Aslan’s Country



"Oh, Aslan, will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?" "I shall be telling you all the time. But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder."

- Lucy and Aslan

Aslan's Country was a divine and legendary land that was visible (but not normally accessible) from the world of Narnia in the sky beyond the earthly atmosphere to the farthest east of the Great Eastern Ocean, ruled by the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea and his son, Aslan. It lay beyond the Silver Sea and the Utter East, and indeed ringed around the entire world, as well as above the Stars of its sky and possibly beneath its bottom.

It is described as a series of mountains, more than 80 time taller than any mountain on Earth, but without snow or ice. Instead, Aslan's Country has a clear blue sky, lush green grass, colourful birds, and beautiful trees. There are entrances to Aslan's Country from all worlds, including Narnia and the rising sun at the eastern edge of the world, and indeed rings around the whole Narnian world.

Aslan's Country was where the good Narnians went to after they had died. Being beyond the rim of the world, it was probably inaccessible to living Narnians without Aslan's intervention, though Reepicheep reached Aslan's Country by sailing off the edge of the world in a coracle during the voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Because Aslan's Country was on the exterior rim of the edge around the world of Narnia, it is unknown if it can be classified as belonging just to that world, or a mutual paradise that all of the worlds and parts of the universe share, with this section of Narnia just being one of the many entrances into Aslan's Country. The land had great mountains and was the place where the dead from the worlds lingered for eternity in euphoria and bliss. It can be entered, however, from any world, not just the world of Narnia. At the end of the World of Narnia (when Aslan brings about its destruction), it is revealed that Narnia is a mere testing-ground duplicate of Aslan's Country, so that Aslan's Country itself is sometimes referred to as the True Narnia (and the Narnia they lived and died in as Shadowlands). It was here that the real story began in the Garden of Youth, and it is even possible that Wood Between the Worlds could have been a part of Aslan's Country, since it was exterior to all the Shadowland worlds. It is also said by Aslan that every world leads to his country, hinting that Aslan's Country is actually Heaven.

Eustace and Jill's visit
The only first-hand description of Aslan's Country comes from Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole's brief visits there (extraordinarily, while still alive – the only humans to have ever experienced such an event) at the beginning and end of their quest to find Prince Rilian. They were admitted briefly, to receive the four signs for finding Rilian, before being blown by Aslan through the air into Narnia. The land appeared to be at the top of tall mountains – more than twenty times the height of any mountains on Earth, but not covered by snow despite their tremendous height – at the eastern edge of the Narnian world; it was a beautiful forested parkland, inhabited by birds who made noises more musical than birds usually do, with clear streams running through it. Just before returning to Earth, they returned to Aslan's Country and witnessed the resurrection of their friend King Caspian X, who had just died an old man. Aslan placed his body in a clear stream of that country, and he seemed to get younger, the years melting from him, until he came back to life as a young man.

Geography
The "further up and further in" one travels in Aslan's Country, the more real and beautiful it gets. Mr. Tumnus compared it to an onion, only as you go in, each ring gets larger than the last. Spurring out from the mountains of Aslan's Country (one of which was the mountain Jill and Eustace found when they escaped from Experiment House into Narnia) are the "real" versions of every world ever created.

Humans
Seven of the eight children who went to Narnia from Earth entered Aslan's Country after the Last Battle, and were kings and queens there (only Susan Pevensie was absent, and it is not known if she joined them at a later time after living her own life on earth). The three Pevensies (Peter, Edmund and Lucy) entered Aslan's Country after they were killed in their own world by a train accident, and were joined there by Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb who died in the same accident, but got to Aslan's Country through the stable at the end of the world in Narnia instead.

Aravis and Emeth were two (known) righteous Calormene and former devotees of Tash that entered Aslan's Country. As Aslan told the latter:

"I take to me the services which thou hast done to Tash. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him."

- Aslan

Narnians
All good Narnians entered Aslan's Country before the end of Narnia during the Later Ages, entering when they were thrown into the stable at the Battle of Stable Hill. King Tirian was the first to head through the door, but every Narnian who fought and died by his side in the Battle at Stable Hill was transported to Aslan's Country after their deaths, as was the case with Caspian X.

Another Narnian of note was Reepicheep, who set out to sail to the end of the world after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and entered Aslan's Country when he sailed over the fixed wave at the end of the world.

