In Prince Caspian, C. S. Lewis decided to explore the astronomical lore of the Narnian world. He created two planets, Tarva and Alambil, whose conjunction Caspian and Dr. Cornelius witness from a castle tower, and three constellations which Lucy mentions later — the Ship, Hammer, and Leopard. Alchemy and magic are also mentioned. The impression …
… the spells began straight away, and at first there was nothing very important in them. They were cures for warts (by washing your hands in moonlight in a silver basin) and toothache and cramp, and a spell for taking a swarm of bees. The picture of the man with toothache was so lifelike that …
I took inspiration from this Worldbuilding Wednesday Narnia post, specifying a 1920s children’s book illustration model. She’s sampling different rocks, sands, and minerals from her plate.
When Lucy saw … the trees were going to eat earth it gave her rather a shudder. But when she saw the earths that were actually brought to them she felt quite different. They began with a rich brown loam that looked almost exactly like chocolate; so like chocolate, in fact, that Edmund tried a …
This Dutch language edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader does away with the ship’s poetic name, calling it simply “drakenschip.” Which means … dragon ship … which calls to mind … Vikings! Not sure what the problem with translation was. This book is interesting as well for the illustration, which is one I …
Cats get short shrift in The Chronicles of Narnia. Oh, sure, Aslan is a lion, and leopards and panthers are also mentioned. But domestic cats, unlike dogs, do not get to be heroes. In fact, a domestic cat is one of the notable villains of the series, the creatively named Ginger of The Last Battle. …
One of the most iconic scenes in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and the movies made of it, is of a naive, disgruntled Edmond meeting the White Witch in the woods with her sleigh. Most depictions show him startled, as here. The witch turns toward him casually, tall, proud, and imperious, about to …
It’s time for some more depictions of Narnia’s White Witch, like this spooky one of a dark-complected, Drow-like (the black-skinned, white-haired chaotic evil elves of AD&D fame) Jadis riding sidesaddle on a white wolf. An anime White Witch with a night sky of storms and snowflakes in her hair. The pale blue and black combination …
Summer dawns once again in Narnia’s sky, and with it, articles, fanfic reviews, visual essays, and other analysis of this timeless classic fantasy series. Put on your buskins, clean and sheathe your sword, eat some (non-Talking) bear meat, and let’s explore!
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher Tor Books, 2022 [ #24 Top of the Heap: A book on any Top Whatever list. ] This is another of those books I got from the Little Free Library down the street. I was surprised to find it there, because it’s so recent, so niche, and was so …