Jill Pole

Jill Pole was the Daughter of Eve who helped find Prince Rilian, son of Caspian X of Narnia. She also fought at the Battle of Stable Hill at the end of the Calormene Conquest of Narnia. She was one of the Seven Friends of Narnia, and entered into Aslan's Country along with the other six.

How They Got There
Jill Pole first entered into the World of Narnia with Eustace Scrubb when they were trying to escape from bullies at their school. Eustace had already suggested to her that they try to get into Narnia by chanting for Aslan, but he did not much hope that it would work. Aslan had his own plan, however, and the two of them were chased through an old door in the school yard wall that was rumored never to be unlocked. Once on the other side, they realized that they could not possibly be in England anymore. Eustace convinced her that they had got into Narnia, just like they planned, but what he did not know was that they were actually in Aslan's Country. A little farther in they found a tall cliff that made Eustace go white, causing Jill to show off by standing right on the edge of it. Eustace, scared as he was, tried to stop her and ended up falling himself. Jill was horrified, but she soon learned that Aslan had blown the boy straight into Narnia.

The Task
Quite uncertain about the large and frightening lion that Aslan turned out to be, Jill did not trust him, and asked him to go away as she drank from a nearby stream because she did not want him to watch her while her back was turned. After some conversation, Aslan tasked Jill with finding the lost prince Rilian, and to do this he told her four signs to guide her and Eustace to the lost prince. Then after making sure she knew all of them by heart and telling her to repeat them to herself daily, Aslan blew her safely to Narnia as well. She ended up missing the first sign as King Caspian left on a ship before they could get his help, and they were taken to see the Regent Trumpkin.

"As soon as the boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia, he will meet an old and dear friend. He must greet that friend at once. If he does, you will both have good help."

- The First Sign

That night, they were taken by the Owl Glimfeather to a Parliament of Owls. There they learned the story of how Rilian became lost, and it was decided that they would be taken near the River Shribble in the Marshlands to meet the Marshwiggle Puddleglum; who would help guide them on their quest.

The Lady of the Green Kirtle
"You must journey out of Narnia to the north until you come to the city of the ancient giants."

- The Second Sign

Together with Puddleglum, who turned out to be a rather glum but lovable character, the two travelled north into Ettinsmoor, a land that was occupied by Giants. Along the road they came across a lady who introduced herself as the Lady of the Green Kirtle. With her was a knight, dressed all in black armor, and he did not move or speak. This woman told them of the castle of Harfang, the dwelling place of friendly giants who would be happy to give the three of them food and rest for the night, or for several. The children were immediately overjoyed at this, and after saying goodbye hurried along in hopes of reaching the castle before the gates closed - at sundown. Puddleglum, on the other hand, did not trust the beautiful lady. He tried to remind the his companions of their purpose, and to get Jill to recite the signs, but they would not hear of it for thinking of warm food and hot baths.

Harfang
"You shall find the writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you."

- The Third Sign

With Harfang in sight, the trio struggled through a heavy snow that blew about them through a strange stone ruin that lay in the barren fields. Eventually they realized that the stones were indeed ruins, and they hurried through to reach the castle - just in time. They received a rather warm welcome from the giants - who were particularly delighted that the Lady of the Green Kirtle had sent them - and were asked to stay several days in order to take part in the Autumn feast. In a vision, Jill was scolded by Aslan for not remembering the signs, and they discovered that they walked right past the third sign in the ruins on the night of their arrival. Puddleglum was of the opinion that this was what the fair lady had intended from the very beginning, for the third sign could be seen from Jill's window in the walls of the stones they had stumbled through. The stones read "UNDER ME". Although they did not know it, this was all that was left of the City Ruinous, and a longer inscription that once read: "Though under earth and throneless now I be, Yet, while I lived, all earth was under me."

A plan was made for an escape. The front door was watched, so they crept into the kitchen to see where the staff and the cats could go in and out. While they were there, Jill stumbled across an open cookbook, and was horrified by what she read.

"MAN: This elegant little biped has long been valued as a delicacy. It forms a traditional part of the Autumn Feast, and is served between the fish and the joint."

- Excerpt from giants' cookbook

There was a recipe for Marshwiggle as well, and they decided to make a run for it out the back door while the cook was asleep. There was a chase, but the three of them fell through an old entrance under the ruins and found themselves away from the giants, but quite unable to see in the dark.

Prince Rilian
"Many come down. Few return to the Sunlit Lands."

- An Earthman

When a dim light did appear, it was held by what looked like an army of strangely disfigured creatures called Earthmen. They were there to take the three of them to their "queen", and were very grim in doing so. The journey was long and dark, and took them all the way across Underland, so that they began to doubt if they would ever see the "Sunlit Lands" - as the Earthmen called Overland - again. This was especially diffucult for Jill, as she suffered from claustrophobia.

They crossed a large lake known as the Sunless Sea and found a city on the other side. At the top of it was the Dark Castle, the place where they were being taken. The queen was elsewhere tending to her own business, and they were asked to wait.

"You will know the lost prince, if you find him, by this: that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name, in the name of Aslan."

- The Fourth Sign

While they were waiting, the Knight who had been with the Lady of the Green Kirtle on the road came to them. This time he talked, and was in fact quite courteous. He offered them food and drink and conversation while the waited for his Lady, but from his talk the three of them soon wondered if he was not quite mad. He claimed that the Queen was going to conquer a world that lay above and set him up as king over it and next to her. As "night" came on, the Knight's speech became almost crazy, and he commanded the three of them to hide in a different room while the guards came in to bind him. He explained to them that every night a fit took him, and in the form of a snake he would kill whoever came near. The Lady, he said, was the only one who could control him when he was like that. The three of them hid, and guards came and bound the Knight into a tall silver chair. When the guards had left, he told them again that no matter what he said to them in his fits, they must not free him, for he would be unable to stop from killing them.

