The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Written in 1950 and set in approximately 1940, it is the first published book of The Chronicles of Narnia and the best known book of the series. It is the second book in the series' internal chronological order, after The Magician's Nephew, although it was written and published earlier.

Easton Press Editions

The Chronicles of Narnia - including the following seven books:
  The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - 1978
  Prince Caspian - 1979
  The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - 1980
  Silver Chair - 1981
  The Horse and His Boy - 1982
  The Magician's Nephew - 1983
  The Last Battle - 1984

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The story takes inspiration from the Gospel themes of betrayal, death, resurrection and redemption. The "Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time," and "Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time" can be seen as similar to the Old and New Covenants of Christianity, respectively. In the subsequent books, there is a nod in the direction of the Trinity concept, with Aslan in the Christ-role and a passing reference to the "Emperor over Sea" as God the Father. The children form a disciple-group around Aslan, with Edmund as Judas and Peter the High King as St Peter. The two girls also follow Biblical precedent, as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, through being first to see the resurrected Aslan. In addition, there are various allusions to Christ's execution, including the humiliation prior to his death and the splitting of the curtain in the Temple, represented by the cracking of the stone table. The book is not intended to be a retelling of Biblical stories in another form; it simply borrows ideas from them so as to illustrate basic conceptions of Christianity (and some other ideas as well — Platonic philosophy among them).

J. R. R. Tolkien was a close friend of Lewis', a fellow member of the Inklings, and an early reader of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. However, despite his sharing Lewis' Christian faith, Tolkien was rather dismissive of the book. He considered its theology to be both blatant and naive, and the mixture of different mythic elements very inconsistent. He specifically objected to the curious presence of Father Christmas, and the mixture of both Norse and Greek mythologies. In addition, he came to dislike the avuncular manner of story-telling for children - which can also be found at points in The Hobbit (Being something of a perfectionist, he later had to stop himself from rewriting that book, as told in Humphrey Carpenter's biography).

When he wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lewis did not intend for it to be part of a larger work; this may account for several inconsistencies in the series. For example, The Horse and His Boy establishes that humans live in both Archenland and Calormen during the reign of the witch, which makes the reliance on the presence of the children to break the witch's spell somewhat confusing. Nor is there any explanation as to what has become of the descendants of the original (human) rulers of Narnia, whose dynasty was ordained by Aslan in The Magician's Nephew.

Although not specific to this book (and therefore dealt with in more detail in The Chronicles of Narnia entry), several controversies exist regarding the acceptability of the chronicles in today's climate, given their Christian content, as well as other aspects. It may be worth noting that, for every strident opinion one way or another, a large section of the books' admirers, while acknowledging the controversies, show little inclination to let them affect their enjoyment. 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe summary

The Second World War has just begun and four children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, are evacuated from London in 1940 to escape the Blitz. They are sent to live with Professor Digory Kirke, who lives in a country house in the English countryside with his housekeeper, Mrs Macready, as well as three servants called Ivy, Margaret, and Betty.

One rainy day shortly after the children arrive, they decide to play hide-and-seek. Lucy, the youngest of the children, is curious about the wardrobe in an empty room, but discovers that the door to it is a portal to a snow-covered forest with a gaslight post in the centre. There she meets a faun, who introduces himself as Tumnus and invites her home for tea. He tells her that the land is called Narnia and it is ruled by the ruthless White Witch, who ensures that it is always Winter but never Christmas.

Lucy returns through the wardrobe, having spent hours in Narnia, only to find that just a few seconds have passed in England. She is unable to convince the other children about her adventure, as the wardrobe is now just a wardrobe. Edmund, the next youngest of the four siblings, is particularly spiteful towards Lucy. Several weeks later, having forgotten about Narnia, Lucy and Edmund hide in the wardrobe while hiding from the housekeeper. He fails to catch up with Lucy, and is approached by an extremely pale lady on a sledge pulled by a white reindeer, who introduces herself as the Queen of Narnia, and provides him with some magical Turkish delight. She promises to make him a Prince and eventually King of Narnia, and persuades him to bring the other children to her house.

