Narnia and the North! The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Part II
Narnia and the North! The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Part II
“Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver. “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood, but not often here, you understand. Never in my time or my father’s time. But the word has reached us that he has come back. He is in Narnia at this moment. He’ll settle the White Queen all right. It is he, not you, who will save Mr. Tumnus.”
“She won’t turn him into stone, too?” said Edmund.
“Lord love you, Son of Adam, what a simple thing to say!” answered Mr. Beaver with a great laugh. “Turn him into stone? If she can stand on her two feet and look him in the face it’ll be the most she can do and more than I expect of her. No, no. He’ll put all to rights…”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake.” Said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Psalms 19:1)
“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.” (Psalms 147: 4-5)
“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.”
“When I consider your heaves, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
“I’ve come at last,” said he (Father Christmas). “She has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.”
“They (Peter, Susan, and Lucy) hadn’t even known for certain (as the Witch did) that this was what would happen when Aslan came to Narnia. But they all knew that it was her spells which had produced the endless winter; and therefore they all knew when this magic spring began that something had gone wrong, and badly wrong, with the Witch’s schemes.”
“But as for Aslan himself, the Beavers and the children didn’t know what to do or say when they saw him. People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly.”
“I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your side…
Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in honor of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine…”
“You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch… “Well,” said Aslan. “His offence was not against you…”
“You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill…”
“And so,” continued the Witch, “that human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10: 17-18)
“And now, who has won? Fool, did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was and so the Deep Magic will be appeased. But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well? And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your own life and you have not saved his. In that knowledge, despair and die.”
“There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane… stood Aslan himself.”
Luke 24:36:“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
I Corinthians 15: 3-4 “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Sciptures…”
“It means,” said Aslan, “that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards…”
Hebrews 2:14 “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
“but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (II Timothy 1:10)
I Corinthians 15: 52b and 54-57 “…For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed… When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 20:14 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”
Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
And, from the resurrection of Aslan onwards, the restoration of Narnia begins! There is a great battle in which the Witch is utterly defeated by Aslan and the Narnians. The reign of the Witch is ended, the Witch herself is dead, and the four children are crowned kings and queens over Narnia: High King Peter the Magnificent, High Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just, and Queen Lucy the Valiant. Their rule, in later years, becomes known as the Golden Age of Narnia.
Narnia and the North! The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Part 1
“Why, it is she (the white witch) who has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she who makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!” (Chapter Two)
“While he was eating, the Queen kept asking him questions. At first Edmund tried to remember that it is rude to speak with one’s mouth full, but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat, and he never asked himself why the Queen should be so inquisitive.” (Chapter Four)
“enchanted Turkish Delight… anyone who had once tasted it would want more and more of it, and would even, if they were allowed, go on eating it till they killed themselves.” (Chapter Four)
“Edmund was already feeling uncomfortable from having eaten too many sweets, and when he heard that the Lady he had made friends with was a dangerous witch he felt even more uncomfortable. But he still wanted to taste that Turkish Delight again more than he wanted anything else.” (Chapter Four)
“But Jesus called the children to Him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’” (Luke 18: 16)
“There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth.” (Chapter Five
“When Jesus saw their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ But that you many know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…’ He said to the paralyzed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.” (Luke 5: 20 -25 )
“They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 5:40b-42 )
“After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” (I Corinthians 15: 6 )
“With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them. ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’ Those who accepted his message were baptized – about three thousand were added to their number that day.’” (Acts 2:40-41)
3) So, we must conclude that they were telling the truth about the resurrection of Christ! Christ did indeed die, and He did indeed rise back to life again.
“And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different… At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.” (Chapter Seven)
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?”
Narnia and the North! The Magician’s Nephew
“In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.” (The Magician’s Nephew, Chapter Eight)
Genesis 1:3 “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
Psalms 33:6 “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”
John 1:3 “Through Him (the Word, Jesus Christ) all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”
Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
2 Peter 3:5 “But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.”
“Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot? For that is really the best description of what was happening. In all directions it was swelling into humps. They were of very different sizes, some no bigger than molehills, some as big as wheelbarrows, two the size of cottages. And the humps moved and swelled until they burst, and the crumbled earth poured out of them, and from each hump there came out an animal. The moles came out just as you might see a mole come out in England. The dogs came out, barking the moment their heads were free, and struggling as you’ve seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge. The stags were the queerest to watch, for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them, so at first Digory thought they were trees… The panthers, leopards and things of that sort, sat down at once to wash the loose earth off their hind quarters and then stood up against the trees to sharpen their front claws… But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back, the large, wise head, and the four baggy-trousered legs of an elephant.” (Chapter Nine)
“The sixth and of creation last arose
With evening harps and matin, when God said,
“Let the earth bring forth soul living in her kind,
Cattle and creeping things, and beast of the earth,
Each in their kind.” The earth obeyed, and straight
Opening her fertile womb teemed at a birth
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms,
Limbed and full-grown: out of the ground uprose
As from his lair the wild beast…
The tawny lion, pawing to get free
His hinder parts, then springs as broke from bonds
And rampant shakes his brindled mane; the ounce,
The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole
Rising, the crumbled earth above them threw
In hillocks; the swift stag from underground
Bore up his branching head…”
“’You see friends,’ he (Aslan) said, ‘that before the new, clean world I gave you is seven hours old, a force of evil has already entered it; waked and brought hither by this son of Adam… But do not be cast down,’ said Aslan, still speaking to the Beasts. ‘Evil will come of that evil, but it is still a long way off, and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself.’” (Chapter Eleven)
“And I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he (Jesus) will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
“…but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”
At the end of the book, just before Digory and Polly are sent back to their own world by Aslan, the great lion gives them a warning.
“It is not certain that some wicked one of your race will not find out a secret as evil as the Deplorable word and use it to destroy all living things. And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis. Let your world beware. That is the warning.“
Now, this is purely my own conjecture, but I wonder whether the evil secret mentioned refers to the discovery of the atomic bomb and other nuclear weapons. C.S. Lewis wrote The Magician’s Nephew in 1954, and it was published a year later in 1955; a short ten years after the use of the atomic bomb to end World War II. At that time, the atomic bomb was a very controversial subject. Many of the British were particularly opposed to the use of atomic weapons, and it was partially because of a promise to the British, that no nuclear weapons were employed by America during the Korean War. In case you have not discovered it already, I love history, so I found that rather interesting and wondered whether or not Aslan’s warning was actually a reference to nuclear weapons.
The rest of Aslan’s warning to the two children clearly refers to World War II and the rise of Hitler and the Nazis. This can be seen by taking a peek ahead into the next book in the series: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, in which Digory, now grown up, a professor, and the owner of a large house in the country (a house with a very special wardrobe upstairs), takes into his care four evacuated children during World War II.
There is one thing that I truly love about all of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia! It is the fact that all of the characters are so much more real and believable because they are not perfect! Every single one of Lewis’ characters is flawed and makes mistakes. Even Lucy (from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), who always seemed to me to be the most perfect, on several occasions strays into sin and error and is corrected by Aslan. Out of the many characters in the seven books of the Narnia series, there is only one who is completely perfect and without flaw: Aslan!
“To the praise of His glory!”