"By all fears and loves, by the bright skies of Overland, by the great Lion, by Aslan himself, I charge you-"

- Prince Rilian

Once the "enchantment" overcame him, all that the Knight would say was to beg them to release him from the chair, trying desperately to persuade them that it was now that he was himself and all the rest of the time enchanted. Upon hearing the words of the fourth sign from Aslan, the three of them decided that they would have to risk it, and they cut the Knight loose. Newly freed, he grabbed a sword and Jill believed he meant to kill them all, but instead he turned on the chair that had imprisoned him and cut it to shreds. He then introduced himself as Prince Rilian, and expressed his gratitude for his salvation.

The Real Snake
It was just after this that the Lady of the Green Kirtle and Queen of the Underland came into the chamber. She quickly took in was what had happened, and became quite angry. She cast a spell into the fire and attempted to make all four of them forget that there ever was any such place as Narnia, or blue sky, or wind. But her spell was no match for Puddleglum. Rilian was silent and Eustace and Jill repeated the witches words that "It was all a dream," but the brave Marshwiggle would not be taken in. Trying to think of things that they knew existed to fight back the Witch's poison, it was Jill who remembered Aslan. When she said his name the others remembered as well and Puddleglum put his hands in the fire, breaking the spell. The witch was outraged, and she transformed into a giant green serpent. Rilian drew his blade and fought with the snake, defeating it with the help of Eustace and Puddleglum. Jill could only hope she would not faint.

With the Queen's death all of the enchantments that had help her Underworld together were broken, giving chaos and turmoil free reign. A chasm broke open, deep and broad, filled with fire and leading to the land of Bism. Many Earthmen were falling into it, but Rilian knew of a passage that the Queen had commanded the Earthmen to did up to the surface that was nearly complete. He led Jill and the others to it, and they struggled to did through the last few feet of earth. Once they did, the realized that they were in Narnia! Wonderful as it was to be outside once again, and with Rilian no less, the dreadful truth of the Witch's plan became clear: she had intended to use Rilian to conquer his own land, and to use his name as an excuse to set herself up next to him as Queen.

Soon after Caspian returned from the voyage he had left on when Jill and Eustace had arrived, but he did not live to see the long and successful reign of his son who was now the King of Narnia. Aslan took the children back to his country and the door back to their world and their school, and his roar frightened the bullies who were still coming after them so badly that they were much better behaved from then on. Jill remained great friends with Eustace and things became much better at their school after their adventures.

Finding Tirian
Jill returned to Narnia with Eustace in its last days and helped free King Tirian, the seventh king of Narnia after Rilian. The Seven Friends of Narnia had gotten together for a dinner, partly to reminisce about their trips to Narnia and partly because some of them had gotten the feeling that something was wrong in Narnia, and that they were needed. During the meal, the image of a man dressed in Narnian garb appeared transparent before them, and would not speak even at the command of the High King. After he disappeared, it was decided that they needed to get into Narnia quickly and however possible. Jill and Eustace were the only ones who had not been told by Aslan that they could not return, and so Peter and Edmund went to get the magic rings that Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer had used to get to Narnia at it's very beginning. Somehow that they did not understand, they found themselves in Narnia before the rings even made it off of the train. They knew well enough that they were in Narnia, especially when they saw the man who had appeared at dinner tied to a nearby tree. He introduced himself as Tirian, King of Narnia, and Jill and Eustace promised to help him however they could.

Stable Hill
The situation, however, was far worse than either of the children realized. They discovered the False Aslan, the donkey Puzzle, and Jill saved his life by convincing Tirian that it was not Puzzle's fault and that he was forced to do his part in the plot devised by Shift the ape. The Calormens had made a deal with Shift and were taking over Narnia, but the ape was quickly losing control. The culmination of it all was what is known as the Battle of Stable Hill, in which Jill fought and killed at least two Calormenes, a talking Wolf, and one Satyr (Wraggle). While the battle was going on, Jill, Eustace, and Tirian were thrown into a stable where the Calormens claimed a terrible monster waited to eat them. Instead of a monster however, they found themselves in a great green field with trees and a blue sky. Nearby stood a shabby wooden door - the one they had come through into the stable. Strangely, there was nothing on the other side, but when one opened the door there was darkness outside it. Also in the field were Jill's other friends, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Digory and Polly. But the older ones looked young once again, and all were dressed in fine Narnian cloth, and the Pevensies wore crowns as befit their titles. From this field Jill witnessed the end of the Narnia that she had known. Aslan himself arrived and explained to the Friends of Narnia that there had been a terrible crash at the train station, and that back home in their own world they were dead.This meant that Jill was in Aslan's Country for the second and last time, and that this time she would never have to leave.

Personality and skills
Jill Pole was quite skilled with a Bow and arrows, and she was also good at moving quietly through forested areas and tracking. She was also a good Horse rider, having gone to a horse riding school over one of her school holidays. She was a Girl Guide at one point. Jill was confident, respectful, and a bit bossy at times, she was also adventurous and loved to face challenges. She hated being in dark, underground places. Jill was a typical teenage girl and, though quite stubborn, a very enlightening companion to her friends. Many young girls can relate to her.

Behind the Scenes

 * Camilla Power played Jill Pole in the BBC version of The Silver Chair.