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"And to the Clear Northern Sky, I give you King Peter the Magnificent!"
Aslan[src]

King Peter Pevensie (1927-1949) was the eldest of the Pevensie children, who ruled the Kingdom of Narnia during its Golden Age. Responsible and caring by nature, he always wanted to do what was best for his siblings. As the eldest sibling, he was named High King over his brother and sisters. His Narnian titles included High King Peter the Magnificent, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel, Peter Wolfsbane, and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion.

The White Witch

Bombing of London and Refuge

Peter Pevensie lived in London, England, until he and his siblings were evacuated to the countryside by train because of the air-raids of World War II. The children stayed at an old mansion belonging to Professor Kirke. The house had extensive grounds, but there were many rainy days that were dreary.

Deciding to explore the house, they all split up, and when Lucy came back, she claimed to have been gone for hours. Everyone thought she was playing a game, but when she insisted, they followed her to a wardrobe kept all by itself in a spare room upstairs. It turned out to be an perfectly ordinary wardrobe, and Peter encouraged her to forget her joke.

"This is going to be exciting enough without pretending."
―Peter Pevensie[src]

The next day it was still raining, and a game of hide and seek was started. Moments later, Edmund and Lucy came to find the others, with Lucy once more insisting that there was a country inside the wardrobe, and that Edmund had been in there, too, but Edmund said he had just been teasing her, at which point Lucy became upset, and rushed from the room. Peter told Edmund off for it, and expressed fears that there might be something wrong with his youngest sister. During the night, Peter and Susan became so worried about her that they decided to go and speak to the Professor about it.

Logic

"Logic! Why don't they teach logic at these schools?"
―Professor Kirke[src]

The Professor did not turn out to be the help that they expected, but help of a different sort. He helped them to establish that Lucy was and always had been more truthful than Edmund, and that she was not mad, which you could tell by talking and looking at her. Therefore, she had to be telling the truth. Peter and Susan were stunned at this, and Peter pointed out that if what she said were real, she would have had to have been there for ages, but Lucy had had no time to go anywhere. The Professor suggested that another world would likely run on its own time, while a young girl would not likely come up with that idea on her own. So, Peter made sure that Edmund left Lucy alone about it, and the subject was not spoken of at all. [1]

Narnia

"Rise up, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane, Knight of Narnia."
Aslan[src]

The Professor's house was often toured by visitors, and the housekeeper, Mrs.Macready, led them on a tour around. The Macready disliked children in the first place, but especially when she was leading visitors through the house.

One day, the children were caught with her and a group between them and the door, and speedily headed as far back into the house as they could. Macready seemed to be following them, until eventually the only place left to go was into the spare room where the wardrobe was. It was Edmund who urged them all inside the wardrobe to hide, but when the four of them looked up again, it was snowing. When everyone realized at once that this was the world Lucy had found before hand, Peter was the first to apologize for not believing her.

Putting on some of the coats that they found in the wardrobe, they set out to explore the forest. Edmund made a comment about which direction they should be going, revealing that he had indeed been there before. Peter was angry with his brother, calling him a poisonous beast, but said nothing further. No one spoke to Edmund, and Susan changed the subject by asking where they were going, and Peter decided that Lucy should lead.

Lucy led them to Mr. Tumnus's house, a faun whom she had previously met, only to discover that he had been arrested by the White Witch's Secret Police. She explained that he had been arrested because of her, and eventually Peter agreed that they would do whatever they could to help him.

Father Christmas

Just outside Mr Tumnus's house, a talking beaver found them and took them to his dam. Once there, he told them about a prophecy, which said that two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve would sit on the Four Thrones at Cair Paravel, and bring an end to the Witch and her never-ending winter.

However, Edmund ended up betraying his siblings while they were listening to this, leaving the beaver's dam to find the White Witch. Mr. Beaver explained what had happened, and that the only person who could help Edmund now was Aslan, the Great Lion who was waiting for them at the Stone Table. Peter wanted to save all his siblings, so he agreed to go.

On their way to the Stone Table, Peter received his sword, Rhindon, and shield from Father Christmas when he visited the four children and the beavers. This was a sign that the White Witch's power was finally weakening, and that Aslan was truly in Narnia.[2]

After the siblings arrived at Aslan's Camp, it came under attack by two wolves from the Witch's Secret Police, and Aslan encouraged Peter to fend them off.

