The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

First published: 1950–1956; includes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, 1950; Prince Caspian, 1951; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 1952; The Silver Chair, 1953; The Horse and His Boy, 1954; The Magician’s Nephew, 1955; The Last Battle, 1956

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Fantasy

Time of plot: 1900–1950

Locale: England, Narnia, and other magical worlds

Principal Characters

• Aslan, a lion, the creator and deity of Narnia
• Digory Kirke, a child who goes to Narnia using a magic ring and grows up to be a professor
• Polly Plummer, Digory’s friend
• Lucy Pevensie, ,
• Peter Pevensie, ,
• Susan Pevensie, and
• Edmund Pevensie, four British siblings who come and go between Narnia and England, eventually becoming kings and queens of Narnia
• Jadis, the White Witch
• Shasta (Cor), a long lost prince of Archenland
• Bree, Shasta’s talking horse
• Prince Caspian, a just ruler in Narnia who has to fight for his throne
• Prince Rilian, Caspian’s son
• Eustace Scrubb, Pevensie cousin who transforms from annoying to heroic
• Jill Pole, Eustace’s school friend
• Reepicheep, a heroic talking mouse

The Story

The Magician’s Nephew begins with Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer meeting in the yard of some London row houses. Digory is miserable because his mother is seriously ill. The two friends explore the attics of the connected houses, accidentally stumbling into Digory’s horrible uncle Andrew’s study. Uncle Andrew fancies himself a magician, and he gives Polly a magic yellow ring that transports her to a wood containing many tranquil pools. Digory is blackmailed into using a yellow ring to find his friend and give her a green ring that will bring her back.

While in the “wood between the worlds,” the children discover that they can use the green rings to visit other worlds through different pools. They jump into a pool leading to a strangely quiet land called Charn. In the ruins of this apparently ancient place, they find motionless people dressed as royalty. Nearby is a bell with a sign that simultaneously warns and dares the children to ring it. Digory cannot resist, and when the bell sounds, one of the figures awakens.

The awakened figure is Jadis, a strikingly beautiful but terribly evil queen. The children escape from Jadis using the green rings, but they accidentally bring her with them. After a chaotic ruckus in London, they finally get Jadis back to the magical wood, but again they have brought uninvited guests: Uncle Andrew, a cab driver, and his horse. They enter a pool hoping to get rid of Jadis in Charn but instead witness the beginning of a new world: Narnia. Aslan is singing the world into existence. Jadis throws a metal bar from a London lamppost at Aslan, but he doesn’t even seem to notice that it hits him squarely in the head. The bar grows into a full sized lamppost.

Aslan gives the power of speech to some of the animals and tells Digory to obtain an apple from a magical tree. To get to the apple, Digory is to ride the cab driver’s horse, which Aslan transforms into a flying and talking horse named Fledge. When Digory and Polly reach the apple tree, they find that Jadis has beaten them there. She has eaten an apple and now has eternal youth. She tries to convince Digory to steal an apple to give his dying mother, but Digory resists and returns to Aslan with the apple. Aslan tells Digory to plant the apple, which grows into a tree that will protect Narnia from evil for a time. He then gives Digory another apple, telling him he can use it to cure his mother. Aslan transports the cabby’s wife to Narnia and then crowns the couple the first king and queen of Narnia.

Aslan returns Digory, Polly, and the miserable Uncle Andrew to their own world, making Uncle Andrew forget everything that happened in Narnia. Digory gives his mother the apple, and she is healed. He and Polly bury the apple core and the magic rings. An apple tree grows from the core, and years later, Digory—grown into old Professor Kirke—uses the wood from the tree to make a wardrobe.

When The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe begins, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie have been sent to the country home of the eccentric Professor Kirke during World War II. Expecting their stay to be rather boring, they break up the monotony by playing games such as hide and seek. During one of the games, Lucy discovers Narnia through a wardrobe. While there, she meets a fawn named Mr. Tumnus near a lamppost. At first, Mr. Tumnus tries to hypnotize her and give her to the White Witch. He loses his nerve because he is surprised at how pleasant Lucy is, and he goes on to tell her all about the White Witch’s reign, a time of perpetual winter without Christmas in the land. When Lucy returns, she excitedly tells her siblings about her discovery, but they don’t believe her. She also realizes that while she spent hours in Narnia, no time at all has passed in her own world.

