Posted by: @icarus

As I’m sure most people understand, female lions, unlike male lions, do not have manes.

Actually, technically, sometimes (for unclear reasons probably to do with hormones), it does happen...  

It's Rare, But a Lioness Can Grow a Mane — Discover Magazine

But that's only relevant to zoologists in our world, not to fans of Narnia and anyone else who's interested in this upcoming adaptation and how it portrays Aslan.

I can barely think of anything further to add to what you've written, icarus, as to me it's just brilliant and spot-on. The main thing (pun not originally intended, but I can't very well resist now ) I'm thinking of further is that, as far as we can tell, the upcoming Narnia film is going to be The Magician's Nephew. And not long before the end of that is (to my mind) one of THE most memorable and evocative scenes involving Aslan:

Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered into them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just round some corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well.

Now I look at it, the wording doesn't specifically mention Aslan's mane, only his face. But honestly, if that face wasn't framed by a huge, luxuriant, radiant, golden mane — as icarus notes Aslan is always depicted, as "one of the most iconic pieces of visual imagery the [Narnia] franchise has going for it" — would the idea of that face seeming to be "a sea of tossing gold" make nearly as much sense? It wouldn't for me.

And just speaking rather personally, as someone who was not raised in a religious household or community and whose first encounter (initially unknowingly) with the Christian concept of God was through reading about Aslan in Narnia — who somehow made the hugest, deepest impression on me long before I realised who and what he represented... well, it was many more years before I actually genuinely came to faith as a committed Christian, but to this day, sometimes when I need it, I think of prayer as burying my own face in Aslan's mane (or indeed in that "sea of tossing gold"). And honestly, I don't think He minds.

@icarus I'm probably being rather pedantic here, but Shift didn't just dress up Puzzle in a lion's mane but a complete lion's skin. So in principle it could have been a lioness's skin, i.e. without a mane. 

But your point still stands. Without a mane it would be much less obvious that the creature being paraded in front of the Narnians was meant to be a lion of either gender, especially in the dim firelight of those Stable Hill meetings.

@hermit sure. But as you say, the mane is the transformative part - it's the thing which changes his outline and silhouette from just being any old four legged animal, to one that is instantly recognisable as a Lion.

Very very animals have a visual profile which is as distinct and striking as a maned Lion.

Posted by: @courtenay

Actually, technically, sometimes (for unclear reasons probably to do with hormones), it does happen...   

It's Rare, But a Lioness Can Grow a Mane — Discover Magazine

That's actually kind of interesting, and maybe helps to re-emphasise why this is not a debate about gender, since in that exceptionally unlikely scenario, I would rather have a female lion who has grown a mane due to a hormone imbalance, than have a male lion who is too young or incapable of growing a mane.

As weird and completely improbable as that situation is, it's all about the mane for me.

Aslan's mane is a non-negotiable. Female voice? I could get over that if it were done well but not this. Really wonderful job laying out all these issues if they were to remove it!

All of this just makes me wonder… why would you want to remove something so visually, thematically, and narratively important? What’s the benefit? Some changes in adaptation make sense—streamlining, adjusting pacing—but this? This would be change for the sake of change, or perhaps worse. Change to fit another worldview and that’s where adaptations tend to go wrong.

One thing that could perhap.be super helpful, especially if we wanted to write a more comprehensive article on the matter in the coming weeks, is if people accurately transcribed here any passages from the book which feature Aslan's mane as a significant thematic, narrative, or visual element.

I don't have any digital versions of the books, so manually finding such quotes in the printed copies would be quite laborious.

Including chapter references would be ideal as well.

Overall, the series has 37 explicit mentions or references to Aslan's mane. I'll share the breakdown book-by-book below and include some examples!

The Magician’s Nephew has 2 references:

The bar struck the Lion fair between the eyes. It glanced off and fell with a thud in the grass. The Lion came on. Its walk was neither slower nor faster than before; you could not tell whether it even knew it had been hit […] The Lion paid no attention to them. Its huge red mouth was open, but open in song not in a snarl. It passed by them so close that they could have touched its mane. They were terribly afraid it would turn and look at them, yet in some queer way they wished it would. (Chapter 9)

Everyone was staring solemnly at the Tree when Aslan suddenly swung round his head (scattering golden gleams of light from his mane as he did so) and fixed his large eyes on the children. "What is it, children?" he said, for he caught them in the very act of whispering and nudging one another. (Chapter 14)

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe has 12 references: 

People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly. (Chapter 12)

“Are you ill, dear Aslan?” asked Susan. “No,” said Aslan. “I am sad and lonely. Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that.” (Chapter 14)

“Stop!” said the Witch. “Let him first be shaved.” Another roar of mean laughter went up from her followers as an ogre with a pair of shears came forward and squatted down by Aslan’s head. Snip-snip-snip went the shears and masses of curling gold began to fall to the ground. Then the ogre stood back and the children, watching from their hiding-place, could see the face of Aslan looking all small and different without its mane. The enemies also saw the difference.”  (Chapter 14)

The Horse and His Boy has 6 references:

“The High King above all kings stooped towards him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane, was all round him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared.” (Chapter 12)

"You are silly, Bree," said Aravis.

