Years ago my mother read the chronicles of Narnia to me. At the time we talked about the obvious Christian allegory, but my mum was insistent that the books contained a number of Easter eggs relating to nursery rhymes and folk tales.
for instance:
1. When Peter fights Maugrim in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe she thought it was an allusion to the “Peter and the Wolf” folk tale. (Beyond the name, I’m not sure there is much similarity here.)
2. When the mice eat the chords that bind Aslan to the stone table, she insisted this was an allusion to “The Lion and the mouse” folk story. (To the ending where the mouse eats through the chords of the net where the lion is trapped by the hunter.)
3. When Reepicheep has his tail cut off at the end of Prince Caspian, she said this was an allusion to the nursery rhymes “Three Blind Mice”.
4. I have heard other people say that Prince Caspian is an allusion to Hamlet (though I hear this claim for any story about a Prince whose father was murdered and had the throne usurped, so I feel this is pretty loose).
My question was does anyone think these allusions were intended by Lewis and if so are there any others?
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Topic starter
Posted : May 3, 2025 3:54 pm
I'd say its all more than likely that most of the things you've mentioned above feature in the vast pool of influences that CS Lewis was drawing from when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia including religious elements, fantasy, myths, legends, real-world histories and folklore.
In terms of specifically the more Fairy Tale-esque inspirations, i'd say you are probably missing the most obvious one - The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson.
I'm not sure if there is any way to prove exactly where Lewis drew his exact inspiration for every single plot element, but those all seem like reasonable possibilities to me.
@davidd I can see The Lion and the Mouse one since a mouse chewing through cords that bind a lion is so specific but the others sound coincidental. After all, while Reepicheep's tail is cut off, it's not by a farmer's wife or with a carving knife.
I actually remember reading the book Inside Narnia by Devin Brown. When discussing allusions in Narnia, he specifically cited Peter killing Maugrim as something that could not be an allusion to Peter and the Wolf, but I can't remember why he believed it couldn't be an allusion. 
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@davidd 4. I have heard other people say that Prince Caspian is an allusion to Hamlet (though I hear this claim for any story about a Prince whose father was murdered and had the throne usurped, so I feel this is pretty loose).
Not too sure about the rest of your post, but when BBC Silver Chair was released, at some point I read that Prince Rilian the Disenchanted was also seen as a Hamlet-like figure. Of course, Prince Rilian was after the snake that killed his mother, whereas Hamlet was after the murderer of his father, Claudius' Danish brother.
Posted : May 13, 2025 5:12 am
DavidD liked
That makes more sense to me as Prince Rilian wants vengeance on the serpent whereas Caspian (at least in the books) is not looking to visit revenge on his uncle Miraz.
The term is over: the holidays have begun.
The dream is ended: this is the morning
Topic starter
Posted : May 13, 2025 12:33 pm
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