Narnia

:For the town, see Narnia (town) — for the band, see Narnia (band).

History

Creation of Narnia

The Creation of Narnia was witnessed by six creatures; Jadis, Empress of Charn; Digory Kirke; Polly Plummer; Andrew Ketterly; Frank, a cabby; and Strawberry, his cabhorse. This group was brought to the unmade Narnian world by accident during a failed attempt by Digory to transfer Jadis from London in our world back to her own world of Charn.

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Aslan began the creation soon after they arrived, using song to call forth the stars, sun, and eventually all landforms, plants, and animals as well. When he was finished, Aslan selected certain animals to be Talking Animals, giving to them, and all other magical creatures, Narnia as their new home.

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Aslan next anointed its first rulers, the cab driver and his wife (who had been called to Narnia by Aslan), as King Frank I and his wife Queen Helen and commanded them to rule peacefully over the talking beasts. Aware that the evil witch-queen Jadis had entered his new land, Aslan sent Digory on a mission to retreive a magic apple from a garden located in the Western Wild beyond Narnia. When he returned, the apple was planted by the river where it immediately grew into a tree which, as Aslan explained, would protect Narnia from Jadis for many years.

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Aslan allowed Digory to take one of the apples from the new tree back with him to our world for his ill mother. After she had eaten it, Digory planted the core in his garden where it grew into a great apple tree. Many years later the tree was blown down in a storm and the now Professor Kirke had its wood made into a wardrobe.

Related Topics:
Professor - Wardrobe

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The Golden Age

The land of Narnia was in peace for hundreds of years after its creation until, eventually, Jadis the Witch-Queen returned and bound the land in ice and snow for one hundred years, making it always winter and never Christmas.

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When four children named Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy found their way into Narnia through Professor Kirke's magic wardrobe, they happened to arrive at a time when the great Lion Aslan had returned, and the hundred years of winter were ending. Becoming part of his court, they fought in the first great Battle of Beruna Ford and defeated the White Witch. Aslan then fulfilled an ancient Narnian prophecy and made the children Kings and Queens of Narnia. Because of the great prosperity Narnia experienced under their reign, this period of Narnian history is known as its Golden Age.

Related Topics:
Battle of Beruna Ford - Prophecy - Golden Age

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King Caspian X

However, after ruling well for many years, the four great Kings and Queens disappeared and Narnia was left leaderless. When they returned from our world thousands of years later, Narnia was taken over by a people called the Telmarines, who had suppressed all magical creatures under their rule. The current king, named Miraz, was an evil man who had murdered his brother and usurped the throne, and who also planned to murder the true heir, his nephew Caspian. Caspian had been taught about the magical history and creatures of Narnia by his tutor, a half-dwarf named Cornelius, and had become sympathetic to their plight. The four children helped Caspian defeat Miraz at the second Battle of Beruna, set him on the throne, and under his rule humans and talking beasts lived in Narnia together happily for years.

Related Topics:
Miraz - Battle of Beruna

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Lucy and Edmund returned to Narnia once more with their spoiled cousin Eustace, and sailed with King Caspian on a legendary voyage aboard the ship Dawn Treader. Caspian had undertaken this journey in order to find seven lords of Narnia (Lords Revilian, Bern, Argoz, Mavramorn, Octesian, Restimar, and Rhoop) who had been sent by his uncle Miraz to explore the Eastern Seas beyond the Lone Islands and had never returned.

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On this voyage Caspian reinstated Narnian control over the Lone Islands (which had lapsed under Telmarine rule) and explored the unknown eastern islands to the very edge of the world. The explorers had many adventures amongst these islands which included fighting a sea serpent, encountering a wizard and his invisible creations, and (in the case of Eustace) being turned into a dragon for a time before being returned to human form by Aslan.

Related Topics:
Sea serpent - Wizard

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Caspian also married a beautiful woman (the daughter of a star named Ramandu) he met on that voyage, and she became Queen of Narnia. They had a son named Rilian, but the Queen was killed and Rilian as a young man disappeared. Eustace and his school friend Jill Pole returned to Narnia, sent by Aslan to find the lost prince, a journey which took them to the wild lands of the north, inhabited by giants, and to the underworld where an evil Queen had bewitched Rilian into doing her bidding. Freeing him and destroying the Queen in her evil snake-form, the two children returned to their world.

