters 5-8: less than 48 hours
3. Utter Hopelessness on the Stable Hill, Chapters 9-12: one night
4. Farther Up and Further In, Chapters 13-15: timelessness
50
The Last Battle
In the shadow of the trees on the far side of the clearing something was moving. It was gliding very slowly Northward. At first glance
you might have mistaken it for smoke, for it was gray and you could see things through it. But the deathly smell was not the smell of
smoke. Also, this thing kept its shape instead of billowing and curling as smoke would have done. It was roughly the shape of a man
but it had the head of a bird; some bird of prey with a cruel, curved beak. It had four arms which it held high above its head,
streching them northward as if it wanted to snatch all Narnia in its grip; and its fingers--all twenty of them--were curved like its beak
and had long, pointed, bird-like claws instead of nails. It floated on the grass instead of walking, and the grass seemed to whither
beneath it.
After one look at it Puzzle gave a screaming bray and darted into the Tower. And Jill (who was no coward, as you know) hid her face
in her hands to shut out the sight of it. The others watched it for perhaps a minute, until it streamed away into the thicker trees on
their right and disappeared. Then the sun came out again, and the birds once more began to sing.
Everyone started breathing properly again and moved. They had all been still as statues while it was in sight.
"What was it?" said Eustace in a whisper.
"I have seen it once before," said Tirian. "But that time it was carved in stone and overlaid with gold and had solid diamonds for
eyes. It was when I was no older than thou, and had gone as a guest to The Tisroc's court in Tashbaan. He took me into the great
temple of Tash. Then I saw it, carved abbove the altar."
"Then that--that thing--was Tash?" said Eustace.
But instead of answering him Tirian slipped his arm behind Jill's shoulders and said "How is it with you, Lady?"
"A-all right," said Jill, taking her hands away from her pale face and trying to smile. "I'm all right. It only made me feel a little sick
for a moment."
"It seems, then," said the Unicorn, "that ther is a Tash, after all."
"Yes," said the Dwarf. "And this fool of an Ape, who didn't believe in Tash, will get more than he bargained for! He called for Tash:
Tash has come."
"Where has it--he--the Thing--gone to?" said Jill.
"North into the heart of Narnia," said Tirian. "It has come to dwell among us. They have called it and it has come."
"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the Dwarf, rubbing his hairy hands together. "It will be a surprise for the Ape. People shouldn't call for
demons unless they really mean what they say."
(What News the Eagle Brought)
51
The Last Battle
"...And the other sight, five leagues nearer than Cair
Paravel, was Roonwit the Centaur lying dead with a
Calormene arrow in his hide. I was with him in his last hour
and he gave me this message to your Majesty: to remember
that all worlds draw to an end and that noble death is a
treasure which no one is too poor to buy."
"So," said the King, after a long silence, "Narnia is no
more."
(What News the Eagle Brought)
"I almost wish--no I don't, though," said Jill.
"What were you going to say?"
"I was going to say I wished we'd never come. But I don't, I
don't, I don't. Even if we are killed. I'd rather be killed
fighting for Narnia than grow old and stupid at home and
perhaps go about in a bath-chair and then die in the end just
the same."
(The Great Meeting on Stable Hill)
52
The Last Battle
Tirian looked and saw the queerest and most ridiculous thing you can imagine. Only a few yards
away, clear to be seen in the sunlight, there stood up a rough wooden door and, round it, the
framework of the doorway: nothing else, no walls, no roof. He walked toward it, bewildred, and
the others followed, watching to see what he would do. He walked round to the other side of the
door. But it looked just the same from the other side: he was still in the open air, on a summer
morning. The door was simply standing up by itself as if it had grown there like a tree.
"Fair Sir," said Tirian to the High King, "this is a great marvel."
"It is the door you came through with the Calormene five minutes ago," said Peter smiling.
"But did I not come in out of the wood into the stable? Whereas this seems to be a door leading
from nowhere to nowhere."
"It looks like that if you walk round it," said Peter. "But put your eye to that place where ther is a
crack between two of the planks and look through."