Later, Edmund makes his way into Narnia, where he meets the White Witch. She plies him with Turkish delight to secure a promise to turn his brothers and sisters over to her. The White Witch is worried about the presence of four humans in Narnia because of a prophecy that four humans will eventually become rulers in Narnia, ending her evil reign. Edmund falls under the witch’s power.

Later, all four children enter Narnia and discover that the White Witch’s police force of wolves has captured Mr. Tumnus. Soon, the children meet up with the Beavers, talking animals that tell the children about Aslan, a lion that is the rightful and just ruler of Narnia. During the visit at the Beaver’s dam, Edmund sneaks out to notify the witch that his siblings are in Narnia. This time, he is offered no Turkish delight. Instead, he is mistreated and is frightened by the lifelike statues displayed throughout the witch’s courtyards. Edmund later learns that the White Witch turns innocent creatures into stone.

The other three Pevensie children rush to meet Aslan at the Stone Table. The White Witch’s hold on Narnia is beginning to loosen, as is evidenced by the onset of spring. Also, Father Christmas visits Narnia for the first time in years, bringing special gifts for the children. Peter receives a sword and shield; Susan is given a bow, arrows, and a magic horn; Lucy gets a dagger and a vial of healing potion.

The children and the Beavers reach Aslan’s encampment after several close calls with the wolf police. There, they meet Aslan for the first time and are awestruck by his strength and majesty. The White Witch arrives with Edmund and her own army of hideous creatures. She bargains with Aslan privately. Aslan trades his own life for Edmund’s. Edmund is then reconciled with his siblings.

Susan and Lucy follow Aslan that night, and witness the White Witch and her cohorts kill Aslan on the Stone Table. Soon after, Aslan comes back to life, more powerful than before. He takes Susan and Lucy on a joyful ride on his back, leaping through Narnia to reach the icy castle of the White Witch. There, he breathes new life into the statues. The group gathers strength as they head back to the battle site. There, a bloody conflict results in victory for Aslan’s army. Lucy uses her healing potion to cure many of the injured, including Edmund.

The children are crowned kings and queens of Narnia, and they reign for many years in peace. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ends with the Pevensies returning to the human world through the wardrobe portal. They are children again, and no time has passed in their world.

The Horse and His Boy is the story of Shasta and his talking horse, Bree. The story is set in Calormen. Shasta is miserable in his life as the adopted son of a cruel fisherman. When he overhears the fisherman offering to sell him as a slave, he and the horse decide to flee to Narnia. During the adventure across Calormen, Shasta and Bree meet Aravis and her horse Hwin. Aravis is of noble Calormene blood, and she is trying to escape an arranged marriage. At one point, Shasta is mistaken for Prince Corin of Archenland and the group discovers that an attack on Narnia is planned.

The four companions continue their trek across the desert, now pursued by the Calormene army and a huge lion. They find out later that the lion was Aslan, who chased them only to give them the strength to escape to Archenland, an ally of Narnia. While in Archenland, Shasta is recognized as Cor, the lost prince and heir to the throne of that country. This true identity explains why he was mistaken for Prince Corin, who is actually his younger twin. Shasta is restored to his rightful place and later marries Aravis.

In Prince Caspian, Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund are suddenly transported to Narnia while waiting for their train to boarding school, approximately a year after their last trip. When the four children arrive this time, they find themselves near the ruins of a castle. They piece together that they are actually at Cair Paravel, where they once ruled as kings and queens. Since time does not work the same in Narnia as it does in their own world, they reason that at least a thousand years must have passed since their reign. They are amazed to find the gifts that they once received from Father Christmas, dusty but intact, in the castle keep. Only Susan’s horn is missing.

Soon, the Pevensies see men throw something alive from a boat into the water that now surrounds Cair Paravel. The children rescue a dwarf named Trumpkin. Trumpkin updates the children on the happenings in Narnia over the centuries since they were last there, and they learn that talking animals and the Narnia of old have been relegated to the stuff of fairy tales. The wicked King Miraz, a Telmarine, has stolen the throne from the rightful heir, Prince Caspian, by murdering Caspian’s father. Prince Caspian has fled under the advice of his kindly old teacher, Cornelius. Cornelius gave Caspian Queen Susan’s horn, which has the power to summon help when it is sounded. It is revealed later that the blowing of Susan’s horn was what called the four children to Narnia from the railway station.

