Perhaps Narnia WAS real. After all, the Narnia we know from the first six books came to an end, and the Real Narnia, the True Narnia, is in heaven. If so, it would mean we could visit it in eternity.

I don't know about that but Heaven is better than Narnia in comparison, if you can compare the two. I mean, knowing Jesus here and then in Heaven? That's the best reward.

Posted by: @blue-jay

I don't know about that but Heaven is better than Narnia in comparison, if you can compare the two. I mean, knowing Jesus here and then in Heaven? That's the best reward.

Aslan's Country is better than Narnia, and Heaven is better than Earth. Narnia came to end, and Earth will come to an end. God destroyed the world with a flood; if it had not been for Noah's obedience to build the ark, world history would've come to an end. God will destroy the world with fire. Narnia was destroyed with both flood and fire.

@jasmine_tarkheena Yes, the symbolism is there and I enjoy it! I was more addressing Narnia being lesser compared to Heaven.

Without getting into religious / theological debate over Biblical interpretation — that's something on which there is huge variation among Christians of different denominations (something Lewis himself knew about and respected) — I think  @coracle was simply saying: if Lewis's concept of heaven / Aslan's country is correct, i.e. that it's the place in which we find the eternal originals behind the "shadows" or "copies" that we see in the temporal / mortal world(s)... then who knows, maybe the True Narnia really IS there!!

(Or otherwise, whatever is there (and I'm not going to theorise on that here) should be at least as good as going to Narnia for real, and probably better. I like to think so, anyway. )

@courtenay 

I'm sure you're well aware that religion is kind of a sensitive topic. People do have their own religious views.

Back on track, perhaps the real Narnia or Aslan's Country is real. There's no crying or pain or suffering or sin.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

@courtenay 

I'm sure you're well aware that religion is kind of a sensitive topic. People do have their own religious views.

Er, yes, that's precisely why I said what I said above. I was meaning to imply that in a diverse discussion forum like this, it might be better not to make dogmatic statements from one's own denomination's teachings about what heaven will be like or how God will destroy the world, etc. Not all Christians interpret every part of the Bible strictly literally — and not all the members of NarniaWeb (and indeed not all fans of Narnia in general) are Christians. That's all I was getting at.

Back on topic (again) and taking a slightly different angle, I was just thinking that in a way, Narnia IS a real place to me. Not in the sense of it literally and physically existing anywhere (now or in the past), but in the sense that out of all the fantasy worlds I ever encountered in books as a child (or as an adult!), Narnia has become part of me — part of my thinking, part of my whole inner world — more than any other. Middle-earth runs a very close second!! But Narnia just edges into first place, even though it's not as elaborately and breathtakingly constructed as Tolkien's universe, simply because Narnia has taught me more direct and clear lessons about things that matter most. I've said this before, but Narnia was my first encounter with a concept of God/Christ that made sense to me — one whom I wanted to know better, on an absolutely visceral and thrilling level (as a 7-year-old!!) — and that has always stayed with me, even though it was buried for quite a few "wilderness" years until I found it (or Him) again. So in that sense, Narnia IS a very real place to me, and always will be!  

@courtenay 

Oh yeah. I guess if we are talking about Narnia geographically, there may have been different inspirations.

From what I've seen in the illustration of Tashbaan in Calormen, it may have been inspired by Istanbul, Turkey. Another possible inspiration is ancient Babylon and Assyria and even Persia. The title of the kings of Persia were called an Ahasuerus, similar to Pharaoh in Egypt. Perhaps Pharaoh in Egypt and Ashasuerus in Persia and even Sultan in Arabia was the inspiration for "Tisroc" in Calormen.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

@courtenay 

Oh yeah. I guess if we are talking about Narnia geographically, there may have been different inspirations.

I wasn't talking about Narnia geographically at all, actually, but that's another interesting angle...

I've also wondered if Mughal India (think the Taj Mahal etc.) could have been another inspiration for Calormen. Most commentators never suggest it, but it seems obvious when you consider that the Lewis boys collaborated in writing stories of an imaginary world they called Boxen — and while young Jack focused on writing about animal characters, his brother Warnie's contributions were a fantasy version of India. India (which at that time included the areas that are now Pakistan and Bangladesh) was considered "the jewel in the crown" of the British Empire in the late 19th / early 20th century, and impressions of Indian culture (not always very accurate or fair, naturally) had a big impact on the consciousness of British people, whether or not they'd been there themselves. It was an obvious source for images of the exotic and Oriental. Of course Britain had colonial possessions in the Middle East as well, but I'm just a little surprised that most commentators don't seem to think of India as another possible source of some of Lewis's inspiration. Certainly I can't help thinking Tash may have been partly inspired by Hindu gods, with the four arms (though the bird's head is maybe more Egyptian)!!

I've heard it said that the geography of Narnia itself may have been inspired by the countryside of (now Northern) Ireland where Lewis grew up, especially the Mountains of Mourne that were visible in the distance from his family's home in Belfast. But really, whatever earthly locations may have sparked his imagination in the first place, I'd say he blended them and transformed them into something unique as he wrote, so that you can't really point to any one location and say "this is THE inspiration for Narnia" (or Calormen, or wherever). Certainly I don't think one normally finds Fauns and Dryads and Talking Beasts wandering around in rural areas of Ireland. But then, I haven't been there yet myself, so I can't really say for sure...  

@courtenay I agree that Moghul India had a strong influence, as well as the Tales of the Arabian Nights. 

As far as wishing Narnia was real, I was 18 when I read the full set of books, and never really identified with any of the child characters, and nor did I search through wardrobes hoping to find it was real.

Posted by: @coracle

As far as wishing Narnia was real, I was 18 when I read the full set of books, and never really identified with any of the child characters, and nor did I search through wardrobes hoping to find it was real.

I was only 4 1/2 when Mum first read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to me, and I very strongly identified with Lucy, as she was the youngest in her family and so was I in mine. (She's still my favourite human character in Narnia to this day.) But even at that age, I already understood the difference between "real" and "pretend" and I knew there couldn't REALLY be a passage to another world through the back of a wardrobe. Didn't stop me from enjoying the story tremendously, though!  

If people wanted to create a Narnia on Earth they would probably have to give up most technology. I am not sure if most people would want to do that.  It would be like trying to make a modern world into a medieval one.  It may not even be possible to have websites about Narnia in a recreated world like it. Narnia seems like a world where technology would be out of place. But we do have the websites here on Earth to talk about Lewis and Narnia so they give us something like it. I guess technology isn’t all bad if it allows to communicate about something we all love. 🙂

Posted by: @courtenay

Certainly I can't help thinking Tash may have been partly inspired by Hindu gods, with the four arms (though the bird's head is maybe more Egyptian)!!

I think Tash may have also been an inspiration from Nisroch, one of the gods of Assyria. He was known to have head of an eagle. So a Tash may have been an inspiration from a collaboration of the Hindu religion and the ancient religion of Egypt and Assyria. Also, as Calormen was known to be a proud and cruel race, the Assyrians were proud and cruel as well, and their practices are really violent, I can't get into details here on the forum.

@jasmine_tarkheena we are all veering off the topic, which is wishing Narnia was real, not its possible influences.

As we are discussing this sort of thing in at least one other thread, please let's try to keep this one to its topic.  

@coracle 

I have read the series as a ten year old, so maybe at that age, you kind of wish Narnia was real. I've looked in my closet, because I don't have a wardrobe in my house. Though I've seen wardrobes at second-hand stores like St. Vinnie's. I thought of climbing in there, but I thought, "Oh, I probably end up in Narnia."