The world containing Narnia is an invention of Clive Staples Lewis, born 1898, a famous scholar and writer. He was a devoted Christian, writing many books on the subject, including The Screwtape Letters, a series of letters from an experienced devil to his young nephew. His most famous works, however, were a series of seven allegoric books for children - The Chronicles of Narnia.

Lewis' literary career was already well established when he decided to turn his hand to writing for children. He started off with an image of a faun carrying some parcels though the snow, and is quoted as saying;

This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself, 'Let's make a story about it'.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was published in 1949, when Lewis was fiftyone- he says in the dedication to his Goddaughter;

TO LUCY BARFIELD

My Dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realised that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think about it. I shall probably be too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be
your affectionate Godfather,

CS LEWIS

Six more stories followed, until the Chronicles of Narnia were complete. There is mild confusion over the order they should be read in, because they were written at differing stages of Narnian history, with prequels and sequels being written in no particular order. CS Lewis recommended that they be read in order of Narnian history, so they are;

• The Magicians Nephew is concerned with the adventures of Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, telling how they were sent to a different world by Digory's Uncle Andrew, and how Digory woke the cruel queen Jadis and brought her to the world which was to contain Narnia. The story then shows Narnia being created by Aslan the lion, with Jadis already within.

• The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe chronicles the experiences of the four Pevensie children who find their way into Narnia via an enchanted wardrobe. Three of them, Peter, Susan and Lucy, attempt to make their way to Cair Paravel, to be crowned as king and queens, while the fourth, Edmund, joins Jadis, now ruling as the White Witch, to try to stop them. Aslan sacrifices himself to save Narnia, rises from the dead, and initiates a battle against the Witch. She is killed, Narnia is released from her enchantments, and the four children, reunited, are crowned as kings and queens of Narnia.

• The Horse and His Boy tells of the adventures of Shasta, an orphan slave, and Aravis, a Calorman fleeing an arranged marriage, who escape from Calorman with the intention of travelling to Narnia. They are accompanied by two Narnian talking horses, Bree and Hwinn, who act as their guides. En route Shasta learns that some Calormans are planning to invade Archenland, a country bordering, and allied to, Narnia. They race to warn King Lune of Archenland, and Shasta has to finish the journey alone, on foot, while the others wait with a hermit. Archenland is saved, and King Lune compares Shasta with his own son Corin- they are identical. King Lune says that they are twins, but Shasta was stolen away when just a baby. His return had saved Archenland, and Shasta was to become king, since he was the eldest twin.

• Prince Caspian centres around a boy called Caspian, the rightful king of Narnia, whose Uncle Miraz had usurped the throne. He is forced to flee the palace he had been brought up in, and take refuge with members of the 'old Narnia'- the talking beasts and magical creatures that Miraz had driven into hiding. They prepare an army, and use a magical horn to summon Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, the old kings and queens of Narnia, from their own world to help fight. The battle peaks with a single-combat fight between Peter and Miraz, which ends with Miraz's men- the Telmarines- cheating. The Narnians then defeat the army, who arre summoned before Aslan. The Lion offers them the choice of staying in Narnia, content to be ruled by Caspian, or to return to the world their ancestors came from- the same world as the Pevensies; our own world. Caspian takes up his throne and becomes king of Narnia.

• The Voyage of The Dawn Treader is set three years into Caspian's reign, and concerns his quest to find, or avenge, seven Lords whom his Uncle Miraz had sent away to seek the edge of the world. He is joined by Edmund and Lucy Pevencie, and their cousin Eustance Scrubb. Their adventures along the journey end when they reach the edge of the world. They must leave a member of the crew there in order to break the enchantment afflicting three of the Lords, and they do so, in addition to Edmund, Lucy and Eustace, who return to their own world. The ship returns, the voyage complete.

• The Silver Chair involves Eustace Scrubb and his friend, Jill Pole, who are summoned to Narnia to find Caspian's lost son, Rilian. They are given four signs to follow, and with the help of Puddleglum, a Marsh-wiggle ¹ they travel into the wild lands of the North in search of Rilian. After missing three of the signs, and nearly being eaten by giants, they find the prince underground and release him from his enchantment.

• The Last Battle is the final book in the series, involving Tirian, the last king of Narnia, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole. An ape and some Calormans say that Aslan has returned to Narnia. They bring a donkey dressed in a lion skin out of a stable every evening and say that it is Aslan, tricking all the creatures of Narniia into doing their bidding. Tirian is not fooled, and he, Eustance and Jill try to overthrow the plotters, who have combined Aslan with the Calomen god Tash, saying they are one and the same, the god 'Tashlan'. Tirian leads a small gang of rebels against the Calormens, but the real Tash answers the insincere summons of the Calormans and waits in the stable. The rebels are driven into the stable, where they find it is actually wide open outdoor space. There they meet Aslan, who ends the world of Narnia, and explains that the wide open space they are in is the real world, one with no beginning and no end, and that Narnia, and the world containing England, were all just copies of the real eternal worlds they now inhabit. They are told that they are dead, and will now live in the real world eternally.