In the process, Peter slew the wolf captain Maugrim, for which Aslan knighted him Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane or Fenris-Bane, and he became the first member of the Most Noble Order of the Lion.

Battle of Beruna

Peter commanded the initial formations of Aslan's Army during the Battle of Beruna, during which Peter personally dueled with the White Witch herself, until Aslan finished her.

The battle had been going ill, until Aslan returned to his army with Susan and Lucy, as well as every Narnian who had been turned to stone and kept in the castle by the Witch. Soon after, the battle was won, and the Narnians were victorious.

High King of Narnia

After the battle, Peter and his siblings were taken to Cair Paravel, and crowned by Aslan as the new monarchs of Narnia. Peter became High King Peter the Magnificent, Lord of Cair Paravel, and Emperor of the Lone Islands, with each of his siblings sharing the throne. The ancient Golden Age Prophecy had come to fruition, marking the final end of the Long Winter, and the beginning of Narnia's Golden Age.

One of King Peter's few dilemmas during the Golden Age was the Ettinsmoor War, where he drove away the Giants from the North.

In Narnian-year 1015, the four Pevensies, now adults, hunted an enigmatic White Stag, which led them back through the Wardrobe, and into their own world, where they became children once again, disappearing from Narnia. The children told Professor Kirke all about what had happened, and hesitantly asked if he thought they would ever be able to get back to Narnia. He assured them that they would, as long as they didn't try to get there.[3]

Telmarine Invasion

Old Narnia in Danger

One Earth-year later, the Pevensies were pulled back into Narnia, due to an emergency call. The Telmarine Prince Caspian X had blown Queen Susan's Horn (one of her gifts from Father Christmas), and brought the Pevensies back into the Narnian world.

Although in Narnian Time it had been over a thousand years since Peter's reign as High King, the Narnians all respected his title (as Aslan said, "Once a King or Queen of Narnia, always a King or Queen of Narnia.").

Peter and Edmund initially met Caspian while saving him from an assassination attempt by his own Black Dwarf ally Nikabrik, and the Dwarf's allies, a Hag and werewolf.[4]

Battle of Aslan's How

The Pevensie children ultimately helped Caspian defeat his usurping uncle Miraz during the Narnian Revolution. Peter helped out majorly in this by dueling with the tyrant. After the war was won, Peter formally gave authority to Caspian to rule Narnia as the succeeding king.

Peter later confided to Lucy and Edmund that he and Susan had been told by Aslan that they would never again return to Narnia, as they were now too old and had learned everything they could from this world (but Edmund and Lucy would return someday).[5]

The four children then returned to their world, but never forgot Caspian.

Tutoring with the Professor

During the later trips that Peter's siblings took to Narnia, he stayed with Professor Kirke and studied under his guidance.[6]

Aslan's Country: The Phantom and What Followed

"Shadow or spirit or whatever you are, if you are from Narnia, I charge you in the name of Aslan, speak to me. I am Peter the High King."
―Peter Pevensie [src]

When Peter was 22 (Narnian year 2555, English 1949), he and the other Seven Friends of Narnia received a vision of the current ruler of Narnia, King Tirian. Peter ordered him to speak, standing and commanding him again as High King, but the phantom began to fade, leaving all of them with the feeling that something was very wrong in Narnia.

After some discussion, they decided to try and use the Magic Rings that the Professor and Polly Plummer had originally used to get to Narnia, and see if they could set right whatever was going on.

Peter and Edmund went to get the rings, and the others were to meet them at the train station when they got back. By a strange coincidence, they were on the same train as Mr and Mrs. Pevensie. As the train was coming into the station, something went wrong, and there was a horrible crash. The next thing Peter knew, he was dressed in Narnian garb, in a lovely green meadow, along with Edmund, Lucy, the Professor and Mrs. Plummer.

The Real Narnia

"Peter, High King of Narnia, shut the door."
―Aslan [src]

People came steadily through a door that stood in the meadow - a curious thing, as there was nothing on the other side. When King Tirian came through, Peter was the first to introduce himself.

As the World of Narnia was destroyed in the end, Peter was the one that Aslan asked to close the door, and seal off the dead Narnia from the real Narnia, what had always been referred to as Aslan's Country.

Aslan explained that the Narnia they had known and loved had merely been a shadow of the true Narnia, as well as about the accident. Because Peter and the others were, in effect, dead, they would never be sent back home to England again, and could remain in a Narnia that was bigger and better than the one that they loved forever.