Lucy and Edmund meet in the woods and return together through the wardrobe. During their conversation, Lucy mentions the White Witch and Edmund realizes that she is none other than the lady who has befriended him. When they arrive back in England, Edmund lies to Peter and Susan, claiming that he and Lucy were just playing and that the wardrobe is no more than an ordinary one, leaving Lucy very upset.

Shortly thereafter, all four children hide in the wardrobe to avoid Mrs McReady and find themselves in Narnia. Lucy guides them to Tumnus's cave, only to discover that Tumnus has been captured just as the White Witch had threatened and his cave ransacked by Maugrim, chief of the White Witch's secret police. The children are sheltered by a pair of talking beavers named Mr Beaver and Mrs Beaver, who recount an ancient prophecy that when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve fill the four thrones at Cair Paravel, the witch's power will fail. The beavers tell of the true king of Narnia — a great lion called Aslan — who has been absent for many years, but is now "On the move again."

Edmund, still in the thrall of the witch, runs off to the White Witch's castle and the others do not notice his departure until it is too late to recall him. Realising that they have been betrayed, the others set off to find Aslan. When Edmund reaches the White Witch, she treats him harshly and, taking him with her, sets off to catch the other children. However, her power is failing and a thaw strands her sleigh. The other children reach Aslan, and a penitent Edmund is rescued just as the witch is about to kill him. Calling for a truce, the witch demands that Edmund be returned to her, as an ancient law gives her possession of all traitors. Aslan, acknowledging the law, offers himself in Edmund's place and the witch accepts.

Aslan is sacrificed by the witch, but comes back to life due to the "Deeper magic", which holds that when someone who has committed no treachery willingly sacrifices himself for a traitor, death is reversed, and the martyr returns to life. During a final battle, the witch is defeated and killed by Aslan. The children become kings and queens, and spend 15 years in Narnia, growing to maturity, before returning to our world, where they find themselves children again, at the moment at which they originally left.

Professor Kirke is based on W.T. Kirkpatrick, who tutored a 16-year-old Lewis. "Kirk," as he was sometimes called, taught the young Lewis much about thinking and communicating clearly, skills that would be invaluable to him later.

Narnia is caught in endless winter when the children first enter. Norse mythology also has a "great winter", known as the Fimbulwinter that is said to precede Ragnarok. The trapping of Edmund by the White Witch is reminiscent of the seduction and imprisonment of Kay by The Snow Queen in Hans Christian Andersen's novella of that name.

The dwarves and giants are from Norse mythology. Fauns, centaurs, minotaurs, dryads, etc. are all from Greek mythology. Father Christmas, of course, was part of popular English folk lore.

The main story is an allegory of Christ's crucifixion. Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund, a traitor who deserved death, in the same way that Christ sacrificed Himself for sinners. The cross is replaced by the Stone Table (which was used in Celtic religion), both being pagan symbols, in contrast to Christ. Additionally, the splitting of the Stone Table reflects the veil of the temple splitting at the point of Christ's death. As with the Christian Passion, it is women (Susan and Lucy) who tend Aslan's body after he dies and are the first to see him after his resurrection. The significance of the death contains elements of both the ransom theory of atonement and the satisfaction theory: Aslan suffers Edmund's penalty (satisfaction), and buys him back from the White Witch, who was entitled to him by reason of his treachery (ransom). Christ is also associated with lions.

The freeing of Aslan's body from the stone table by field mice is reminiscent of Aesop's fable of "The Lion and the Mouse." In the fable, a lion catches a mouse, but lets him go free. The mouse promises to return the favour and does so when he gnaws through the lion's bonds after he has been captured by hunters.

