Susan's Horn



"And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then, wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you."

- Father Christmas

Queen Susan's Horn was a prized possession of Susan Pevensie when she reigned in Narnia as Queen Susan the Gentle. Given to her by Father Christmas just before the Winter Revolution, the horn was a magical object, used in times of emergency to call for help.

Description
The Chronicles of Narnia did not describe Susan's horn in great detail, except that it was small and made of ivory.

In the films produced by Disney/Walden Media, the mouthpiece of the horn is shaped like a budding flower, and the bell (where the sound emerges from) is carved in the shape of a lion's head, evoking Aslan.

Regarding the sound of the horn, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe describes it as "like a bugle, but richer", but Prince Caspian offers a fuller description when Trumpkin speaks of the horn having "a sound that I'd never heard the like of in my born days. Eh, I won't forget that. The whole air was full of it, loud as thunder but far longer, cool and sweet as music over water, but strong enough to shake the woods."

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe
Susan first used the horn when she and Lucy were attacked by Maugrim the wolf. As the Battle of Aslan's Camp was about to break out, Peter heard it and came to their rescue.

During the Pevensie's reign, it was unknown how often - if ever - Queen Susan used her horn. There was no mention of her having it during her visit to Tashbaan in The Horse and His Boy, or any other mentioned use during the Golden Age. In Prince Caspian, she is called "Queen Susan of the Horn", indicating her close connection with the object. However, it is unclear if she acquired this title during her own reign, or if she was simply given it on this later occasion.

Susan lost her horn when she and her siblings were hunting the White Stag in Lantern Waste; apparently she had it on her person or on her horse during the hunt because, as Susan later said, "It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place---England, I mean." and, after the Pevensies' disappearance, the horn remained lost for many years. Eventually it was re-discovered by the half-dwarf, Doctor Cornelius, around the Narnian year 2300, though how he found it is unknown.

Prince Caspian
Shortly before the Narnian Revolution, Cornelius passed the horn on to Prince Caspian X. The legend of its magical ability to summon aid was known to Cornelius, and after much debate, Caspian blew it in order to help free the Narnians from the Telmarine conquest. The horn ended up magically transporting the Pevensies back to Narnia, where they reappeared at Cair Paravel, and traveled to meet Caspian and his army at Aslan's How, eventually succeeding in recalling Aslan and restoring the Narnian/Telmarine throne to Caspian.

Just before the Pevensies return to England Caspian offers the horn back to Susan, but we are told "of course, she told him to keep it". This implies that Susan knows the horn will be a greater use to Caspian and Narnia than it would be to her if she took it back to England.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Later, when Caspian set out on his voyage on the Dawn Treader, he gave the horn to his regent, Trumpkin, to use if any great need fell on the land in the king's absence. Whether or not Trumpkin ever had need to blow the horn, is not known.

The horn's final fate after the destruction of Narnia is unknown, as its original owner, Susan, did not return to Narnia to reclaim it and bring it to Aslan's Country.

Trivia

 * In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (film), you can make out what appears to be Susan's horn in Caspian's cabin, on the shelf just below the golden face of Aslan. Whether this was her horn, or just a lookalike, is unknown.
 * The sound of Susan's horn was changed in the 2008 film adaption of Prince Caspian. In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe it was described as 'a bugel, but richer', however in Prince Caspian, Caspian X blew it before the two dwarves Trumpkin and Nikabrik and it sounded of a long, deep tone, like a conch signal.

Corne Magique de Susan