Narnia (nation)

The name Narnia refers to not only the Narnian world, but especially to the country of Narnia within it, which its creator, Aslan the great lion, filled with talking animals and mythical creatures. Narnia is a land of rolling hills rising into low mountains to the south, and is predominantly forested except for marshlands in the north. The country is bordered on the east by the Eastern Ocean, on the west by a great mountain range, on the north by the River Shribble, and on the south by a continental divide.

The economic heart of the country is the Great River of Narnia, which enters the country from the northwest on an east-southeasterly course to the Eastern Ocean. The seat of government] is Cair Paravel, at the mouth of the Great River.

Inhabitants
There are several notable races that inhabit Narnia and the surrounding countries. These include Dwarfs, all manner of Talking Beasts, and even Pegasi, Centaurs, Fauns, and Giants.

Time
British visitors to Narnia observe that the passage of time while they are away is unpredictable. The tendency is for more time to pass in Narnia than at home, but this is not universally true.

Creation of Narnia
The Creation of Narnia was witnessed by six creatures; Jadis, Empress of Charn; Digory Kirke; Polly Plummer; Andrew Ketterly; Frank, a cabby; and Strawberry, his cabhorse. This group was brought to the unmade Narnian world by accident during a failed attempt by Digory to transfer Jadis from London in our world back to her own world of Charn.

Aslan began the creation soon after they arrived, using song to call forth the stars, sun, and eventually all landforms, plants, and animals as well. When he was finished, Aslan selected certain animals to be Talking Animals, giving to them, and all other magical creatures, Narnia as their new home.

Aslan next anointed its first rulers, the cab driver and his wife (who had been called to Narnia by Aslan), as King Frank I and his wife Queen Helen and commanded them to rule peacefully over the talking beasts. Aware that the evil witch-queen Jadis had entered his new land, Aslan sent Digory on a mission to retrieve a magic apple from a garden located in the Western Wild beyond Narnia. When he returned, the apple was planted by the river where it immediately grew into a tree which, as Aslan explained, would protect Narnia from Jadis for many years.

Aslan allowed Digory to take one of the apples from the new tree back with him to our world for his ill mother. After she had eaten it, Digory planted the core in his garden where it grew into a great apple tree. Many years later the tree was blown down in a storm and the now Professor Kirke had its wood made into a wardrobe.

The Golden Age
The land of Narnia was in peace for hundreds of years after its creation. This peace lasted until, eventually, Jadis the Witch-Queen returned (presumably the protector tree that Digory had planted had by then collapsed) and bound the land in ice and snow for one hundred years, making it always winter and never Christmas.

When four children named Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy found their way into Narnia through Professor Kirke's magic wardrobe, they happened to arrive at a time when the great Lion Aslan had returned, and the hundred years of winter were ending. Becoming part of his court, they fought in the first great Battle of Beruna Ford and defeated the White Witch. Aslan then fulfilled an ancient Narnian prophecy and made the children Kings and Queens of Narnia. Because of the great prosperity Narnia experienced under their reign, this period of Narnian history is known as its Golden Age.

Destruction of Narnia
The world of Narnia was finally destroyed some two hundred years later during the reign of King Tirian, son of King Erlian and seventh in descent from Rilian.

The events that culminated in its destruction were begun by a talking ape named Shift who had constructed an elaborate conspiracy in a selfish attempt to 'modernize' the kingdom of Narnia to his liking. By dressing a donkey in a lion's skin and claiming him to be Aslan, Shift began surreptitiously gaining control of the western portion of the country by forcing the inhabitants to do his bidding in the lion's name. He then made contact with the current Calormen regime, inviting them to take advantage of the situation and fulfill their centuries-old goal of conquering Narnia. A small group of soldiers under command of Captain Rishda Tarkaan was soon sent and by the time King Tirian learned of the ape's traitorous plans they were well on the way to completion.

With the help of Eustace and Jill (who arrived in time to rescue the king from capture), Tirian attempted to rally Narnia and drive out the invaders, but thanks to the dividing effect the faux-Aslan had had on the populace and the simultaneous capture of Cair Paravel by a Calormen fleet, his efforts were unsuccessful. Tirian and his remaining supporters were eventually forced into a last stand against Rishda's army in the Battle of Stable Hill that ultimately ended in the Narnian army's defeat.

When this occurred, Aslan proclaimed the end of Narnia and destroyed it, calling all of its inhabitants to him in the process. All the creatures of Narnia who had been faithful to Aslan were taken with him into his own land where they met previous people who had lived in Narnia and died. Aslan's land was bigger and better than the old Narnia, because it was the real one, whereas the old Narnia had been just a copy of Aslan's land.

Human contact
There are seven documented events of contact between the world of men and the world of Narnia. Dates are taken from a timeline provided in the book Past Watchful Dragons by Walter Hooper (ISBN 0020519702).


 * In The Magician's Nephew, four humans, Frank (last name unknown), Andrew Ketterley, and children Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, were present at the creation of Narnia, having been brought there by a series of unfortunate events. The same day, Aslan called Frank's wife, Helen, from England, and the two remained in Narnia as King and Queen. The children and Andrew returned to London.
 * In Narnian Year 460, as alluded to in Prince Caspian, six human pirates from the South Sea entered the land of Telmar through a magic cave. They remained in Telmar and their descendants formed the Telmarine civilization.
 * In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in Narnian Year 1000, four siblings, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, entered Narnia through a wardrobe Digory had built from the wood of a magical Narnian tree. Aslan returned to Narnia at the same time, defeated the foreign ruler Jadis, now known as the White Witch, and set up the four children as kings and queens. They ruled for fifteen years before returning to England back in the state of their childhood.
 * In Prince Caspian, in Narnian Year 2303, the Pevensie children were summoned to Narnia by magic to help remove a Telmarine usurper King Miraz from the Narnian throne and establish the teenage Prince Caspian as king. After this, Aslan allows the Telmarines, descendants of the pirates who had arrived long ago, to go back to an island in the South Sea if they so wish.
 * In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, in Narnian Year 2306, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie and Eustace Scrubb entered Narnia through a magic painting, and took part in Caspian's voyage to the edge of the world.
 * In The Silver Chair, in Narnian Year 2376, Aslan brought Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole to Narnia, where they rescued Rilian, son of the now elderly Caspian, from his enchanted captivity. Caspian died, but was resurrected and briefly crossed over into England in 1942 to help remove a corrupt school administrator.
 * In The Last Battle, in 1949, King Tirian of Narnia appeared to the friends of Narnia in England, and Aslan brought Eustace and Jill to Narnia in Narnian Year 2575 to assist Tirian at the end of his reign.