Peter Pevensie

"This is going to be exciting enough without pretending."

- Peter Pevensie

Peter Pevensie (1927-1949) was a young man who traveled to Narnia, the eldest of the Pevensie children, and ruler of the Kingdom of Narnia after the White Witch's demise. As the oldest, he was responsible and caring, always wanting to do what was best for his siblings. His Narnian titles included High King Peter the Magnificent, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion.

Bombing of London and Refuge
Peter Pevensie lived in London, England until he and his siblings were evacuated to the countryside by train because of the air-raids of World War II. The children stayed at an old mansion belonging to Professor Kirke until the end of the war. The house had extensive grounds that proved to hold lots of fun, but rainy days were dreary. Deciding to explore the house, they all split up and when Lucy came back she claimed to have been gone for hours. Everyone thought she was playing a game, but when she insisted they followed her to a wardrobe kept all by itself in a spare room upstairs. It was a perfectly ordinary wardrobe and Peter encouraged her to forget her joke.

The next day it was still raining and a game of hide and seek was begun. Moments later Edmund and Lucy came to find the others and Lucy once again insisted there was a country inside the wardrobe, and that Edmund had been in it too. Edmund said he had just been teasing her, at which Lucy rushed from the room. Peter told Edmund off for it, and expressed fears that there might be something wrong with his youngest sister. During the night Peter and Susan became so worried about her that they decided to go and speak to the Professor about it.

Logic
"Logic! Why don't they teach logic at these schools?"

- Digory Kirke

The Professor did not turn out to be the help that they wanted, but help of a different sort. He helped them to establish that Lucy was and always had been more truthful than Edmund and that she was not mad, you could tell by talking and looking at her. Therefore, she had to be telling the truth. Peter and Susan were stunned at this and Peter pointed out that if things were real, they were there all the time, and that Lucy had no time to go anywhere. The Professor suggested that another world would likely run on its own time, while a young girl would not likely come up with that idea on her own. So, Peter made sure that Edmund left Lucy alone about it, and the subject was not spoken of at all.

Narnia
"Rise up, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane, Knight of Narnia."

- Aslan

The Professor's house was often toured by visitors and the housekeeper Macready led them around and told them about all the things that were in it. The Macready disliked children in the first place, but especially when she was leading visitors through the house. One day the children were caught with her and a group between them and the door, and speedily headed as far back into the house as they could. Macready seemed to be following them, until eventually the only place left to go was into the spare room where the wardrobe was. It was Edmund who urged them all inside the wardrobe to hide, but when the four of them looked up again, it was snowing. When everyone realized at once that this was the world Lucy had found before hand, Peter was the first to apologize for not believing her.

Putting on some of the coats that they found in the wardrobe they set out to explore the forest. Edmund made a comment about which direction they should be going, revealing that he had indeed been in this place before. No one spoke to him and Susan changed the subject by asking where they were going, and Peter decided that Lucy should lead.



Lucy led them to Mr. Tumnus's house, a faun whom she had previously met, only to discover that he had been arrested by the White Witch's Secret Police. Lucy explains that he was arrested because of her and Peter agrees that they must do whatever they can to help him.

Father Christmas
Just outside Mr Tumnus's house a talking beaver found them and took them to his dam. There, he told them about a prophecy which said that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve would sit on the Four Thrones on Cair Paravel and bring an end to the Witch and her never ending winter without Christmas. Edmund betrayed his siblings as they were listening to this, leaving the beaver's dam to find the White Witch. Mr. Beaver explained what had happened and that the only person who could help Edmund now was Aslan, the Great Lion who was waiting for them at the Stone Table. Peter just wanted his siblings to be together, so he agreed to go.

On the way to the Stone Table Peter received his sword, Rhindon, and shield from Father Christmas when he visited the four children and the beavers, along with several other talking beasts. This was a sign that the White Witch's power was weakening.

After the siblings arrived at Aslan's Camp, it came under attack by at least two wolves from the Witch's Secret Police, and Aslan encouraged Peter to fend them off. In the process Peter slew the wolf captain Maugrim, for which Aslan knighted him Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane or Fenris-Bane, and he became the only member of the Most Noble Order of the Lion.



Battle of Beruna
Peter and his Supreme General Oreius commanded the initial formations of Aslan's Army during the Battle of Beruna during which Peter personally dueled with White Witch herself until Aslan finished her. The battle had been going ill when Aslan returned to his army with Susan and Lucy, as well as every Narnian who had been turned to stone and kept in the castle by the Witch. Soon after, the Narnians won the battle.