Personality

Peter is first and foremost, a big brother, and he takes this responsibility very seriously. He makes it his priority to look after his siblings, especially Lucy in The Lion, the Witch an the Wardrobe as she was very young at the time. He went into near shock when he thought they lost Lucy at the waterfall. Peter also shows great worry when Edmund goes off on his own to see the White Witch. During the Battle of Beruna, he told Edmund to get himself and their sisters home.

Peter has also been known to be quite stubborn and lose his temper. He gets into a lot of arguments with both Susan and Edmund, although it's more of scolding for the latter. In LWW, he calls Edmund a little beast [the book], and a little liar [LWW 2005 movie] after he found out that Edmund had lied about going to the wardrobe and thus hurt Lucy's feelings. He had a hard time adjusting back in his own world, constantly getting in fights. He was too stubborn to accept that he was just a kid. Peter argues with Caspian over battle strategy, and has a hard time accepting that it was as much his fault as Caspian's that the raid on the castle failed [Movie]. He also refused to listen to Lucy about seeing Aslan and then continued to disregard the ruth in her words when they were planning to raid Miraz's castle. In spite of this issue, he is usually ready to take all of the blame, as in LWW when he admits that he shouldn't have been so hard on Edmund. He also feels guilty for not better protecting his brother.

Peter is an emotional being, sometimes letting his emotions cloud his better judgement. When raiding Miraz's castle, he refused to call off the troops because he was angry and wanted revenge on the Telmarines for invading his country.

Despite this, Peter is truly magnificent, and gives one the sense of being around royalty when one is with him. He has good leadership skills, and finds it easy to lead an army into battle. In the Prince Caspian novel, Capsian was in awe of him after they met, and was more than willing to follow his leadership. He is always ready to take responsibility for his actions. After doing some growing up, he readily and humbly accepted that he can longer return to Narnia, this time without spite and anger.

In The Last Battle, he is the one who stops the gossip about Susan before it can go any farther, and he is the one who says it must certainly be allowed to eat the fruit on the trees.

All in all, Peter's good traits seem to outweigh his bad.

Abilities

  • Expert Swordsman: Even before he became the High King of Narnia, Peter already possessed innate yet formidable sword skills - wielding the sword Rhindon, he killed Maugrim during the Battle of Aslan's Camp, and later on, during the First Battle of Beruna, he fought against Jadis (a vastly stronger and more experienced warrior) herself, and Lucy observed that he fought so fiercely and quickly that his sword "flashed like three swords". When he grew to adulthood as the High King, Peter became renowned as "a great warrior" - he defeated the Ettins during the Ettinsmoor War. Also, during the War of Deliverance, Peter directly fought and defeated the taller, more powerfully-built Miraz in a sword duel.

Appearance

When he grew to adulthood as the High King of Narnia, Peter was a tall and deep-chested man.

Disney-Walden Films

  • Peter was portrayed by English actor, William Moseley, in the Disney and Walden Media films: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008), and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010).
  • Peter is portrayed significantly older in the films compared to his age in the books (Note: Each film age corresponds to Moseley's age at the beginning and conclusion of principal photography):
    • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
      • Novel: 13
      • Film: 17
    • Prince Caspian
      • Novel: 14
      • Film: 19-20
    • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
      • Novel: (absent from novel, presumably 15)
      • Film: 22
  • Peter is depicted as a warrior-king who sought to do the right thing at all times. He has an undying love for Aslan, and recognizes him as his leader, friend, and as a father figure. Aslan explained to Peter his responsibility as a born leader, and gave him the support of a father towards his son. Peter in turn respects all of Aslan's choices. In Prince Caspian (2008), There is a rivalry between Peter and Caspian concerning leadership, this rivalry is absent in the novel.
  • Fun Fact: William Moseley and Anna Popplewell (who portrayed Susan in the Disney and Walden Media films) knew each other from a previous audition: an audition for the roles of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, in Chris Columbus' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [UK] (Sorcerer's Stone [USA]).
  • Peter was a student of Hendon House Boarding School, along with Edmund.

Appearances

Protagonists of The Chronicles of Narnia
Protagonists:
Peter PevensieSusan PevensieLucy PevensieEdmund PevensieEustace ScrubbDigory KirkeJill PolePolly PlummerCorAravis TarkheenaCaspian XTirian


Gallery

References

  1. LWW V
  2. LWW X
  3. LWW XVII
  4. PC XII
  5. PC XV
  6. VDT I
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