"By the Lion's Mane, Tarkheena, I'm nothing of the sort," said Bree indignantly.

"I have a proper respect for myself and for my fellow horses, that's all."

"Bree," said Aravis, who was not very interested in the cut of his tail, "I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time. Why do you keep on swearing By the Lion and By the Lion's Mane? I thought you hated lions."

"So I do," answered Bree. "But when I speak of the Lion of course I mean Aslan, the great deliverer of Narnia who drove away the Witch and the Winter. All Narnians swear by him." (Chapter 14)

Prince Caspian has 4 references:

A circle of grass, smooth as a lawn, met her eyes, with dark trees dancing all round it. And then — oh joy! For He was there: the huge Lion, shining white in the moonlight, with his huge black shadow underneath him. But for the movement of his tail he might have been a stone lion, but Lucy never thought of that.  [...] She felt her heart would burst if she lost a moment. And the next thing she knew was that she was kissing him and putting her arms as far round his neck as she could and burying her face in the beautiful rich silkiness of his mane. (Chapter 10)

Lucy buried her head in his mane to hide from his face. But there must have been magic in his mane. She could feel lion-strength going into her. Quite suddenly she sat up. (Chapter 11)

In front of this stood Aslan himself with Peter on his right and Caspian on his left. Grouped round them were Susan and Lucy, Trumpkin and Trufflehunter, the Lord Cornelius, Glenstorm, Reepicheep, and others. The children and the Dwarfs had made good use of the royal wardrobes in what had been the castle of Miraz and was now the castle of Caspian, and what with silk and cloth of gold, with snowy linen glancing through slashed sleeves, with silver mail shirts and jewelled sword-hilts, with gilt helmets and feathered bonnets, they were almost too bright to look at. Even the beasts wore rich chains about their necks. 

Yet nobody's eyes were on them or the children. The living and strokable gold of Aslan's mane outshone them all. (Chapter 15)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has 5 references:

For what stood in the doorway was Aslan himself, the Lion, the highest of all High Kings. And he was solid and real and warm and he let her kiss him and bury herself in his shining mane. And from the low, earthquake-like sound that came from inside him, Lucy even dared to think that he was purring. (Chapter 10)

He paused and went on in a quicker voice, "Aslan's mane!" he exclaimed. "Do you think that the privilege of seeing the last things is to be bought for a song? Why, every man that comes with us shall bequeath the title of Dawn Treader to all his descendants and when we land at Cair Paravel on the homeward voyage he shall have either gold or land enough to make him rich all his life.” (Chapter 14)

"There is a way into my country from all the worlds," said the Lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.” (Chapter 16)

“Child," said Aslan, "do you really need to know that? Come, I am opening the door in the sky." Then all in one moment there was a rending of the blue wall (like a curtain being torn) and a terrible white light from beyond the sky, and the feel of Aslan's mane and a Lion's kiss on their foreheads and then — the back bedroom in Aunt Alberta's home at Cambridge.” (Chapter 16)

The Silver Chair has 1 reference:

"Aslan?" said the Witch, quickening ever so slightly the pace of her thrumming. "What a pretty name! What does it mean?" 

"He is the great Lion who called us out of our own world," said Scrubb, "and sent us into this to find Prince Rilian." 

"What is a lion?" asked the Witch. 

"Oh, hang it all!" said Scrubb. "Don't you know? How can we describe it to her? Have you ever seen a cat?"

 "Surely," said the Queen. "I love cats."

 "Well, a lion is a little bit — only a little bit, mind you — like a huge cat — with a mane. At least, it's not like a horse's mane, you know, it's more like a judge's wig. And it's yellow. And terrifically strong." (Chapter 12)

The Last Battle has 6 references:

"What, Lady! Felling Lantern Waste? Murdering the talking trees?" cried the King leaping to his feet and drawing his sword. "How dare they? And who dares it? Now by the Mane of Aslan — " (Chapter 2)

"By the Lion's Mane," cried Tirian. "Those two! The Lord Digory and the Lady Polly! From the dawn of the world! And still alive in your place? The wonder and the glory of it! But tell me, tell me." (Chapter 5)

“The sweet air grew suddenly sweeter. A brightness flashed behind them. All turned. Tirian turned last because he was afraid. There stood his heart's desire, huge and real, the golden Lion, Aslan himself, and already the others were kneeling in a circle round his forepaws and burying their hands and faces in his mane as he stooped his great head to touch them with his tongue. Then he fixed his eyes upon Tirian, and Tirian came near, trembling, and flung himself at the Lion's feet, and the Lion kissed him and said, "Well done, last of the Kings of Narnia who stood firm at the darkest hour." (Chapter 13)

@impending-doom That Stone Table quote just hits so hard in light of this. The most important scene of the most important book. It just defies belief that this is a road you would go down.

Posted by: @icarus

@impending-doom That Stone Table quote just hits so hard in light of this. The most important scene of the most important book. It just defies belief that this is a road you would go down.