High King of Narnia
"And to the Clear Northern Sky, I give you King Peter the Magnificent!"

- Aslan



After the battle Peter was crowned by Aslan as High King Peter, the Magnificent, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands, each of his siblings sharing the throne. The ancient prophecy of two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve coming to sit on the four thrones of Narnia at the castle Cair Paravel had come to fruition. This marked the end of the Hundred-Year Winter and was the beginning of Narnia's Golden Age.

One of King Peter's few dilemmas during the Golden Age was the Ettinsmoor War, where he drove away the Giants from the North.

In Narnian-year 1015, the four Pevensies, now adults, hunted an enigmatic White Stag which led them back into the Wardrobe and their own Earth, where they became children once again, disappearing from Narnia. The children told Professor Kirke all about what had happened, and hesitantly asked if he thought they would ever be able to get back to Narnia. He assured them that they would, as long as they didn't try to get there.

Old Narnia in Danger
One Earth-year later, the Pevensies were pulled back into Narnia due to an emergency call. The Telmarine Prince Caspian X, had blown Queen Susan's horn (one of her gifts from Father Christmas) and brought the Pevensies back into his world. Although in Narnian Time it had been over a thousand years since Peter's reign as High King, the Narnians all respected his title. Peter and Edmund initially met Caspian while saving him from an assassination attempt by his own Black Dwarf ally Nikabrik and the Dwarf's cronies.

Battle of Aslan's How


The Pevensie children ultimately helped Caspian defeat his usurping uncle Miraz during the Narnian Revolution and Peter formally gave authority to Caspian to rule Narnia as the succeeding king. Peter later confided to Lucy and Edmund that he and Susan were told by Aslan that they would never again return to Narnia, as they were now too old. The four children returned to their world, but never forgot Caspian.

Tutoring with the Professor
During the later trips that Peter's siblings took to Narnia, he stayed with Professor Kirke and studied under his guidance. Despite the fact that he knew he could never return, Peter would have given anything to see Narnia again.

The Phantom and What Followed
"Shadow or spirit or whatever you are, if you are from Narnia, I charge you in the name of Aslan, speak to me. I am Peter the High King."

- Peter Pevensie

When Peter was 22 (Narnian year 2555, English 1949), he and the other Seven Friends of Narnia received a vision of the current ruler of Narnia, King Tirian. Peter commanded him to speak, standing and commanding him again as High King. The phantom began to fade, leaving all of them with the feeling that something was very wrong in Narnia. After some discussion they decided to try and use the Magic Rings that the Professor and Polly Plummer had used to get to Narnia and see if they could set right whatever was going on. Peter and Edmund went to get the rings, and the others were to meet them on the train station when they got back. By a strange coincidence, they were on the same train as Mr. and Mrs Pevensie. As the train was coming into the station, something went wrong and there was a horrible crash. The next thing Peter knew, he was dressed in Narnian garb in a lovely green meadow along with Edmund, Lucy, the Professor and Mrs. Plummer.

The Real Narnia
"Peter, High King of Narnia, shut the door."

- Aslan

People came steadily through a door that stood in the meadow - a curious thing as there was nothing on the other side. When King Tirian came through, Peter was the first to introduce himself. As the World of Narnia was destroyed in the end, Peter was the one Aslan asked to close the door and seal off the dead Narnia from the real Narnia, what had always been referred to as Aslan's Country. Aslan explained that the Narnia they had known and loved had been merely a shadow of the true Narnia, as well as about the accident. Because Peter and the others were, in effect, dead, they would never be sent back home to England again, and could remain in a Narnia that was bigger and better than the one that they loved forever.

Movies
Peter was played by English actor William Moseley in the two Disney films, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) and Prince Caspian (2008).

He was portrayed by Richard Dempsey in the BBC television adaptations of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1988) and Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989).

He was voiced by Reg Williams in the cartoon adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1979).

Peter is depicted as a warrior-king who seeks to do the right thing at all times. He has an undying love for Aslan and recognizes him as his leader and friend. Peter saw Aslan as a father figure. Aslan explained to Peter his responsibility as a born leader and gives him the support of a father towards his son. Peter in turn respects all of Aslan's choices.

Fun Fact: The man who portrayed Peter and the woman who portrayed Susan knew each other from a previous audition: an audition for the roles of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, in Chris Columbus' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [UK] (Sorcerer's Stone [USA]).