Lamp-post



"It will not go out of my mind that if we pass this post and lantern, either we shall find strange adventures or else some great changes of our fortunes."

- Lucy Pevensie

The Lamp-post was a major landmark in the country of Narnia, located in the north-western area populated by Dryads and Fauns, which was named Lantern Waste after it. Resembling a London streetlamp it stood in the middle of the forest and shone day and night. It was at the lamp-post that Lucy Pevensie first met Mr. Tumnus. He tells her that the lamp-post marks the beginning of Narnia.

The Lamp-post originated in the first few days of Narnia's creation, from a bar of iron which Queen Jadis had torn from a London lamppost and thrown at Aslan. Aslan at the time was creating the living things of Narnia by his song, which made the ground of Narnia magically fertile and gave birth to the animals and plants of the world. The iron bar fell to the ground and, under the influence of Aslan's song, gave birth to a new lamppost, which grew from a few feet high to a full sized streetlight in a few hours.

The Lamp-post's ability to burn continuously without fuel (London streetlamps run on gas) may have been due to the fact that it is an organic living thing, not a manufactured artifact as other streetlamps are.

Though the Lamp-post is an important feature in both The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe it is never seen or mentioned again after that in the books. The ultimate fate of the Lamp-post is unknown. It is possible that it endured through the ages of Narnia's existance and continued to shine until all the light went out and Narnia came to an end. However, it may have been extinguished or destroyed by invaders such as the Telmarines or the Calormenes after the Pevensies left Narnia. It is also possible that, as a living thing that grew from the ground, it may have eventually died. The Disney adaption portrays the lamp-post as aging, which supports this possibility.