Caspian has joined forces with the old Narnians, and they have set up a fortress at Aslan’s How. Their army is not faring well when they decide to blow Susan’s horn and send Trumpkin to Cair Paravel to meet help. Trumpkin and the four children meet with various misadventures on the way to Aslan’s How, but first Lucy and later the others see Aslan leading their way. When they finally reach Caspian and the other Narnians, they discover a dwarf, a hag, and a werewolf who want to call upon the White Witch’s power for aid. The three treacherous creatures are killed.

Peter and Miraz duel for victory, and Miraz loses. Two advisers to Miraz claim that the Narnians have stabbed their king while he was down, then they themselves stab him when no one is looking. A great battle ensues, and the Telmarines are defeated when the trees of the forest come to life and join forces with the other Narnians. Aslan creates a portal between the worlds. He returns the children to the railway station and offers the Telmarines the opportunity to return to the world from which their ancestors came.

In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lucy and Edmund have been sent to stay with relatives in Cambridge. Their annoying cousin Eustace makes their stay miserable. They enjoy looking at a painting in one of the bedrooms because it reminds them of Narnia. Eustace says he hates the painting, but as they are looking at the picture of a ship, the waves begin to roll and all three children are drawn into the painting. Once in Narnia, they meet Caspian again, who is now sailing on a pretty ship called the Dawn Treader to find the seven lost lords who were banished years ago when Miraz murdered Caspian’s father. Lucy and Edmund are thrilled to be joining the quest, but Eustace whines constantly. He especially hates the talking mouse, Reepicheep.

The first stop on the journey is the Lone Islands, where Caspian and the children are captured and sold as slaves. Caspian is sold to a kind gentleman who turns out to be the lost Lord Bern. Together, they rescue the others and overthrow the governor.

The next couple of weeks bring bad weather for the Dawn Treader. Eustace keeps a journal, where his private thoughts reveal that he is selfish and immature. After days of terrible storms, the ship docks at an unknown island, where Caspian hopes to rest and restock their stores. While the others are working to set the ship aright, Eustace gets lost in the mountainous lands. He witnesses the death of a very old dragon, then wanders into the dragon’s cave for shelter. There, he finds treasure. He gathers as much as he can and puts a bracelet on his arm. He then falls asleep. When he awakens, he has transformed into a dragon.

Soon, Eustace returns to Caspian’s worried crew as a dragon, and communicates to them that he has been enchanted. He is much nicer now, and has come to realize his previous character flaws. He helps by exploring the island and gathering provisions. Caspian notices that the diamond bracelet stuck on Eustace’s arm bears the mark of the missing Lord Octesian.

After several days on Dragon Island, Aslan comes to Eustace. He peels off Eustace’s dragon skin, turning him into a reformed boy. Eustace rejoins Caspian and the others, and they leave after surmising that the second lost lord, Octesian, might have been the old dragon that Eustace saw die.

After fighting off a sea serpent, the group lands on another island, where the water turns things into gold. They find the third lord, a solid gold corpse at the bottom of a clear pool. Next, they stop at an island that seems to be uninhabited. Lucy overhears invisible creatures planning to cut them off from the Dawn Treader. She rushes ahead to warn the others, and they discuss their options. As it turns out, the invisible creatures only want Lucy to go into a feared magician’s house and break the invisibility spell that has been placed upon them. Lucy agrees.

Aslan appears and introduces Lucy to Coriakin, the magician that was so frightening to the invisible creatures. Lucy’s spell has made the creatures, monopods, visible again. Lucy sees them sleeping with their single large feet in the air and compares them to mushrooms in appearance. They are simple creatures that Coriakin rules as gently as he can. Reepicheep shows the monopods how to use their single feet as rafts, and the group leaves, happy and rejuvenated.

The Dawn Treader sails into a cloud of dark mist and picks a stranger out of the sea. He tells them that the darkness is a place where dreams, including bad ones, come true. The frightened crewmembers nearly lose their minds in the darkness before an albatross leads them into the light. The stranger aboard the ship turns out to be the lost Lord Rhoop.

