Narnia is a fantasy world created by C. S. Lewis as the primary location for his series of seven fantasy novels for children, The Chronicles of Narnia. The world is so called after the country of Narnia, in which much of the action of the Chronicles takes place.
In Narnia, some animals can talk, mythical beasts abound, and magic is common. The series tracks the story of Narnia when humans, usually children, enter the Narnian world from 'our world', or Earth.
The country of Narnia is where most of the action of the series is set. According to the mythology of the series, Narnia was created by the great lion, Aslan, and is filled with talking animals and mythical creatures. C. S. Lewis may have taken the name from the Italian town of Narni, whose Latin name was in fact Narnia. Narnia features rolling hills rising into low mountains to the south, and is predominantly forested except for marshlands in the north. The region is bordered on the east by the Eastern Ocean, on the west by a great mountain range, on the north by the River Shribble, and on the south by Archenland.
The Great River of Narnia enters the country from the northwest and flows to the Eastern Ocean. At its mouth lies Cair Paravel, the seat of High King Peter and his siblings. Other communities along the river include, from east to west, Beruna, Beaversdam, and Chippingford.
Archenland is a mountainous country south of Narnia. It is bordered on the north by Narnia and on the south by the Winding Arrow river. The seat of government is at Anvard, in the heart of the country. No other towns or villages are mentioned in the Chronicles. It is described as being somewhat open parkland, with many different varieties of trees scattered far enough apart so as to not constitute a forest – but it is mostly a mountainous country. Archenland is allied with Narnia, as is shown in The Horse and His Boy. Unlike Narnia, Archenland is inhabited by humans and is governed by Men. The second son of King Frank of Narnia became the first King of Archenland. For reasons not explained in the Chronicles, the line of King Frank survived here (at least until the time of High King Peter) but failed in Narnia itself.
Calormen is a semi-arid empire in the south of the world of Narnia. Notable geographic features include the Flaming Mountain of Lagour (a volcano) and the Great Desert. The Great Desert is in the northern part of the country, and the difficulty of crossing it discouraged the Calormenes from invading Archenland and Narnia.
The capital of Calormen is Tashbaan, located on an island near the mouth of the River of Calormen,[1] which flows from west to east in the north of Calormen, just south of the Great Desert. Gardens and pleasure houses line the river valley for several miles above the city. North of the river, on the margins of the desert, lie the royal tombs.
The city of Azim Balda, to the south of Tashbaan, is a hub where many roads meet; it hosts the government's postal system.[2]
Narnia never was on very good terms with Calormen, because of its want to dominate the countries around it.
Numerous islands and archipelagoes dot the Eastern Ocean. Most notable among these are Galma, the Seven Isles, and The Lone Islands; all subjects of the Narnian crown, and Terebinthia, an independent island. At the far end of the Eastern Ocean the geography becomes completely fantastic (as a result of the Narnian world being flat) where the sky meets the surface of the earth; in addition, it is implied that a passage to Aslan's Country is located there. The Easternmost Ocean is described as having "sweet" water, capable of sating both hunger and thirst, and is completely covered by large lilies. The sea becomes progressively more shallow the further East one travels, eventually terminating in a gigantic standing wave. Beyond the wave can be seen the "impossibly tall" mountains of Aslan's Country.
To the north of Narnia lie Ettinsmoor and the Wild Lands of the North, both inhabited by giants. The most prominent settlement is the House of Harfang, a community of giants that is apparently the remnant of a much larger city which was abandoned generations ago and fell into ruin.
The land west of Narnia is an uninhabited region of rugged mountains known as the Western Wild. The land of Telmar lies somewhere beyond this region, but its exact location was never documented, and beyond it are the western islands.
Underland is located in great caverns deep beneath the ground of Narnia. The land of Bism lies far below Underland. To the north are caverns containing Father Time and other mythological creatures who appear at the end of the world.
The landscape of Lewis' native Ireland, in particular Ulster played a large part in the creation of the Narnian landscape. In his essay On Stories, Lewis wrote "I have seen landscapes, notably in the Mourne Mountains and southwards which under a particular light made me feel that at any moment a giant might raise his head over the next ridge". In a letter to his brother, Lewis would later confide "that part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia". Although in adult life Lewis lived in England, he returned to Northern Ireland often and retained fond memories of the Irish scenery, saying "I yearn to see County Down in the snow; one almost expects to see a march of dwarfs dashing past. How I long to break into a world where such things were true."
A total of eleven named humans from Earth have entered Narnia, four boys, two men, four girls, and a woman.
The four Pevensie children are the best known: Peter Pevensie (High King Peter the Magnificent), Susan Pevensie (Queen Susan the Gentle), Edmund Pevensie (King Edmund the Just), and Lucy Pevensie (Queen Lucy the Valiant). All of them appear in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and in Prince Caspian. Edmund and Lucy appear in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and all of them appear (but Peter, who is out fighting giants on the northern frontier) as adults in The Horse and his Boy.
