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. The name "Charn" comes from the world's superpower capital city. It was once a world accessable from the Wood Between the Worlds, but the pool dried up when the world ended. 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 cities of the World of Charn, besides Charn, include Felinda, Sorlois, and Bramandin (all of which were mentioned by Jadis, and likely were conquered by Charn).

Everything known about Charn came from the brief accidental visit by the human children Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer from Earth.

The sun of Charn, its star, was old and reddened, perhaps running out of nuclear fuel and the sky was so dark blue that it was nearly black. Also in the sky was another celestial object that may have been a distant moon or perhaps a second, very dim star. The air on this world was thin and cold. There was no water visible as all rivers were dried up, and no living things existed. It is possible that, before Jadis destroyed all life on the planet, it may have had a different appearance (in fact, according to her own description, it had a severely different and extremely glorious appearance, probably thriving with life at one point).

Charn once supported a large civilisation of humanoids (of an unknown species) that were an average of seven feet tall and known to have giantish heritage; otherworlders simply called these taller-than-human people "giants" despite them not being genuine full-blooded giants. It is possible the people of this world were a hybrid species of giants and jinns, the latter giving them magical ability (such as Jadis). The Hall of Images of past rulers in the royal palace indicates that Charn started with a Golden Age of wisdom and benevolence but degenerated into corruption, evil, and misery. Apparently Jadis was the nadir of this degeneration, as her appearance is the most intimidating of all. Aslan calls Charn "accursed" and a "strong and cruel empire".

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. It is unknown how long ago this occurred before Digory and Polly's visit, but long enough for stone palaces to fall down and stone statues to erode away. Perhaps this was 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, the House of Charn, awaiting possible rescue by chance visitors from other worlds. Jadis placed herself at a long table among the figures of other seated royals in a chamber called the Hall of Images.

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, and had a dying sun. 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 held 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.

Jadis, and likely all of the humanoids of Charn, may be descended partially from Adam and his first wife Lilith, a jinn. Therefore their origins may rooted in the origins of Earth, and that the world of Charn came into being after Earth. However, Charn's sun is far older than Earth's, so Jadis thinks "[Earth] is a younger world" than Charn. This makes descent from Adam unlikely, but descent from Lilith is still possible.

Charn (Welt)