Jadis



The White Witch (or Jadis) is the chief villain of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published book in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. (The sixth published book was a prequel and is often called the "first" book of the series in modern editions.) The White Witch, whose real name is Jadis, is the tyrant who has usurped power over the land of Narnia. She magically forced Narnia into a never-ending winter during her reign, which at the beginning of the book had lasted for 100 years (indeed, an alternative title for the book was The Hundred-Year Winter). Even though it had been winter for 100 years, there had never been a Christmas in those 100 years. A common lament of the Narnians in that time was that it was "Always winter, but never Christmas!"

Characteristics


Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. The White Witch was magically very powerful in her own world, but found her magic largely useless in other worlds. In Narnia she got her magic power mostly from a wand. With her wand, she could turn anyone to stone. Her Castle, the seat of her rule over Narnia, was littered throughout with stone statues frozen in horrified poses, which on closer inspection were people and animals that she had turned to stone. The White Witch was a cruel and self-centered woman, seeing herself as above all rules of conduct and regarding people around her as tools to be used or obstacles to be demolished; this is most clearly demonstrated in her casual use of the Deplorable Word on Charn, and her complete lack of remorse or care for the world she rendered desolate out of a fit of pique.

The White Witch's minions were composed of a large variety of evil magic creatures, but predominant among them were the wolves (which, like many animals in Narnia, could talk) and the black-bearded dwarves.

Physically, the White Witch's most striking feature was her white skin, from which her name was derived. It was not merely very pale, but actually white; as white as chalk, or paper, or snow. In the book The Magician's Nephew it is explained that her skin was made that way by partaking of an apple from the Emperor's Garden in the Land of Narnia at the beginning of that world. The apple was forbidden to all those except those who were explicitly instructed to fetch it, and even then those people had to bear it for others, and not partake of it themselves. The fruit gave her immortality and made her skin white. She was also exceedingly tall, which was a natural feature of her race. (She had come from "giantish" blood.)

Right to rule
The White Witch made two false claims which, if true, would have given her authority to rule over Narnia. The first was that she was human. At the beginning of Narnia Aslan gave "sons of Adam and daughters of Eve" dominion over all the beasts (nontalking or talking) and magical creatures of Narnia. (Even though they can and do reproduce with humans, Narnian dwarfs are not considered to be human; they are referred to as "Sons of Earth".) Although the White Witch appears human (despite her unnatural skin color and above average height), she is actually descended from Adam's first wife, Lilith, and was one of the Djinn, on the other side she was half giant. The descendants of the union between the Djinn and the giants inhabited Charn, another world in Lewis's fictional universe.

Her second claim was that she was a servant of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea and ruled by his and Aslan's blessing. Because she was the first to rebel in Narnia, by the workings of the Deep Magic, she was given ownership and the right to kill all traitors and all those who willingly would follow her. She was in essence the Emperor's hangman and carried out her executions on the stone table. In this way she could represent a Satanic figure.

plot
At the beginning of the book, it was explained to the Pevensies that an ancient prophecy had been made concerning the overthrow of the White Witch, stating that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve filled the four thrones at Cair Paravel as Kings and Queens of Narnia, the reign of the White Witch and the endless winter she had caused would end. The White Witch was aware of the prophecy, and employed spies to tell her of any human that came to Narnia.

Origin
Mr. Beaver in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe conjectures that the White Witch Jadis was not human as was her claim but in fact half giantess and half Jinn, a descendant of Lilith. This view of Jadis's ancestry would seem, however, to be superceded by C.S. Lewis's later work, the Magician's Nephew.

In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, the White Witch left a note nailed to Mr. Tumnus' floor which revealed that her real name is Jadis. But in The Magician's Nephew, it is explained that she was the Empress and last inhabitant of another world which contained a great and ancient city known as Charn inhabited by the Jinn. Jadis spoke "the Deplorable Word", which, when spoken properly, would destroy every living thing except the one who uttered it, in order to defeat her sister in her desire to rule Charn. Jadis came to Narnia via the Wood between Worlds, which is an endless forest filled with pools of water that are portals to other worlds, Earth's and Narnia's worlds included. Charn was destroyed after Jadis left.

Fate
The White Witch's worst deed was when she killed Aslan on the stone table, instead of Edmund. However, just before she killed Aslan, the Witch revealed that she would go back on her deal with Aslan and kill Edmund too, leaving the path free for her to rule Narnia forever. Aslan came back to life due to Deeper Magic than the Deep Magic, and while the Witch was fighting in the Battle of Beruna, Aslan jumped on her, killing her instantly and ending her days of terror on Narnia.