List of known inhabitants

 * Aslan
 * He-Beaver and She-Beaver
 * Caspian X
 * Cornelius
 * Digory Kirke
 * Erlian
 * Eustace Scrubb
 * Fledge
 * King Frank and Queen Helen
 * Glimfeather
 * Jewel
 * Jill Pole
 * Liliandil
 * Peter, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie
 * Mr. Pevensie and Mrs. Pevensie
 * Polly Plummer
 * Puddleglum
 * Reepicheep
 * Rilian
 * Tirian
 * Trufflehunter
 * Tumnus

Evil Beings
Worshippers of Tash (with some exceptions) and evil Narnians, upon finally meeting Aslan face to face at the stable door, gazed on the Great Lion with terror and hatred. They then swung to their right, his left, and were never seen again by any man or beast. The Talking Beasts lost the gift of speech they were given at the creation of Narnia. It is possible that they are transported to Tash's country. Given that even the author C.S. Lewis does not know their fate, it can be said that their fate is not the most pleasant one.

According to Aslan, even if someone is a devoted worshipper of the demon Tash, and that person is of a noble heart, all of his/her devotions to Tash are accepted by Aslan as though they are for Aslan. So, all the good worshippers of Tash are in fact devoted themselves to Aslan all along, and they are worthy to enter his country for eternal bliss. This can be seen in the cases of Aravis and Emeth.

Susan Pevensie
When Jill and Eustace enter Narnia for the last time Susan is no longer a "friend of Narnia", since she no longer believes in Narnia and has become more interested in worldly things. Therefore, she is not present at the end of Narnia like her siblings. This does not mean however that she will never enter Aslan's Country again, since there are ways to do that other than from Narnia.

Appearances and Entrances
Just before Aslan sent Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace back to England after their voyage with King Caspian, he told them that there was a way into his country from all the worlds. Of the way from Earth, he said only that it lies across a river, and that he was the great Bridge-Builder. After the seven friends of Narnia died in a railway accident on Earth, Aslan brought them to his country (though Eustace and Jill were sent first to help Tirian in his war against Shift), where they remained for eternity. Thus, the way to Aslan's Country for those loyal to him is through death.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third published book of the series, King Caspian X of Narnia set out to the eastern edge of the world to find the Seven Lost Lords of Narnia. It was said that one could find Aslan's Country at the furthest east, and at the end of his voyage he managed to see the same mountains of Aslan's County that Jill and Eustace were to be summoned to by Aslan before their quest to find Prince Rilian. Just below the mountains at the eastern edge of the sea there was a large wave, endlessly fixed in one position like the top of a waterfall; here Reepicheep sailed over the wave, reaching Aslan's Country directly.

The Silver Chair
At the beginning of The Silver Chair, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole escape from bullies at a boarding school in England and find themselves in Aslan's Country, where they meet Aslan. They are then blown to Narnia by Aslan's breath. At the end of the book they find themselves back in Aslan's Country, where they meet the resurrected King Caspian and are sent back to England.

The Last Battle
At the end of The Last Battle, there is a stable door used by Aslan as a special entrance into His Country just before he ends the Narnian World. From the outside, it is the size of any ordinary stable, and for creatures that have not believed in Aslan, the stable door leads into a stable that is said to hold the false god "Tashlan". But for those who have believed in Aslan, including King Tirian, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, the door leads to part of Aslan's Country, which is infinitely large. It is there that they meet the three Pevensie children (excluding Susan Pevensie) and Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, all made kings and queens in young adulthood.

Aslan later summons all creatures in the world of Narnia to the stable door to be judged: all creatures look into Aslan's eyes and are separated; those who rejoice at seeing him go into the stable on his right and there spend eternity in Aslan's Country; those who hate him go off into the darkness behind the stable to an uncertain fate. The Narnian world is then destroyed.

The part of Aslan's Country that they are brought to is described as a larger Narnia: it is exactly like the old one, only perfect. They discovered that their surroundings were like the Narnia they had just left, except "the new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more." The colours were more colourful, the mountains looked larger, and everything was "more real." The fruit of that country was so wonderful that it would make any fruit in our world (or any other) taste like medicine.

Digory Kirke described the old Narnia as an imperfect shadow or copy of the Narnia in Aslan's Country, and likened the difference to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, saying "It's all in Plato, all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them at these schools!"

It is also discovered that there are several worlds like it that jut out from the mountains of Aslan's Country. It is where creatures from all worlds come to live at their death or the end of their world.

Aslans Land