Lamp-post



"It will not go out of my mind that if we pass this post and lantern, either we shall find strange adventures or else some great changes of our fortunes."

- Lucy Pevensie

The Lamp-post was a major landmark in Narnia, located in the north-western part of the country. This area, named Lantern Waste, was thickly forested and populated by Fauns, Dryads, and other woodland creatures. Resembling a London streetlamp, the lamp-post stood in the middle of the forest and shone day and night. It was at the lamp-post that Lucy Pevensie first met Mr. Tumnus, who told her that it marked the beginning of Narnia.

The Lamp-post originated on the first day of Narnia's creation, from a bar of iron that Queen Jadis (the White Witch) had torn from a London lamp-post, which she had thrown at Aslan. Aslan, at the time, was creating the living things of Narnia through his song, which made the ground of Narnia magically fertile, and gave birth to all the animals and plants of the world. The iron bar fell to the ground, and, under the influence of Aslan's song, grew into a new and full-sized lamppost in just a few hours.

The Lamp-post's ability to burn continuously without fuel (old London streetlamps ran on gas) may have been due to the fact that it is an organic living thing, not a manufactured artifact, as other street-lamps are.

The ultimate fate of the Lamp-post is unknown. It is possible that it endured through the ages of Narnia's existence, and continued to shine until all the light went out, and Narnia came to an end. This, however, seems rather unlikely.

Most of the action in the last days of Narnia took place in the area of Lantern Waste, which is where the lamp-post was located. The lamp-post was never mentioned, and, apparently, never seen. This makes it highly unlikely that the lamp-post still existed by that point in Narnia's history.

It may have been extinguished or destroyed by invaders, such as the Telmarines or the Calormenes, after the Pevensies left Narnia. It is also possible that, as it was a living thing that grew from the ground, it may have eventually died.

Behind the Scenes

 * Though the Lamp-post is an important feature in both The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it is never seen or mentioned again after those books.
 * The Disney adaption of The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe portrays the lamp-post as an aging thing.
 * C S Lewis based the Lamp-post on those he saw in Malvern, UK, while he was at school. Examples can still be found around the town to this day.