Others from our world include King Frank (who had been a cabman in London) and his wife Queen Helen, who were the first king and queen of Narnia and whose descendants lived in Narnia for many generations. They, together with Uncle Andrew Ketterley, Digory Kirke, and Polly Plummer appear in The Magician's Nephew. Eustace Scrubb, a cousin of the Pevensies, appears in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair, and Jill Pole, a schoolmate of Scrubb's, also appears in The Silver Chair. All of these except for Susan Pevensie and Uncle Andrew appear in The Last Battle.
There were also about a dozen unnamed humans from our world (six pirates and their women) who repopulated the unpeopled land of Telmar and founded the race of the Telmarines. As Aslan says in Prince Caspian, they accidentally found in a cave "one of the chinks or chasms between that world and this" (i.e. between our world and Narnia), and he adds, "There were many chinks or chasms between worlds in old times, but they have grown rarer. This was one of the last: I do not say the last." So quite possibly others came to Narnia from our world as well, but Lewis did not record their histories for us.
Humans from Earth are sometimes referred to as Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve by Narnians, a reference to C. S. Lewis' Christian worldview.
Although he is not a human, Strawberry, the cabman's horse, also entered Narnia from our world and there was chosen to be a talking beast and transformed into the winged horse Fledge.
Dwarfs are native to Narnia. They are called Sons of Earth by Aslan, as opposed to humans, who are called Sons of Adam or Daughters of Eve. Dwarfs exist in at least two varieties: Black Dwarfs and Red Dwarfs, distinguished by the colour of their hair. While many Red Dwarfs are kind and loyal to Aslan, Black Dwarfs appear to be more selfish and hostile. Dwarfs appearing in the books are male and live together in communities, although they are known to mingle with and reproduce with humans. For example, Prince Caspian's Tutor Cornelius is a half-dwarf, and Caspian's former nurse is described as "a little old woman who looked as if she had dwarf blood in her".
Dwarfs, like fauns, satyrs, the river god and his Naiad daughters and the tree people (deities of the woods) stepped forth when Aslan (in The Magician's Nephew) called for Narnia to "Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters."[3] The dwarfs were presumably born of the earth, as the Dryads were of the trees and the Naiads of the waters. Dwarfs appear as the King's train-bearers at the coronation of King Frank. (Naiads — river nymphs — held Queen Helen's robes[4]) In keeping with their character as sons of Earth, the dwarfs are skilled and prolific smiths, miners, and carpenters. In battle they are renowned as deadly archers. A Dwarf can walk all day and night.[5]
Many of the animals found in our world can also be found in Narnia. In addition, there are talking versions of most of these animals. When Aslan breathed upon the first animal pairs, some not only gained thought and speech, but changed in size as well. Smaller animals (rodents, birds and small mammals) are larger than their non-talking relatives and larger animals are slightly smaller. Talking beasts can be divided into three main categories: Avian, Mammal, and Reptile. There are no talking fish or insects.
Two witches are mentioned by name in the Narnian books, the White Witch (Jadis, empress of Charn, or the "White Lady") and the Lady of the Green Kirtle (or "the Green Lady"). Long after Lewis's death, character sketches appeared in later editions of the books that seem to indicate that these two witches are the same, but these notes are not due to Lewis. (See the Lady of the Green Kirtle for more discussion.)
Jadis is the last scion of the royal house of Charn, though in Narnian rumor she is said to be descended from Adam's first wife, Lilith (a mythological Mesopotamian storm demon), and to have both Jinn and Giant blood in her veins. According to the Beavers, she has no human blood at all, although she has the appearance of a very tall human woman. When Jadis first entered Narnia at its creation she fled to the north, where she spent nine hundred years gathering strength to invade and conquer Narnia. She was killed by Aslan in the First Battle of Beruna.
The Green Lady is able to transform herself into a huge serpent, and does so twice in The Silver Chair: once when she kills Rilian's mother, and once when she tries to kill Rilian himself and his companions. Most of her other powers seem to be related to seduction and enslavement; she has bewitched and enslaved Rilian and an army of underground gnomes, and almost succeeds in bewitching Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum.
Lesser characters that might qualify as witches include the hags that appear in Jadis's army and the hag brought to Aslan's How in Prince Caspian.
Other inhabitants of the Narnian world based on known mythological or folkloric creatures include Boggles, Centaurs, Cruels, Dragons, Dryads, Earthmen or gnomes, Efreets, Ettins, Fauns, Giants, Ghouls, Griffins, Hags, Hamadryads, Horrors, Incubi, Maenads, Minotaurs, Monopods, Naiads, Ogres, Orknies (perhaps from Old English orcneas "walking dead"),[6] Winged Horses, People of the Toadstools, Phoenix, Satyrs, Sea Peoples (mermen), Sea serpents, Sylvans, Spectres, Sprites, Star People, Trolls, Unicorns, Werewolves, Wooses, and Wraiths. These are a free mix of creatures from Greco-Roman sources and others from native British tradition.[7]
One passage in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe declines to describe the evil creatures, so that the book may remain suitable for children.