Yes, and then there's another quote in the same book that @Impending-Doom hasn't listed, perhaps because you'd already mentioned it — the last line of the prophecy:

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.

It's actually the first-ever reference to Aslan's mane in the entire series, taking the books in publication order, and it comes just slightly before we're told he's a lion. (Which, I remember some of us here discussing recently in another thread, makes it a bit odd that Lucy then asks if he's a man and Susan admits she thought he was one, since the prophecy they've only just heard refers to his roar, his bared teeth, and his mane, which together can only logically point to one kind of animal.)

Posted by: @icarus

In the event of a Maneless Aslan, I guess they could change it to “When Aslan Shakes Her Tail” but I’m not sure where you go from there.

"And when she shakes her tail, then shall this movie franchise fail"...??  

@courtenay 

"And when she shakes her tail, then shall this movie franchise fail"...??

oooh I like that lol

The only way this could be hypothetically allowed by the fans, and not become the downfall of the movie, is if they were actually talking about Tashlan of “The Last Battle” since that would be a justification for such a fake Aslan. 

A mane-less Aslan is not Aslan at all, and there is no Narnia without the real Aslan. The only time Aslan could have been considered “mane-less” is prior to his sacrifice and death. Even then, you won’t call him a mane-less lion, let alone to let a female voice. This would destroy the very heritage of C. S. Lewis’ sacred story. I really hope they won’t go outside the classical norms and contexts of the story; otherwise, that would then be the real downfall of the movie.

Dr. Gavin Ortlund made a great video of his review on this issue of female Aslan. I recommend everyone to go and check it. 

@icarus One thing I simply cannot get over, is that in one of the most pivotal scenes of the entire franchise, the villain (Jadis) quite literally strips Aslan of his mane, in a powerfully symbolic demonstration of evil triumphing over good. It boggles my mind as to why any director of a Narnia adaptation would ever want to embody the actions of the primary series villain by quite literally depriving Aslan of his mane?

Yes, you and the rest of this discussion are absolutely right about Aslan's mane. And yes, there are Scriptural parallels as well, which might be noted on this thread, in connection with this particular subject. Try Samson & Delilah in Judges 16, for starters. In fact, Jadis' shaving off Aslan's mane in LWW, was a very strong symbol of disempowerment, just as it was for Samson's hair, shaved off by Delilah, in, I understand, 1161 BC. 

And then there are the historic sorts of references of shaving off of hair, such as in the treatment of prisoners and others during WW2, or elsewhere. Meant to be a type of humiliation, around the world, even if it was a type of preparation for priesthood, as I hear might be the case in perhaps Buddhist or other Far East circles? 

Getting back to Aslan's mane: 

No, Aslan most definitely has to be masculine, with a lovely, rich, baritone (at least) singing voice to match. I can't think why anyone would mess with this sort of thing, which would certainly detract from any filming of any of the Narnian stories. 

@waggawerewolf27 Actually, that paragraph you quoted as by me was by @icarus, just to give credit where it's due! But I am in total agreement with him, as I think pretty much everyone here is.

I'd never thought specifically of the parallel between the White Witch shaving Aslan and Delilah shaving Samson — well, I'd never yet heard that latter story when Mum first read LWW to me when I wasn't yet in primary school — and of course, Aslan is a rather different character from Samson and definitely rather more noble and wise. But yes, that's a good point, and also about the treatment of those in prison camps (I believe the practical reason was to prevent headlice from spreading, but it's definitely also a way of humiliating the individual).

Of course, this scene we're discussing is in LWW, and is unarguably one of the most memorable and evocative ones involving Aslan's mane — Lewis makes the point of telling us, when the resurrected Aslan appears, that his mane "had apparently grown again". To the huge relief of me as a very young listener, as I've never forgotten, because I already couldn't bear to think of Aslan without his mane! And I still can't.

Meanwhile, the film we're expecting to see made by the end of next year is almost certainly going to be MN rather than LWW, but the problem still stands. If Aslan is a lioness in the first film, he (or she) will have to be so in all the subsequent films (unless someone's going to get REALLY bizarre with the gender swapping ), and LWW will most likely be the second film in the series. Why any director would throw away that wonderful imagery of the Lion's mane, is totally beyond me. 

Posted by: @courtenay

But yes, that's a good point, and also about the treatment of those in prison camps (I believe the practical reason was to prevent headlice from spreading, but it's definitely also a way of humiliating the individual).

During World War II Norway was oocupied by Germany, and some percentage of Norwegian women got involved (to varoius degrees) with German soldiers. Some of these women were attacked by mobs after the liberation in 1945 and had their hair cut off. Definitely meant as humiliation.

This also happened in other ocupied countries - I found a picture from the Netherlands showing two such young women (Foto: Willem van de Poll / Nationaal Archief CC BY-SA 3.0 NL). https://image.forskning.no/1621390.webp?imageId=1621390&x=0.00&y=10.85&cropw=100.00&croph=57.54&width=1402&height=800&format=webp

That picture was posted in a Norwegian article from 2020 about the treatment of women in that situation, asking how the Norwegian society of 1945 could allow such humiliation of fellow human beings.