Tirian put his eye to the hole. At first he could see nothing but blackness. Then, as his eyes grew
used to it, he saw the dull red glow of a bonfire that was nearly going out, and above that, in the
black sky, stars. Then he could see dark figures moving about or standing between him and the
fire: he could hear them talking and their voices were like those of Calormenes. So he knew that
he was looking out through the stable door into the darkness of Lantern Waste where he had
found his last battle. The men were discussing whether to go in and look for Rishda Tarkaan (but
none of them wanted to do that) or set fire to the stable.
He looked around again and could hardly believe his eyes. There was the blue sky overhead, and
grassy country spreading as far as he could see in every direction, and his new friends all round
him laughing.
"It seems, then," said Tirian, smiling himself, "that the stable seen from within and the stable
seen from without are two different places."
"Yes," said the Lord Digory. "Its inside is bigger than its outside."
(How The Dwarfs Refused To Be Taken In)
53
The Last Battle
Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast
appeared on the Dwarfs' knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and
ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it
wasn't much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was
clear that they couldn't taste it properly. They thought they were eating and
drinking only the sort of things you might find in a stable. One said he was
trying to eat hay and another said he got a bit of an old turnip and a third said
he'd found a raw cabbage leaf. And they raised golden goblets of rich red
wine to their lips and said "Ugh! Fancy drinking dirty water out of a trough
that a donkey's been at! Never thought we'd come to this." But very soon
every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something
nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to
quarreling, till in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food
was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at
last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all
said:
"Well, at any rate there's no Humbug here. We haven't let anyone take us in.
The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."
"You see," said Aslan. "They will not let us help them. They have chosen
cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds yet they
are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken
out."
(How The Dwarfs Refused To Be Taken In)
54
The Last Battle
"So," said Peter, "night falls on Narnia. What, Lucy! You're not crying? With Aslan ahead, and all of us
here?"
"Don't try to stop me, Peter," said Lucy, "I am sure Aslan would not. I am sure it is not wrong to mourn
Narnia. Think of all that lies dead and frozen behind that door."
"Yes and I did hope," said Jil, "that it might go on forever. I knew our world couldn't. I did think Narnia might."
"I saw it begin," said the Lord Digory. "I did not think I would live to see it die."
"Sirs," said Tirian. "The ladies do well to weep. See, I do so myself. I have seen my mother's death. What world but
Narnia have I ever known? It were no virtue, but great discourtesy, if we did not mourn.
(Night Falls on Narnia)
It is hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that
country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this.You may have been in a room in which there was
a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the
wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking-glass. And as you turned away from the
window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking- glass. And the sea in the
mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were
somehow different--deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much
want to know. The difference between the old Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and
flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can't describe it any better than that: if you ever get there you will
know what I mean.
It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right forehoof on the ground and
neighed, and then cried:
"I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life,
though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.
Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!"
55
One of these days, we are going to be in the Father's house. That is the Christian's certain
destiny. We are going to be together forever. We will see, in their redeemed bodies, our
loved ones who have gone on before us. One day we are going to step into eternity, like
Enoch did, and pass from this life to the next. Death, the thing that we dread so much, will
be a mere transition. And the Lord will be there to greet us and gather us into the Father's
house, where there is warmth and security and nothing to fear.
C. S. Lewis, in his final children's book, The Last Battle, describes it this way:
"There was a railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you
are--as you used to call it in the shadowlands--dead. The term is over; the holidays have
begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." And as he spoke he no longer looked to
them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful
that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly
say that they lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real
story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia have only been the
cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter one of the Great story
which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better
than the one before.
That is why Paul says in 1 Thess 4:18:
"Therefore comfort one another with these words."
56
Conclusion
It is the way Lewis thoroughly integrated his Christian faith into his scholarly
work that leaves the largest legacy.
Lewis taught me... how to long for God and seek true joy.
How to integrate a Christian worldview with my vocation, my family life, and
my inner self.
In all his writings, Lewis tried to point to Christ.
The impact of Lewis on my life has been great. He has challenged me to grow
in my faith so that I’m not afraid to engage spiritually and intellectually with
a world hostile to God. But above all he has taught me that the power of the
imagination is one of the greatest tool we have to bridge the gap into the
secular mind.
57