Narnia is a fantasy world created by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...

as the primary location for his series of seven

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

novels for children, ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...

''. The world is named after the country of Narnia, where much of the ''Chronicles'' takes place. In Narnia, some animals talk,

mythical Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

beasts abound, and magic is common. The series tracks the story of Narnia when humans, usually children, enter the Narnian world from

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

Inspiration

The landscape of Lewis's native Ireland, in particular

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

, 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 The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the hig ...

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 Rostrevor () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough, near Warrenpoint. The Kilbroney River flows through the village and Rostrevor Forest is nea ...

which overlooks

Carlingford Lough Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial fjord or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore i ...

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 County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

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." Beginning in 1906, young C.S Lewis (1898–1963) visited the northern Irish seaside near Portrush many times. In later years, Lewis remembered the sounds of the sea, the cliffs rising above it, and the ruined medieval towers of Dunluce Castle which many authors have speculated may have inspired his creation of Cair Paravel.

Narnia and Narni, Italy

Concerning Narnia and Narni Roger Lancelyn Green writes about C.S. Lewis and Walter Hooper:

Fictional geography

The novels revolve around the fantastical country of Narnia. 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, a fortified area. Calormen is a semi-arid

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

in the south of the world of Narnia. The

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of Calormen is Tashbaan, located on an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

near the mouth of the River of Calormen, which flows from west to east in the north of Calormen, just south of the Great Desert. The city of Azim Balda, to the south of Tashbaan, is a hub where many roads meet; it hosts the government's postal system.

Fictional cosmology

The flat world of Narnia is connected to Earth and many other worlds through a nexus called the Wood between the Worlds. Travel is possible through a pool each for every world. The Wood is so named by Polly Plummer, who is transported there when Digory Kirke's Uncle Andrew tricks her into picking up a magic yellow ring. It has a slothfull influence on those travelling it, which is explained by C.S. Lewis as the Wood being a place where nothing ever happens, unlike the different worlds that it connects. For the child protagonists, this experience is pleasant and relaxing. However, it affects the White Witch Jadis negatively: she shrieks in despair that the wood is "killing" her, and she is sickly and pale. It could be described as a nexus of sorts, existing outside the other worlds and not being a world on its own. The wood derives its name from ''

The Wood Beyond the World ''The Wood Beyond the World'' is a fantasy novel by William Morris, perhaps the first modern fantasy writer to unite an imaginary world with the element of the supernatural, and thus the precursor of much of present-day fantasy literature. It wa ...

'', a fantasy novel by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

, an author who Lewis greatly admired. However, the location's function stems from another Morris novel, '' The Well at the World's End''. Some scholars have suggested Dante's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...

'' or Algnernon Blackwood's "The Education of Uncle Paul", both of which Lewis was known to have enjoyed, as possible secondary influences.

Fictional timeline

Lewis provided a timeline of events related to ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', in emulation of ''The Tale of the Years'' chronology in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

''. He gave an "Outline of Narnian History" in manuscript form to Walter Hooper, who included it in his essay ''Past Watchful Dragons: The Fairy Tales of C. S. Lewis''. The novels never explicitly mention the year or years in which events take place, so the timeline is the only source for this information. Kathryn Lindskoog, along with other Lewis's scholars, has challenged the authenticity of some posthumous works attributed to Lewis and edited by Hooper, but the validity of the outline in particular has not been questioned. The outline is accepted by Lewis experts and has been included in works by Paul Ford, Martha Sammons and others.

Consistency with other works

Several people have pointed out more or less significant areas where Lewis's ''Outline'' is not consistent with the text of the ''Chronicles''. For example, the ''outline'' dates Queen Swanwhite , though according to ''The Last Battle'' she ruled Narnia before Jadis returned (meaning that her reign must have ended before 898). Paul Ford, author of ''Companion to Narnia'', points out that the text of ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' states that Lucy and Edmund are one year apart in age; the years given in the timeline for their births, 1930 and 1932 respectively, would put their ages at something more than a year. Devin Brown, author of ''Inside Narnia: A Guide to Exploring The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,'' uses the timeline as a way to reconcile some of the statements concerning the timing of Aslan's appearances in Narnia with other characters' recollections of those appearances.

References

External links

HarperCollins site for the books

Disney Map of Narnia
NarniaMap.jpg, 2244 x 1692, 1359 KB

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narnia (World) Fictional elements introduced in 1950 Fantasy worlds Fictional dimensions