The Silver Chair




 * You may be looking for the item, the Silver Chair

'''Eustance Scrubb, who has previously entered Narnia with his cousins, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie, returns to the mystical world with his friend, Jill Pole. They are given a mission from the Great Lion in Aslan's country, and are then blown into Narnia itself.

NARNIA...where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans, where a prince is put under an evil spell... and where the adventure begins.

Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor... or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face-to-face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be saved.

Enter this enchanted world countless times in The Chronicles of Narnia

-from opening page of The Silver Chair 50th year edition.



Plot
Eustace Scrubb is now at boarding school. While hiding from bullies he meets a girl, Jill Pole, and mentions that he has visited a magical land called Narnia, and they both wish they were there. Immediately after, they are chased by bullies, and in desperation they try a door in the outer wall of the school. They go through it and find themselves in another world: Aslan's Country, a beautiful forest on a high mountain.

Eustace falls off the high cliff trying to rescue Jill, who is showing off, and is blown into Narnia on Aslan's breath. Meanwhile, Jill stays behind and meets Aslan. He tells her that they were called into Narnia to find the lost Prince Rilian, Caspian's only son. Aslan tells her that there will be four signs by which she will be guided to find the Prince:

"These are the signs by which I will guide you in your quest. First, as soon as the boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia, he will meet and old and dear friend. He must greet that friend at once; if he does, you will both have good help. Second, you must journey out of Narnia to the North till you come to the ruined city of the ancient giants. Third, you shall find a writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you. Fourth, 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."

- Aslan

With this, Jill is also blown by Aslan's breath into Narnia.

Jill arrives at Cair Paravel and joins Eustace watching an aged king boarding a ship and sailing away. Jill asks him if he recognizes a former friend, but he doesn't recognise anyone. After talking with Trumpkin, the dwarf, Eustace is shocked to learn that the aged king is King Caspian, his old friend, who was close to his own age on his last visit to Narnia. Caspian has just left on a quest to Aslan's country to seek help from the Great Lion as to who should succeed him as king. They have muffed the first sign.

Jill and Eustace are welcomed by King Caspian's court, but they must steal away from the castle at night on the advice of Glimfeather, an owl. He tells them that search for the prince is now forbidden, due to the many brave and noble Narnians who previously ventured forth, but never returned. Another of the owls tells them the story of Prince Rilian, after which they are carried by the owls to the home of a Narnian creature called a Marshwiggle, on the borders of Ettinsmoor.

The Marshwiggle, named Puddleglum, agrees to come with them on their quest, and they set out travelling north through Ettinsmoor. After many days on the road, they meet the Lady of the Green Kirtle, dressed in green, riding with a silent companion in armor. She suggests that they stop at the castle of Harfang to refresh themselves. Upon reaching Harfang, a land of giants, they are welcomed into the castle. The next day, the companions realize that Harfang is built upon an ancient city of the giants, which they passed without recognising - they have missed Aslan's second sign. But they also find out that the giants have been warm and friendly because they intend to cook the humans and eat them for their autumn feast. They escape Harfang with the giants in hot persuit. Running through the ancient city, they come upon a large stone, engraved with the words "Under Me". They accidentally drop down a hole directly under the stone. Puddleglum points out that this is the third of Aslan's signs.

Down the hole they find a huge world of caves called Underland. They are captured by the native gnomes, who take them on a long journey to turn them over to the Queen of Underland. When they reach the Queen's underground palace the gnomes are about to lock them up when they are interrupted by a young man who lives in an apartment in the palace, and who invites them to join him. It turns out that the Queen of Underland is the Lady of the Green Kirtle which they met, and he was the silent companion in armor. The man tells the companions of how the "Queen's Grace" has saved him from many enchantments, but that one enchantment remains. Each night for an hour he goes mad, and is tied to a Silver Chair so he cannot hurt himself or others. He explains that no matter what happens, they must not unbind him from the chair, claiming that he would first become a wild man and kill his friends, and then turn into a serpent. He also tells them that the Queen is planning to make him King of a world in Overland. She has told him that an army of her gnomes will break out of Underland by digging their way to the top, and then take control of Overland. When the gnomes come that evening to bind the man to the chair, the children and the Marshwiggle hide so that the gnomes do not spot them. They come out of hiding again to see the young man bound to the Silver Chair. He soon goes into a fit, and begins pleading with them to release him.

"Quick! I am sane now. If only I could get out of this enchanted chair, it would last. But every night they bind me, and so every night my chance is gone. But you are not enemies. I am not your prisoner. Quick! Cut these cords."

- Rilian

The man continues to plead for his release until Jill says she can "hardly bear it." Finally, the prisoner says "...by Aslan I charge you!"

- Rilian

The travellers gasp; it is Aslan's fourth sign. They are afraid to let this howling maniac loose. But since he called to them in the name of Aslan, they feel they must, even if he kills them. The companions free the bound man, who then leaps up and grabs his sword. But instead of killing them, he hacks the Silver Chair to bits, so the witch could never use it to enchant another victim.

The man turns and thanks them, and tells them that he is Prince Rilian, the son of Caspian X. But before they can formulate a plan of escape, the Lady of the Green Kirtle enters. She puts an enchanted green substance on the fire, which makes them sleepy and makes thinking difficult. Then she begins to speak hypnotically, convincing all of them that there is no world but Underland, no sun, no Aslan. The others slowly fall under the spell. However, Puddleglum is able to resist the magic longer than the others, and he bravely steps forward and stamps out the fire with his bare foot, rousing the others out of their magical stupor. The Queen is enraged, and she turns herself into the same horrible green serpent that killed Rilian's mother, and tries to kill Rilian. Rilian defends himself and hacks off the snake's head, assisted by Puddleglum and Eustace.

It is soon evident that with the death of the Queen the whole of Underland is caving in. They set forth to escape to the surface, racing the rising level of water that is inundating the underground city. They encounter the Queen's gnome servants again and the companions prepare to fight, thinking that the gnomes are going to prevent their escape. But the gnomes are celebrating and welcome them; the witch's spell enslaving them was broken upon her death. To escape, Rilian takes them up the tunnel where the Queen's army was about to break out to invade Overland. They finally reach the end, where there was only a few feet of soil between them and the surface. The climb out and find themselves in Narnia - it was the country the Queen was going to invade.

The Narnians immediately take Rilian to see his father, King Caspian X, whose ship has just landed. On the voyage Aslan appeared to Caspian in a vision, telling him to return home where he would find his son. The bedridden King has a joyous reunion with his son after so many years of separation, but only moments later, Caspian X dies.

Aslan appears, and he takes Eustace and Jill away from Narnia and back to Aslan's Country from whence they began. There they witness Caspian's resurrection after death. His body grows younger until he leaps up as a young man, greeting Eustace. Then Caspian asks Aslan a favor - he always wanted to visit Earth. So Caspian and Aslan return through the door to the school along with Eustace and Jill. They give the bullies at the school such a fright that the headmaster calls the police with wild stories about a lion and lunatics. The end result is that the headmaster is fired and the bullies are expelled. Meanwhile, Caspian and Aslan have gone back to Narnia.