When the ship stops again, the sailors find a table set with a grand feast. At the table are three sleeping men with long beards. Caspian determines that they are the three remaining lost lords. A beautiful woman tells them to eat from Aslan’s table, and after a bit of fearful hesitation, they do. They learn from the girl’s father Ramandu, a resting star, that to break the enchantment of the sleeping lords, they must journey to the end of the world and leave one of their company. Reepicheep immediately volunteers. They let Lord Rhoop go to sleep among his old comrades and depart the island.

Next, Lucy watches tiny sea people in water so clear that she can see the shadow of the Dawn Treader moving along the bottom of the sea. Reepicheep jumps into the water and discovers that it is no longer salty, but sweet. Everyone drinks the magical water and understands it is a sign that the world’s edge is near.

Caspian announces that he intends to go to the edge of the world with Reepicheep and tells the others to go back to Ramandu’s island without him. No one agrees, and, after a vision from Aslan, a disappointed Caspian sends the three children and Reepicheep on in the lifeboat. They sail through white lilies until the boat hits ground, then Reepicheep goes on alone. Aslan magically sends the children back to their own world, where everyone notices that Eustace’s character is much improved. The others make it back to Ramandu’s island, and Caspian marries the old star’s daughter.

The Silver Chair begins with Eustace Scrubb comforting his friend Jill Pole, who is crying because schoolmates have bullied her. Eustace tries to comfort her with stories about Narnia. The two call upon Aslan for help to escape the jeering schoolchildren, then scramble through a door in the schoolyard wall into an unfamiliar place. Eustace falls off a high cliff, and Aslan blows him to Narnia. Then, Aslan tells Jill that they have been called to Narnia to rescue the missing Prince Rilian. He gives her four instructions that will guide her through the quest. He then blows her to Cair Paravel, where she joins Eustace in watching an ancient King Caspian departing to try one last time to find his missing son. Jill tells Eustace the first instruction from Aslan, which is to speak to the first person he knows in Narnia, but Eustace does not recognize Caspian until it is too late.

Talking owls tell Eustace and Jill about Rilian’s disappearance. The prince had been out riding with his mother when a murderous green serpent killed her. Rilian vowed revenge and sought the snake. Instead, he met a mysterious woman who entranced and kidnapped him.

The froglike Puddleglum joins the children as a guide. Although a complete pessimist, Puddleglum is loyal and knowledgeable. The three follow Aslan’s second instruction, which is to find the city of the ancient giants. On the way, they meet a beautiful lady and a silent knight. The lady tells them to visit Harfang, where they will be treated to comfort and good food. The children do not heed Puddleglum’s warning that Harfang could be a trap.

Upon reaching Harfang, they are indeed treated with hospitality, but Aslan comes to Jill in a dream and warns her that they need to move on quickly. Jill sees writing in stone that says “under me.” Aslan’s third instruction is to do what the writing on the stone advises. The group discovers that their giant hosts are preparing to eat them at a feast.

They escape and hide in a crevasse, which leads them to a whole world beneath the earth, filled with gnome-like creatures. They meet a handsome knight, the same one they had seen before. This time, he is not silent, but arrogant and quite strange. He tells them that he is under a spell, and the lady they had seen with him earlier is his savior from some evil enchantment. Each night, the knight states, he enters into a kind of mania, and only by being bound to a silver chair can he avoid destroying everything within his reach. He allows them to watch his attack, and during his delirium he calls upon them to release him in the name of Aslan. Aslan’s final instruction is to do the first thing that someone asks them to do in his name. They release the knight, finding that he is the lost prince. Rilian destroys the silver chair and together, the children, Rilian, and Puddleglum slay the evil Queen of the Underworld, who is also the green serpent that murdered Rilian’s mother.

After freeing all the creatures of the underworld, Rilian, Puddleglum, Eustace, and Jill return to the surface just in time for Rilian to say goodbye to his father, who dies happy. They go by magic to England, where Aslan and Rilian help Eustace and Jill frighten the bullies that had been pursuing them before the adventure began.

The Last Battle opens with an ape and a donkey finding a lion skin in the water. The ape, Shift, is a devious creature and convinces the donkey, Puzzle, to wear the lion skin and pose as Aslan. Puzzle feels uncomfortable with this plan, but Shift convinces him that it is Aslan’s will.

