World of Charn

"Look well on that which no eyes will ever see again. Such was Charn, that great city, the city of the King of Kings, the wonder of the world, perhaps of all worlds."

- Jadis

The World of Charn is generally the name given to a world separate from Earth and Narnia whose actual name remains unknown, but named here after the Charn Empire, the superpower country in that world. It is important as the birthworld of Queen Jadis, the last ruler of the Charn Empire and later, as the White Witch, usurper of the Narnian throne. Other known nations of the World of Charn, besides the empire of Charn, include Felinda, Sorlois, and Bramandin (all of which were mentioned by Jadis).

Everything known about Charn comes from the brief accidental visit by Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer in The Magician's Nephew. Charn's 'sun', its star, was old and reddened, perhaps running out of nuclear fuel. The air was thin and cold. There was no water visible, rivers were dried up, and no living things existed. Yet Charn once supported a large civilization. The ruined capital city of Charn, which the children landed in, went on "as far as the eye could see".

The explanation for this is that all life on the planet Charn was destroyed in a single petulant act of evil magic, the utterance of the Deplorable Word, by Jadis. We don't know how long this was before Digory and Polly's visit, but long enough for stone palaces to fall down and stone statues to erode away. Perhaps long enough for the great river of Charn to dry up, or perhaps this was an ecological consequence of the destruction of life. By the time of their visit, the planet was an ecological dead end, a sterile world in which the only living thing was Jadis herself, who had placed herself in magical suspended animation in her palace, awaiting possible rescue by chance visitors from other worlds.

During their accidental visit, Digory succumbed to curiosity or magic, and rang a magical bell which woke Jadis. She was able to leave Charn with Digory and Polly.

Sometime after the children and Jadis left, but we don't know how long because of the time difference between worlds, Charn the world was destroyed, "...as if it had never been"  Although this seems to have been done by Aslan, it was the logical end for a world which was finished, lifeless. It was simply the final natural consequence of the evil that the Charn civilization had done. At the end of The Magician's Nephew, in the Wood between the Worlds, Aslan showed Digory and Polly a grass thicket that once healed the pool where the magical portal to Charn had been. He told them of Charn's fate and warned that a similar fate could befall Earth, if evil men get hold of a destructive power like the Deplorable Word.

Charn (Welt)