Related Topics:
Star - Ramandu - Giant - Underworld - Snake

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Destruction of Narnia

The world of Narnia was finally destroyed some two hundred years later during the reign of King Tirian, son of King Erlian and seventh in descent from Rilian.

Related Topics:
Tirian - Erlian

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The events that culminated in its destruction were begun by a talking ape named Shift who had constructed an elaborate conspiracy in a selfish attempt to 'modernize' the kingdom of Narnia to his liking. By dressing a donkey in a lion's skin and claiming him to be Aslan, Shift began surreptitiously gaining control of the western portion of the country by forcing the inhabitants to do his bidding in the lion's name. He then made contact with the current Calormen regime, inviting them to take advantage of the situation and fulfill their centuries-old goal of conquering Narnia. A small group of soldiers under command of Captain Rishda Tarkaan was soon sent and by the time King Tirian learned of the ape's traitorous plans they were well on the way to completion.

Related Topics:
Ape - Conspiracy - Donkey - Rishda Tarkaan

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With the help of Eustace and Jill (who arrived in time to rescue the king from capture), Tirian attempted to rally Narnia and drive out the invaders, but thanks to the dividing effect the faux-Aslan had had on the populace and the simultaneous capture of Cair Paravel by a Calormen fleet, his efforts were unsuccessful. Tirian and his remaining supporters were eventually forced into a last stand against Rishda's army in the Battle of Stable Hill that ultimately ended in the Narnian army's defeat.

Related Topics:
Cair Paravel - Battle of Stable Hill

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When this occurred, Aslan proclaimed the end of Narnia and destroyed it, calling all of its inhabitants to him in the process. All the creatures of Narnia who had been faithful to Aslan were taken with him into his own land where they met previous people who had lived in Narnia and died. Aslan's land was bigger and better than the old Narnia, because it was the real one, whereas the old Narnia had been just a copy of Aslan's land.

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Also see

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List of the Kings and Queens of Narnia (A list of mentioned Kings and Queens of Narnia from the books)

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Human contact

There are seven documented events of contact between the world of men and the world of Narnia. Dates are taken from a timeline provided in the book Past Watchful Dragons by Walter Hooper (ISBN 0020519702).

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• In The Magician's Nephew, four humans, Frank (last name unknown), Andrew Ketterley, and children Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, were present at the creation of Narnia, having been brought there by a series of unfortunate events. The same day, Aslan called Frank's wife, Helen, from England, and the two remained in Narnia as King and Queen. The children and Andrew returned to London.
• In Narnian Year 460, as alluded to in Prince Caspian, six human pirates from the South Sea entered the land of Telmar through a magic cave. They remained in Telmar and their descendants formed the Telmarine civilization.
• In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in Narnian Year 1000, four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, entered Narnia through a wardrobe Digory had built from the wood of a magical Narnian tree. Aslan returned to Narnia at the same time, defeated the foreign ruler Jadis, now known as the White Witch, and set up the four children as kings and queens. They ruled for fifteen years before returning to England back in the state of their childhood.
• In Prince Caspian, in Narnian Year 2303, the Pevensie children were summoned to Narnia by magic to help remove a Telmarine usurper King Miraz from the Narnian throne and establish the teenage Prince Caspian as king. After this, Aslan allows the Telmarines, descendants of the pirates who had arrived long ago, to go back to an island in the South Sea if they so wish.
• In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in Narnian Year 2306, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie and Eustace Scrubb entered Narnia through a magic painting, and took part in Caspian's voyage to the edge of the world.
• In The Silver Chair, in Narnian Year 2376, Aslan brought Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole to Narnia, where they rescued Rilian, son of the now elderly Caspian, from his enchanted captivity. Caspian died, but was resurrected and briefly crossed over into England in 1942 to help remove a corrupt school administrator.
• In The Last Battle, in 1949, King Tirian of Narnia appeared to the friends of Narnia in England, and Aslan brought Eustace and Jill to Narnia in Narnian Year 2575 to assist Tirian at the end of his reign.