Meanwhile, King Tirian of Narnia and a unicorn named Jewel have heard rumors that Aslan has appeared in Narnia again. The two feel joy at Aslan’s supposed reappearance, but their joy turns to fear when a centaur tells them that the stars foretell evil. Not long after this announcement, they learn that Calormenes are felling talking trees and selling the wood for lumber. Tirian is enraged, but a river-rat tells him that Aslan himself has given orders for the trees to be cut down. Shift has joined forces with the Calormenes, and they have convinced many Narnians that Aslan has returned. They are exploiting the creatures’ faith in Aslan, forcing them into slave labor in his name.

Tirian and Jewel are taken prisoner after they defend a talking horse against a Calormene beating. When they arrive at the camp where the ape and his Calormene cohorts are set up, they refute the idea that Aslan and the Calormene god Tash are one and the same, an idea that has been disseminated by the deceivers. Tirian is tied to a tree, away from Jewel. From his place at the tree, he watches Shift present Puzzle as Aslan, and, although Tirian has never seen a real lion, he struggles with the idea that this awkward creature could be Aslan.

In utter desolation, Tirian calls out to the Narnian rulers of the past. In a dream, he sees seven of those rulers. When he awakens, Eustace and Jill arrive from their world, untie him and learn the status of Narnia. The three rescue Jewel, and Jill steals Puzzle. Although Tirian first wants to kill Puzzle for impersonating Aslan, Jill explains that Puzzle was an ignorant pawn in the situation. They meet a band of dwarfs being led by Calormenes. Tirian reveals Puzzle and the deception, but the dwarfs no longer want to follow Aslan or any god. Their new slogan is “the dwarfs are for the dwarfs.”

A dwarf named Poggin remains loyal to Tirian. He says that he has seen a cat named Ginger and the leader of the Calormenes privately discussing plans to continue to use Shift only as long as it takes to overthrow Narnia. While Poggin is talking, Tash, a great, dark creature that emanates evil, flies overhead. Poggin notes that the Calormenes should not have called upon evil if they did not want it to appear.

Based on the dwarfs’ unfavorable reaction to the revelation about Puzzle, Tirian’s group decides to meet the centaur, Roonwit, to join the army that they hope is coming from Cair Paravel. An eagle swoops in to tell them that Roonwit is dead, the castle at Cair Paravel has been taken, and the Narnian army is not coming.

Tirian thinks the children should return to the safety of their own world, but the children insist they would rather stay in Narnia. They point out that they could not get back to their own world even if they wanted to, since Aslan decides when they return. Jill and Eustace were standing on a railway platform right before they were transported to Narnia. They discuss the jerking motion they felt at the railway station immediately before their disappearance, and Eustace states that he thought it was the beginning of a railway accident.

The group heads back to Stable Hill, where they plan to reveal that Shift, Ginger, and the Calormenes have only been showing people a silly donkey dressed up as Aslan. When they arrive, they overhear Shift telling the crowd that a donkey has been impersonating Aslan and that the combination god called Tashlan is very angry. This enemy tactic circumvents any revelation they might have been able to make by showing off Puzzle.

The deceivers at Stable Hill offer anyone the chance to go into the building to see Aslan, and Ginger is the first to volunteer. Everyone is surprised when the cat comes screeching out of the stable, either a very good actor or genuinely scared witless. Right before their eyes, the cat transforms into an ordinary cat. This turn of events frightens the entire crowd, and the only other volunteer is a Calormene soldier named Emeth.

Tirian’s group instigates a skirmish. Shift is thrown into the stable, and a blinding flash indicates a horrid fate for the ape. In the battle that follows, everyone eventually passes through the stable door. The evil god Tash, a vulture-like creature, eats the leader of the Calormenes, but each person meets a different fate. The true Narnians are met by the kings and queens of old and are welcomed into Aslan’s country. The dwarfs sit in darkness, recognizing neither evil nor righteousness. Emeth is welcomed to Aslan’s country because he is a good person, even though he does not know Aslan.

This is the end of Narnia. Aslan is there, and he calls the stars to him, and characters from the previous books join together to watch the world of Narnia end in darkness. As it turns out, there really was a railway accident back in Jill and Eustace’s world, and—as far as their own world is concerned—all of the humans that have been friends to Narnia have perished in the accident, except Susan. Susan has apparently forgotten Narnia or has deemed her memories of the place childish games. Although Narnia is no more, Aslan’s country will go on forever, and all of the good creatures of The Chronicles of Narnia will live eternally in great happiness together.

Bibliography

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