Now we come to my favorite part of the Summer of Narnia — posting endless depictions of my favorite character, Queen Jadis, late of Charn. (She’s the same person as the White Witch, but Queen of Charn is her first incarnation, so to speak.)
There have been many stage productions of The Magician’s Nephew over the years, and, like most of the Chronicles, they rely heavily on the audience’s imaginations, and creative sets, lighting, and costuming, to convey the dramatic events of the story. These two Jadises (left and below) use simple costumes in rich fabrics but muted colors. This is so they can reflect the colored spotlights (red for Charn, green for the Wood Between the World, etc.)
This costume has a wonderful baroque crown and jewelry for the Queen, looking vaguely Byzantine.
An artist’s illustration showing Jadis in Whore-of-Babylon red with a malicious expression as she recounts her wild ride through London on the roof of a horse-drawn cab.
Jadis in the ruins of Charn. Likely art-nouveau inspired AI generation going by the odd nature of her right hand, but I’ll give it the benefit of a doubt. Slinky and dramatic.
A Witch is Born, by Joel Chaim Holtzman
Again, not Jadis (and her nameless sibling.) Interestingly enough, however, the pair are also twin magic-using sisters in a fantasy setting. It’s a scene from a Conan the Barbarian story by the late Robert E. Howard depicting magic rivals Taramis and Salome.
Now I’ll move on to pictures of Queens and Empresses.
Luxurious and world-weary Empress Theodora.
Empress, by Bob Greyvenstein
A rather jumbled-up but panoramic depiction of an Empress and her kingdom which stretches out into the distance, like Charn does.
This Queen is unnamed, but it could be Jadis watching Charn burn under the attack of her sister.