The plot device of a magic wardrobe which has no back and which provides to children an entrance to worlds of magic and fantasy appeared in 1931 in Erich Kästner's (otherwise very different) children's book The 35th of May, or Conrad's Ride to the South Seas. 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe characters

Peter Pevensie is the oldest of the Pevensie siblings. At first, Peter disbelieves Lucy's stories about Narnia, but changes his mind when he sees it for himself. Peter is hailed as a hero for his part in the overthrow of the White Witch. He is eventually crowned as High King of Narnia, and becomes known as King Peter the Magnificent.

Susan Pevensie is the second oldest of the Pevensie children. She also does not believe in Narnia until she is actually there. She is crowned High Queen, and becomes known as Queen Susan the Gentle.

Edmund Pevensie is the third of the Pevensie children. When he is in Narnia, he meets the White Witch who plies him with treats (Turkish Delight) and smooth talk. Tempted by the White Witch's promise of power and seemingly unending supplies of Turkish Delight, Edmund betrays his siblings, but eventually regrets his actions and repents. After he helps Aslan and the citizens of Narnia defeat the White Witch, he is crowned King of Narnia with his brother, and becomes known as King Edmund the Just.

Lucy Pevensie is the youngest Pevensie child. She discovers the land of Narnia when she slips through a magical wardrobe. When Lucy tells her siblings, they refuse to believe her, particularly Edmund, who teases her mercilessly. After the restoration of Narnia, Lucy is crowned as Queen with her sister, Susan, and becomes known as Queen Lucy the Valiant.

Queen Jadis, The White Witch is a jinn/giant from the city of Charn, which was part of a dying world. She is also the self-proclaimed queen of Narnia, her reason being that she is part human, knowingly untrue. Ruling with an iron fist, she had placed a spell on Narnia so that it is forever winter but never Christmas. She frequently turns to stone those she believes traitors. Her magic wand can turn people and animals to stone. The White Witch's only fear is of the prophecy that tells of "two sons of Adam" and "two daughters of Eve" who will come to Narnia and ally with Aslan to overthrow her. (She is first shown in The Magician's Nephew.)

Aslan is a lion, and the rightful ruler of Narnia. He sacrifices himself to spare Edmund, but is resurrected in time to aid the citizens of Narnia and the Pevensie children in their battle against the White Witch and her minions.

Mr. Tumnus is a faun and the first person that Lucy meets in Narnia. Tumnus befriends her, despite being ordered by the White Witch to kidnap any human who enters Narnia. After getting to know Lucy, he changes his mind about handing her over to the witch. This gets him in trouble when Edmund betrays him, and he is eventually arrested and turned into stone. He is later restored by Aslan and becomes a close friend of the Pevensies.

Professor Kirke is a professor that is given custody of the Pevensies when they evacuate London. He is the only one who believes that Lucy did indeed visit Narnia and tries to convince the other Pevensie children of her veracity; he had been present at Aslan's creation of Narnia in The Magician's Nephew, though this is not mentioned in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Mrs. Macready is the housekeeper for Professor Kirke when the Pevensies come to stay.

Mr. Beaver is friends with Tumnus. He assists the Pevensies in searching for Tumnus and dethroning the White Witch.

Mrs. Beaver is Mr. Beaver's wife. She helps the Pevensies by feeding them a good meal, and she is very optimistic.

The Dwarf is the White Witch's right hand man. Although unnamed in the book, in the film he is known as Ginnarbrick.

Maugrim/Fenris Ulf is a wolf who serves the White Witch, and is sent to hunt down the Pevensie children. He is the police commissioner of Narnia, their subordinates constitute the White Witch's police service. He is killed by Peter in the chapter "Peter's First Battle".

Father Christmas arrives when the Witch's magical hold over Narnia begins to break. He gives Peter, Susan and Lucy gifts, which ultimately will help them defeat the White Witch (Edmund was with the White Witch at the time). Mrs Beaver is given a better sewing machine and Mr. Beaver gets his dam completed and free of leaks.

Giant Rumblebuffin is the giant who was brought back to life by Aslan. He was also the one who broke down the Witch's gate.

 

Source and additional information: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe