Whoever was king in Narnia will always be the king of Narnia.
The dictionary will be under the sea, not yet finalized.
BACCHUS, Bromium, Bassareus, Aries - the names of Dionysus, in Greek mythology, the god of the fruitful forces of the earth, vegetation, viticulture,
winemaking, son of Zeus and Semele, daughter of the Theban king. One day, in
while sailing in the Aegean Dionysus was kidnapped by sea robbers
and put him in chains to sell him into slavery, but the chains themselves
fell from the hands of Dionysus; braiding the mast with vines and ivy and
sails of the ship, Dionysus appeared in the form of a bear and a lion. The pirates themselves
rushed into the sea out of fear, turned into dolphins. Everywhere on
On his way, Dionysus teaches people viticulture and winemaking. AT
the procession of Dionysus was attended by Bacchantes, satyrs, maenads or Bassarids with
wands covered with ivy. Girded with snakes, they crushed everything on
their way, engulfed in holy madness. With cries of "Bacchus, Evoe"
they praised Dionysus-Bromius ("stormy", "noisy" and beat tympanums.
Dionysus was also identified with the Egyptian sun god Amun,
the sacred animal of Amun is the ram (ram).
GHOST, werewolf - in Slavic mythology, a werewolf man,
possessing the supernatural ability to transform into a wolf.
GNOMES- in the mythology of the peoples of Europe, small, human-like
creatures that live underground, in the mountains or in the forest. They grow with
child or with a finger, but endowed with supernatural power, wear
long beards and live much longer than humans. In the bowels of the earth
gnomes keep treasures - precious stones and metals; they are skillful
artisans can forge magic rings, swords, etc. Usually
gnomes give good advice to people, but they are also hostile to them (especially
black gnomes).
JINNS- .in Muslim mythology spirits, often evil. According to
muslim tradition, genies are created by Allah from smokeless fire and
are air or fiery bodies with intelligence.
They can take any form and carry out any orders.
DOMOVOI- in East Slavic mythology, the spirit of the house. Represented
in the form of a person, often on the same face as the owner of the house, or as
a small old man with a face covered with white wool. From the well-wisher
The health of livestock depended on the negative or hostile attitude of the brownie.
The brownie often approached evil spirits and, according to beliefs, could
turn into a cat, dog, cow, sometimes a snake, rat or
frog.
DRYADS- in Greek mythology, nymphs, the patroness of trees,
some of them were born and died with the tree. It was believed that
those who plant trees and those who take care of them enjoy a special
patronage of the dryads.
UNICORN- a mythical animal (in early traditions with the body of a bull,
in later ones with the body of a horse, sometimes a goat), referred to by the most
characteristic feature - the presence of one straight long horn on
forehead. In medieval Christian tradition, the unicorn is seen
as a symbol of purity and virginity. In Russian "alphabet books" 16-17
centuries the unicorn is described as a terrible and invincible beast, like
a horse whose strength is in its horn. Unicorn horn
healing properties were attributed (according to folklore ideas
the unicorn purifies the water poisoned by the serpent with its horn).
CENTAURS- in Greek mythology, wild creatures, demi-humans
semi-horses, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets, are distinguished by a violent temper and
intemperance, but some centaurs, such as Chiron, embody
wisdom and benevolence, bring up the heroes of Greek myths.
KIKIMORA- in East Slavic mythology, the evil spirit of the house, a small invisible woman (sometimes considered the wife of a brownie). At night, disturbs small children, confuses yarn, hostile to men.
May harm pets, especially chickens.
http://dragons-nest.ru/glossary/img/hecate.jpg WITCHES, witches - in mythology and folk beliefs, women who have entered into an alliance with the devil (or other evil spirits) in order to acquire supernatural abilities.
Leshy- in East Slavic mythology, an evil spirit, the incarnation
forests as part of space hostile to man. Goblin is the owner
forests and animals, he is represented dressed in an animal skin, sometimes with
animal attributes - horns, hooves.
MINOTAUR- in Greek mythology, a monster-man-bull that lived on
Crete. He was in an underground labyrinth, where he was brought every year
sacrificed seven boys and girls. Athenian prince Theseus voluntarily
went to Crete among those destined to be devoured by the Minotaur,
killed the monster, and with the help of the thread of the royal daughter in love with him
Ariadne got out of the maze.
NAIADES- in Greek mythology, the nymphs of springs, streams and springs, the keeper of the waters. Bathing in their water cures diseases.
Nymphs- in Greek mythology, the deities of nature, its life-giving and fruitful forces: rivers, seas, springs, lakes, swamps, mountains, groves, trees. Some of them are mortal, such as the nymphs of the trees - they are inseparable from the tree in which they live. They are the owners of ancient wisdom, the secrets of life and death. They heal and heal, predict the future.
WEREWOLF
SATIRES- in Greek mythology, the demons of fertility, which were part of
retinue of Dionysus. They are covered with wool, long hair, bearded, with
horse or goat hooves, with horse tails, horse
or goat ears, but their torso and head are human. They are
bullies love wine.
STRENGTHS- in Greek mythology, the demons of fertility, the incarnation
elemental forces of nature. Enter the retinue of Dionysus, ugly, snub-nosed,
thick lips, with bulging eyes, with a horse's tail and hooves. They are
are famous for their cocky disposition and passion for wine. Depicted seated
on a donkey and sipping wine from a skin.
SIRENS- in Greek mythology, demonic creatures, semi-
half-bird women who inherited a divine voice from their mother muse.
TRITON- in Greek mythology, a sea deity, the son of Poseidol. He dwells in the depths of the sea in a golden house. Sea creatures newts love to frolic and blow into shells.
GHOUL- in Slavic mythology, a dead man attacking people and animals.
FAUN- in Roman mythology, the god of forests, fields, pastures, animals. The faun was considered a crafty spirit that stole children.
This time around, Fox 2000 Pictures and Walden Media have teamed up to make the epic sequel as brilliant as its beginning - bringing together everything that is dear to the hearts of many fans of books and films. Succumbing to the wave of pre-holiday mood, we decided to refresh our memory of the origin story of the great cinema saga, so beloved by the Russian moviegoer.
After the release of the first part of the film cycle "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in 2005, the film immediately received high praise from world film critics and was awarded many film awards: the film received an Oscar for best make-up, was recognized as the best family film, as well as the most inspiring film of 2005 (Movieguide Faith & Values Awards). The tape was filmed based on the first book by Clive Lewis from the Chronicles of Narnia series. Published from 1950 to 1956 and long regarded as one of the most beloved and brilliant literary works, Lewis's books have sold over 100,000,000 copies in over 50 different languages. In the story, the mother sends four children (Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy) from bombed London to the village, to the old professor - a family friend. In his house, the children discover a mysterious wardrobe, through which they enter the fairy-tale land of Narnia, where talking animals and fantastic creatures live. The casting took a long time - the initial selection began in 2002, when the director of the film, Andrew Adamson, watched two thousand five hundred videos, listened to one thousand eight hundred children, held training sessions with four hundred, and only after long qualifying stages, finally met with four finalists for the main the roles of the Pevensie children. Filming took place in New Zealand, Poland and the Czech Republic and took just over 8 months.
In 2008, the second film was released: "", which became one of the most popular films of that year. According to the plot, Narnia was conquered by cruel Telmarines, who drove the natives into dense forests and impregnable mountains. Prince Caspian, in whose eyes his uncle, the usurper Miraz, commits atrocities, decides to blow the Magic Horn, thanks to which Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy - heroes of the distant past - once again find themselves in their former kingdom. They face a difficult task - to save Narnia. The director of the film, Andrew Adamson, decided to take on the adaptation of Lewis's books in the order they were published. “Given that the actors grow up, then we will not have a chance to shoot this part,” the director of the picture explained his choice. Prince Caspian is the second published book in the Chronicles of Narnia series and the fourth in chronological order of creation by the author. The Horse and His Boy, completed in the spring of 1950 and published in 1954, is the first book that is not a direct continuation of the previous one. The setting of the novel is during the reign of the Pevensies in Narnia, a period that begins and ends in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Published in 1952, The Dawn Treader or Sailing to the End of the World is a grandiose, epic adventure novel, the third in K.S. Lewis. The story takes place about three Narnian years after the events described in the previous novel, Prince Caspian. During the absence of the two oldest of the Pevensie children, the two youngest, Lucy and Edmund, along with their cousin, discover a painting in the house of their English relatives, which depicts the Dawn Treader, a majestic vessel that looks like a large dragon. Through this picture, the children again find themselves in Narnia, where great adventures await them.
From the second film, Ben Barnes will reprise his role as Caspian. British comedian Simon Pegg will voice Reepicheep, a brave and desperate mouse, and the almighty ruler of Narnia, Lev Aslan, will again speak in the voice of Liam Neeson. Once again, a number of original creatures will appear on screen in addition to humans, including the mysterious creatures called Oxlotops, created through a combination of live motion and computer animation directed by visual effects director Angus Bickerton (“The Da Vinci Code”, “Angels and Demons ”).
Principal photography for The Chronicles of Narnia. The Treader of the Dawn Treader began in Queensland, Australia on July 27, 2009, where the full production process took place over 90 days. Studio shooting was carried out in several film studios Warner Roadshow Studios in the Gold Coast. The title character of the film, the majestic Dawn Treader, was created at the seaside cape of Cleveland Point. After filming outdoors, the 140-foot-tall, 125-ton structure was dismantled into more than fifty pieces and transported back to the studio to shoot further on the set. Filming was completed in November 2009. While Lewis's first Narnia book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is arguably the best-known and most popular of the series, many fans of his work note that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader or the Swim to the ends of the earth" is the best of all seven novels.
From December 10, 2010 you will be able to find yourself with the main characters on the "Traveler of the Dawn Treader", sail to the ends of the world and share with them the delight and awe of extraordinary magic in all cinemas of the country.
“In the world of Narnia, there are almost every mythological creature ever invented,” says Richard Taylor. “And to realize all this is an incredible challenge.” When creating creatures, both computer graphics were used (for example, Tumnus's legs were computer generated, during filming McAvoy walked in poisonous green pants with green dots), as well as dolls and makeup. The dolls were mechanized with radio control. One example of a mechanized doll is the minotaur, during filming three people controlled facial expressions (the first - the jaw and lips, the second - the eyes and eyelids, the third - the ears and nostrils), and there was an actor inside the doll itself.
But, not all animals and creatures are fake. There are also real animals in the film, but there were problems with them. The creators of the picture wanted to deliver 12 deer to New Zealand, which would pull the sleigh of the White Witch. However, the Ministry of Agriculture opposed this idea, citing Q fever, which affects many individuals of North American deer. This disease can easily be transmitted from animals to humans. As a result, I had to make computer deer.
The design of the Narnian things was influenced by the mythology that Lewis borrowed from ancient Greek times, and thus brought diversity to his fairy-tale world. So, for example, on many objects there are images of an apple tree (which was planted at the beginning of Narnia to protect against the White Witch.), And a lion was depicted on Peter's shield.
The book "Lion. The Witch and the Wardrobe” are not just filled with characters from ancient mythology - fauns, centaurs, dryads and maenads. K.S. Lewis, who was well versed in ancient mythology, does not just show us ancient mythological heroes, “cleansed” of everything rude and cruel, but tries not to transfer them to modern reality, despite the fantasy genre.
The writer immerses the ancient image into modern everyday reality only once, depicting the cave of the faun Tumnus in accordance with the tastes of the British gentleman: a burning fireplace in the cave, comfortable armchairs, a family portrait, a home library with books “The Life and Letters of Silenus” (in the anti-myth Silenus - in Greek mythology, an old satyr, the son of Hermes or Pan and one of the nymphs, the uncle and mentor of Dionysus. Often he was drunk, and once Midas found him in such a state, who treated him kindly, and then escorted him back to Dionysus. As a reward, Midas received from Dionysus the gift of turning into gold everything he touched. Silenus had a prophetic gift, and he could be forced to predict the future in a state of drunken sleep. Elderly satyrs, called sileni, constantly appear in Dionysus's retinue as his servants.), "Nymphs and their customs", "A study of common legends", "Is Man a myth".
The episode of the first meeting between Lucy and Mr. Tumnus is interesting. “A few more seconds passed, and a very strange creature appeared from behind the tree. It was a little taller than Lucy and held an umbrella over its head, white with snow. The upper part of his body was human, and his legs, covered with black shiny hair, were goat's, with hooves at the bottom. It also had a tail, which was neatly slung over the hand—the one in which the creature held the umbrella—to keep the tail from dragging in the snow. Wrapped around his neck was a thick red scarf, the color of reddish skin. He had a strange but very nice face with a short pointed beard and curly hair. On both sides of the forehead, horns peeked out of the hair.
Faun in ancient mythology (Pan)- spirit or deity of forests and groves, god of shepherds and fishermen in Greek mythology. This is a cheerful god and companion of Dionysus, always surrounded by forest nymphs, dancing with them and playing the flute for them. It is believed that Pan had a prophetic gift and endowed Apollo with this gift. He liked to frighten travelers with bizarre whispers and rustles, and sometimes he could confuse a person and not show him the way home. There was another role that the faun played with success. These are various divinations and predictions that he whispered with his chosen rustle of the leaves of sacred trees. The god of forests inherited the prophetic gift from his father, the ancient deity Peak, the patron saint of hunters and farmers. If anyone wanted to receive a prediction, he had to come on a certain day to a sacred grove, lie on the fleece of a sacrificed sheep and receive a prophecy in his dream. The faun was considered a crafty spirit that stole children.
So in the case of Lucy, Mr. Tumnus wanted to steal her away to take her to the White Witch, but as a true, well-bred English gentleman, Mr. Tumnus quickly repented of his deed and offered to take Lucy back to the lamppost so that she would get home sooner.
In addition to the faun Tumnus, a large number of other ancient mythological characters are found in the book "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".
Centaurs were in Aslan's army when the peoples of Narnia fought against the White Witch at the Battle of Beruna's Ford. Several centaurs were turned to stone and kept in the White Witch's castle.
Centaurs are very wise and knowledgeable creatures. They are half horse, half human. Centaurs live two to three times longer than normal humans. Very often they become soothsayers, astrologers and healers. The centaurs were always on the side of Aslan, and the kings respected them and often turned to them for advice and help.
Centaurs have two stomachs - human and horse, so it is unprofitable to invite them to visit. They eat for a long time and a lot, both human food and grass. At the same time, no one dares to laugh at the centaurs, they look so majestic and dignified. Also, no one rides centaurs. They can put a rider on themselves only if they themselves want to, and this is considered a very great honor for the rider.
And in ancient mythology, centaurs are wild mortal creatures with the head and torso of a man on the body of a horse, inhabitants of mountains and forest thickets, accompany Dionysus and are distinguished by their violent temper and intemperance. Presumably, centaurs were originally the embodiment of mountain rivers and turbulent streams. In heroic myths, some centaurs are educators of heroes, others are hostile to them.
Also in the book there are spirits of the forest, trees and water - dryads and naiads. For Lewis, these are the spirits of the elements that keep peace and harmony in Narnia. They leave the forest at the first call of Aslan on the day of the creation of Narnia. In Narnia, dryads, naiads and maenads wake up when the earth itself decides to wake up - to take an active part in what is happening. In ancient mythology, dryads are forest nymphs in ancient Greek mythology, the patroness of trees. Dryads were believed to be inseparable from the tree with which they are associated and die when the tree dies. There was a belief that people who plant trees and take care of them enjoy the special protection of tree nymphs. Dryads will not let him disappear into the forest if he suddenly gets lost or something happens to him. And for groundless damage or destruction of trees, dryads could severely punish a person, for example, deprive him of his mind. Naiads - deities in Greek mythology, daughters of Zeus, were nymphs of water sources - rivers, streams and lakes. Naiads were the patrons of a certain water body, its soul and incarnation. Naiads were considered durable, but not immortal. Associated with rivers, streams and lakes, they would die if their water body dried up.
The book also contains Giants, which can be compared with giants in ancient mythology - monstrous giants born by the goddess of the earth Gaia from drops of blood of the sky god Uranus. The Titans rebelled against the Olympian gods, were defeated by them with the help of Hercules and cast into the depths of the earth. Lewis, the Giant Rumblebuffin, is very well-mannered and tactful, knows social etiquette, from a family with traditions.
Minotaurs were present in the army of the White Witch. They served the White Witch and came to the Stone Table, responding to her call. They witnessed the death of Aslan, and then participated in the battle at the ford of Beruna. In ancient Greek mythology, the Minotaur is a monster with a human body and a bull's head that lived in a labyrinth on the island of Crete. The Minotaur, whose real name was Asterius, was born from Pasiphae, the wife of Minos. His father was a bull that came out of the sea, and according to another version - Poseidon himself. Minos hid his son in an underground labyrinth built by Daedalus. The labyrinth was so complex that not a single person who entered it could find a way out.
Occasionally, mythological creatures are mentioned in the book: sirens (sea creatures personifying the charming, but treacherous sea surface, under which sharp cliffs and shallows are hidden, half-woman half-fish or half-birds) tritons (the ancient Greek god, the messenger of the depths, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, the father of all tritons), who came out of the sea to greet the new rulers of Narnia and the unicorn (a creature that symbolizes chastity, in a broad sense, spiritual purity and quest. They represent it in the form of a horse with one horn coming out of the forehead).
The Chronicles of Narnia by Clive Staples Lewis, which occupies the top lines of most lists of the best books of all time, is a mysterious phenomenon, the key to which has not yet been found. Let's try to figure out how to read them.
He was a literary historian by profession. For most of his life he taught the history of medieval and Renaissance literature at Oxford, and in the end he headed a chair specially created for him at Cambridge. In addition to five scientific books and a huge number of articles, Lewis has published eight books in the genre of Christian apologetics (broadcasts about religion on the BBC during the Second World War made him famous throughout Britain, and the "Messenger Letters" - in Europe and the USA), a spiritual autobiography, three parables, three science fiction novels, and two collections of poetry. As with Lewis Carroll, John R. R. Tolkien, and many other "children's" writers, for children, the things that brought Lewis worldwide fame were far from the most important of his writings.
The main difficulty of Narnia lies in the incredible heterogeneity of the material from which they are assembled. This is especially noticeable against the background of the fiction books of John Tolkien, Lewis's closest friend and comrade in the Inklings literary community, a perfectionist who is extremely attentive to the purity and harmony of themes and motives. Tolkien worked on his books for years and decades (most were never finished), carefully polishing the style and making sure that extraneous influences did not penetrate into his carefully thought-out world. Lewis wrote quickly (Narnia was created from the late 1940s to 1956), cared little about style, and lumped together different traditions and mythologies. Tolkien did not like The Chronicles of Narnia, seeing in them an allegory of the Gospel, and allegorism as a method was deeply alien to him (he did not get tired of fighting back from attempts to present The Lord of the Rings as an allegory, in which the War for the Ring is World War II, and Sauron is this is Hitler).
Allegorism is indeed not alien to Lewis, and yet to see Narnia as a simple retelling of biblical stories is to simplify them to the extreme.
In the first part of the cycle, there are Santa Claus (Father Christmas), the Snow Queen from Andersen's fairy tale, fauns and centaurs from ancient Greek mythology, endless winter from Scandinavian mythology, English children straight from the novels of Edith Nesbit, and the plot about the execution and revival of the lion Aslan duplicates the gospel the story of the betrayal, execution and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To understand what the Chronicles of Narnia is, let's try to decompose their complex and diverse material into different layers.
The confusion begins already with the sequence in which the Chronicles of Narnia should be read. The fact is that they are not published at all in the order in which they were written. The Wizard's Nephew, which tells of the creation of Narnia, the appearance of the White Witch there, and the origin of the wardrobe, was the penultimate book, followed by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which retains much of the charm of the original story. In this sequence, it was published in the most efficient Russian edition - the fifth and sixth volumes of the eight-volume collected works of Lewis - and most of the film adaptations of the book begin with it.
After The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, comes The Horse and His Boy, then Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn, or Swimming to the End of the World, The Silver Chair, then the prequel The Magician's Nephew, and finally " Last fight".
Bursts of interest in The Chronicles of Narnia in recent years are associated with Hollywood adaptations of the series. Any film adaptation inevitably confuses fans of the literary source, but here the rejection of new films by fans turned out to be much sharper than in the case of The Lord of the Rings. And the matter, oddly enough, is not even in quality. The screen adaptation of books about Narnia is hindered by the very allegorism, or, more precisely, parable, of Aslan's country. Unlike The Lord of the Rings, where dwarves and elves are primarily dwarves and elves, the heroes of Narnia often have a clear second plan (when a lion is not just a lion), and therefore a realistic screen adaptation turns a parable full of hints into a flat one. action. Much better are the BBC films made in 1988-1990, with plush Aslan and fabulous talking animals: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Treader of the Dawn and The Silver Chair.
Where did it come from
Lewis liked to say that Narnia began long before it was written.
The image of a faun walking through the winter forest with an umbrella and bundles under his arm had haunted him since the age of 16 and came in handy when Lewis first - and not without some fear - came close to children with whom he did not know how to communicate. In 1939, several girls evacuated from London during the war lived in his house near Oxford. Lewis began to tell them fairy tales: so the images that lived in his head began to move, and after a few years he realized that the story that was being born needed to be written down. Sometimes communication between Oxford professors and children ends in a similar way.
Lucy
The prototype of Lucy Pevensie is June Flewett, the daughter of a teacher of ancient languages at St. Paul's School (she graduated from Chesterton), who was evacuated from London to Oxford in 1939, and ended up in Lewis's house in 1943. June was sixteen and Lewis was her favorite Christian author. However, only after spending several weeks in his house, she realized that the famous apologist C. S. Lewis and the owner of the house Jack (as his friends called him) were one and the same person. June went to drama school (and paid for by Lewis), became a famous theater actress and director (her stage name is Jill Raymond), and married the grandson of the famous psychoanalyst Sir Clement Freud, a writer, radio host and member of parliament.
Narnia is dedicated to Lewis's goddaughter, Lucy Barfield, adopted daughter of Owen Barfield, author of books on the philosophy of language and one of Lewis's closest friends.
Wandering wail
The kwakle wanderer Gloom from The Silver Chair is written off from the outwardly gloomy but kind inside gardener Lewis, and his name is an allusion to the Seneca line translated by John Studley (in English his name is Puddleglum - "sullen goo", Studley had "stygian gloomy sludge" about the waters of the Styx): Lewis analyzes this translation in his thick book dedicated to the 16th century.
narnia
Lewis did not invent Narnia, but found it in the Atlas of the Ancient World when he studied Latin, preparing to enter Oxford. Narnia is the Latin name for the city of Narni in Umbria. Blessed Lucia Brocadelli, or Lucia of Narnia, is considered the heavenly patroness of the city.
The geographic prototype that inspired Lewis is most likely in Ireland. Lewis had loved northern County Down since childhood and traveled there more than once with his mother. He said that "heaven is Oxford transported to the middle of County Down". According to some reports, Lewis even called his brother the exact place that became the image of Narnia for him - this is the village of Rostrevor in the south of County Down, more precisely, the slopes of the Mourne Mountains, overlooking the glacial Carlingford Lough fjord.
Digory Kirk
The prototype of the elderly Digory from The Lion and the Witch was Lewis's tutor William Kirkpatrick, who was preparing him to enter Oxford. But the chronicle "The Magician's Nephew", in which Digory Kirk resists the temptation to steal the apple of eternal life for his terminally ill mother, is connected with the biography of Lewis himself. Lewis survived the death of his mother at the age of nine, and this was a severe blow for him, leading to the loss of faith in God, which he could only regain by the age of thirty.
How does The Chronicles of Narnia relate to the Bible?
Aslan and Jesus
The biblical layer in Narnia was the most important for Lewis. The creator and ruler of Narnia, "the son of the Emperor-beyond-the-sea", is depicted as a lion, not only because this is a natural image for the king of the country of talking animals. The Lion from the tribe of Judah in the Revelation of John the Theologian is called Jesus Christ. Aslan creates Narnia with a song - and this is a reference not only to the biblical story of creation by the Word, but also to creation as the embodiment of the music of the Ainur from Tolkien's Silmarillion.
Aslan appears in Narnia on Christmas Day, gives his life to save the "son of Adam" from the captivity of the White Witch. The forces of evil kill him, but he is resurrected, because the ancient magic that existed before the creation of Narnia says: “When, instead of a traitor, someone who is not guilty of anything, who did not commit any betrayal, voluntarily ascends to the sacrificial Table, the Table will break and death itself will recede before him.”
At the end of the book, Aslan appears to the heroes in the form of a lamb, symbolizing Christ in the Bible and early Christian art, and invites them to taste fried fish - this is an allusion to the appearance of Christ to the disciples on Lake Tiberias.
Shasta and Moses
The plot of the book "The Horse and His Boy", which tells about the flight of the boy Shasta and the talking horse from the country of Tarkhistan, which is ruled by a tyrant and where false and cruel gods are revered, to free Narnia, is an allusion to the story of Moses and the exodus of the Jews from Egypt.
Dragon-Eustace and Baptism
The book The Dawn Treader, or Sailing to the End of the World describes the internal rebirth of one of the heroes, Eustace Vred, who, succumbing to greed, turns into a dragon. His reverse transformation into a man is one of the brightest allegories of baptism in world literature.
The Last Stand and the Apocalypse
"The Last Battle", the final book of the series, tells about the end of the old and the beginning of the new Narnia, is an allusion to the Revelation of St. John the Evangelist, or the Apocalypse. In the insidious Monkey, who seduces the inhabitants of Narnia, forcing them to bow to the false Aslan, one can guess the paradoxical story about the Antichrist and the Beast.
Sources for The Chronicles of Narnia
ancient mythology
The Chronicles of Narnia are not just filled with characters from ancient mythology - fauns, centaurs, dryads and sylvans. Lewis, who knew and loved antiquity well, is not afraid to scatter references to it at various levels. One of the memorable scenes of the cycle is the procession of natural forces freed from the oppression, Bacchus, maenads and Silenus, led by Aslan in Prince Caspian (a rather risky combination from the point of view of church tradition, which considers pagan gods to be demons). And at the most exalted moment in the finale of The Last Battle, when the heroes see that outside the old Narnia a new one is opening up, relating to the former as a prototype to an image, Professor Kirk mutters to himself, looking at the surprise of the children: “Plato has all this, everything is from Plato ... My God, what are they only taught in these schools!
medieval literature
Lewis knew and loved the Middle Ages - and even considered himself a contemporary of ancient authors rather than new ones - and tried to use everything that he knew and loved in his books. Not surprisingly, there are many references to medieval literature in Narnia. Here are just two examples.
The Marriage of Philology and Mercury, a work by the 5th-century Latin writer and philosopher Marcianus Capella, tells how the maiden Philology sails to the end of the world on a ship with a lion, a cat, a crocodile and a crew of seven sailors; preparing to drink from the cup of Immortality, Philology vomits books out of itself just as Reepicheep, the embodiment of chivalry, in The Treader of the Dawn, throws away his sword on the threshold of Aslan's country. And the awakening of nature in the scene of Aslan's creation of Narnia from The Sorcerer's Nephew resembles the scene of the appearance of the virgin Nature from Nature's Lament, a Latin allegorical work by Alan of Lille, a poet and theologian of the 12th century.
English literature
Lewis majored in the history of English literature, and he could not deny himself the pleasure of playing with his favorite subject. Narnia's main sources are two of his best-studied works: Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene and John Milton's Paradise Lost.
The white witch is very similar to Duessa Spencer. She tries to seduce Edmund with oriental sweets, and Digory with the apple of life, just as Duessa seduced the Knight of the Scarlet Cross with a knight's shield (even the details coincide - she got the bells on the carriage of the White Witch from Duessa, and the Green Witch from the "Silver Chair", like Lie, is decapitated by her captive.)
Monkey dressing the donkey Burdock as Aslan is a reference to the sorcerer Archmage from Spencer's book, creating a false Florimella; the Calormenes - to the Spencerian "Saracens" attacking the main character, the Knight of the Scarlet Cross, and his lady Una; and the fall and redemption of Edmund and Eustace to the fall and redemption of the Knight of the Scarlet Cross; 
Lucy is accompanied by Aslan and the faun Tumnus, like Spencer's Una - a lion, a unicorn, fauns and satyrs.
The silver chair is also from The Fairy Queen. There, Proserpina sits on a silver throne in the underworld. Of particular interest is the similarity between the scenes of the creation of the world by song in Paradise Lost and The Sorcerer's Nephew - especially since this plot has no biblical parallels, but is close to the corresponding plot from Tolkien's The Silmarillion.
The Code of Narnia, or How the Seven Books Are United
Despite the fact that Lewis has repeatedly admitted that, when he started working on the first books, he did not plan a series, researchers have long been trying to unravel the "code of Narnia", the idea that unites all seven books. They are seen as corresponding to the seven Catholic sacraments, the seven degrees of initiation in Anglicanism, the seven virtues, or the seven deadly sins. The English scientist and priest Michael Ward went the farthest along this path, suggesting that the seven Narnias correspond to the seven planets of medieval cosmology. Here's how:
"The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" - Jupiter
His attributes are royalty, a turn from winter to summer, from death to life.
"Prince Caspian" - Mars
This book is about the war of liberation waged by the natives of Narnia against the Telmarines who enslaved them. An important motif of the book is the fight against the usurper of local deities and the awakening of nature. One of the names of Mars is Mars Silvanus, "forest"; “This is not only the god of war, but also the patron of forests and fields, and therefore the forest going to war against the enemy (the motif of Celtic mythology used by Shakespeare in Macbeth) is doubly on the part of Mars.
"Traveler of the Dawn" - The Sun
In addition to the fact that the end of the world, where the sun rises, is the goal of the wandering of the heroes of the book, it is filled with solar and sun-related symbolism; the lion Aslan also appears in radiance as a solar being. The main antagonists of the book are snakes and dragons (there are five of them in the book), but the sun god Apollo is the winner of the dragon Typhon.
"Silver Chair" - Luna
Silver is a lunar metal, and the influence of the moon on the ebb and flow associated it with the water element. Paleness, reflected light and water, swamps, underground seas - the main element of the book. The abode of the Green Witch is a ghostly kingdom inhabited by “lunatics” who have lost their orientation in the space of the big world.
"The Horse and His Boy" - Mercury
The plot is based on the reunion of the twins, of which there are several pairs in the book, and the constellation of Gemini is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is the patron of rhetoric, and speech and its acquisition is also one of the most important themes of the book. Mercury is the patron of thieves and deceivers, and the main characters of the book are a horse that was kidnapped by a boy, or a boy that was kidnapped by a horse.
"The Wizard's Nephew" - Venus
The white witch is very reminiscent of Ishtar, the Babylonian counterpart of Venus. She seduces Uncle Andrew and tries to seduce Digory. The creation of Narnia and the blessing of the animals to inhabit it is the triumph of the productive principle, the bright Venus.
"The Last Stand" - Saturn
It is the planet and deity of unfortunate occurrences, and the collapse of Narnia occurs under the sign of Saturn. In the finale, the giant Time, which in the drafts is directly called Saturn, having risen from sleep, blows a horn, opening the way to a new Narnia, as the circle of times in Virgil's IV eclogue, ending, brings the eschatological Saturn kingdom closer .
What does all of this mean
There is a lot of stretch in this kind of reconstruction (especially since Lewis denied there was a single plan), but the popularity of Ward's book - and even made a documentary based on it - suggests that looking for references in Narnia to everything that Lewis with I was engaged in a huge hobby as a scientist - an extremely rewarding and exciting occupation. Moreover, a careful study of the connections between Lewis's scholarly studies and his fictional writings (and in addition to the tales of Narnia, he wrote an allegory in the spirit of John Bunyan, a kind of novel in letters in the spirit of Erasmus of Rotterdam, three fantasy novels in the spirit of John Milton and Thomas Malory, and a parable novel in the spirit of Apuleius' Golden Ass) and apologetics shows that the hodgepodge so noticeable in Narnia is not a flaw, but an organic part of his method.
Lewis did not just use images of European culture and literature as details to decorate his intellectual constructions, he did not just stuff fairy tales with allusions to surprise readers or wink at colleagues. If Tolkien in his books on Middle-earth constructs a "mythology for England" on the basis of the Germanic languages, Lewis in Narnia reinvents the European myth. European culture and literature were for him a living source of delight and inspiration and a natural building material from which he created everything he wrote - from lectures and scientific books to sermons and science fiction.
The effect of such a free and enthusiastic possession of the material is the ability to speak in the language of a fairy tale about a huge number of rather serious things - and not just about life and death, but about what is beyond the line of death and what mystics and theologians so beloved by Lewis decided to talk about in the Middle Ages so beloved by Lewis. .