The books can each be read independantly, but as a set they are more powerful, giving a reader a glimpse of an entire world created by Lewis, with its own history, people and customs. The world of Narnia goes beyond Narnia, with other countries bordering it, fighting with it and trading with it, which Lewis referred to more and more as the series progressed.

Aslan

Aslan the lion, son of The Emperor Over the Sea, created Narnia from nothing, and ultimately destroyed it. He would often turn up when Narnia was most in need of him, although, as many characters said, he was not a tame lion. He arrived when he chose, not when someone else decided it was convenient.

Aslan often helped with the magical side of Narnia's problems, disenchanting the stone creatures² or waking the trees ³ but he didn't intervene directly with battles, although he helped plan them. He gave people courage and strength, and protected them - he gave his life for Edmund Pevensie, only to rise again.

He was a particular comfort to Lucy Pevesie, the first of the Pevensie's to find a way into Narnia, and the most loyal to the country. In turn, she loved him more than anyone in the world, including her father or her brothers.

Narnia Itself

Narnia is a small country, bordered at the east by the sea and the south by the desert, with the remainder of the border taken up by the wild lands. Landmarks of importance include;

• Lantern Waste, containing the street lamp planted on the day Narnia began, which had grown into a fir forest by the time Narnia was visited again. It remained so throughout the history of Narnia, and when the world ended, the commands were given from a door in Lantern Waste.
• The Stone Table, or Aslan's How, which was the place where Aslan sacrificed his life for Narnia. It was built inot a mound, where Caspians army hid, and was always a sacred place amongst Narnians.
• Cair Paravel, which started life as a peninsular but eroded to become and island, was the ancient castle where the high Kings and Queens lived.
• The Lone Islands, off the coast of Narnia, consisted of Adra, Doorn and Felimath, and became part of the realms of Narnia when King Gale, the tenth king of Narnia, killed a dragon that had been menacing them.

The inhabitants of Narnia were special and mysterious even to countries of their own world. Many of the animals and birds were able to talk, and were of unusual sizes (talking mice were bigger than average, while talking elephants were smaller than average). There were also various magical creatures, such as dwarfs, fauns, centaurs, merpeople and giants, who outnumbered the actual people- although humans were the only party allowed to rule Narnia.

The first king was crowned the day after Narnia was created, and was Frank, a London cabbie⁴. Peter Pevensie, the eldest child who entered Narnia through the wardrobe, was the high King of Narnia, and ruled over every future King.

Caspian was a famous king, appearing in three of the Chronicles. He was known as 'Caspian the SeaFarer' because he was a famous sailor, reintroducing the art when it had almost died in Narnia. Eighth in descent from him was Tirian, the last King of Narnia, who fought the worst battle of Narnia, and saw the world destroyed, only to find that there was a better version of Narnia waiting for him.

Archenland

Archenland features very little in the Chronicles of Narnia, mainly because it is very similar to Narnia and so provided little extra material for storylines. The country was next to Narnia, and similarly bordered by the desert. Occasionally famous Archenlanders are mentioned in passing in the other books, and one⁵ was devoted to the boy who was later to become King Cor. His brother, Corin, later became known as 'Corin Thunder-Fist' because of his boxing talents, and won a famous fight against the 'Lapsed Bear of Stormness', a talking bear which had reverted to the wild ways of the dumb animals. Although Cor's son Ram the Great was the most famous King of Archenland, he is seldom mentioned in the Chronicles.

Calormen

Calormen was the largest country featured in the Narnia Chronicles, and the one which offered the most contrast to Narnia. It was populated by the Calomens, people with dark skins and turbans, who worshipped Tash, a bloodythirsty God who stood for hate and death. It was ruled by the Tisroc, their version of a king, and it was customary to say 'May he live forever' after mentioning him. There was a brisk trade in slaves, mentioned in two of the Chronicles⁶. It is a country that the reader is meant to disprove of, with the poetry, which consists of advice and proverbs, being condemned as boring, and the society oppressive - the flight of Aravis from an arranged marriage illustrating this.

Calormen is seen as a threat to Narnia, being both bigger and more ambitious. The desert is a deterrent to invaders, but most feared is the magic within the country. In an exchange between himself and his son, one Tisroc said:

It is commonly reported that the High King of Narnia (whom may the gods utterly reject) is supported by a demon of hideous aspect and irresistable maleficence who appears in the shape of a Lion. Therefore, the attacking of Narnia is a dark and doubtful enterprise and I am determined not to put my hand out farther than I can draw it back - The Horse and His Boy

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, stretching them out 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. - The Last Battle