Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

There must be something significant about the number seven in the series.

I disagree that there must be. I think you could probably pick any number at random and find that there are just as many things that correspond to that number in the text. Of course, if you could prove that the number 7 has a statistically higher rate of occurrence in the book than any other number, then I might be swayed, but I could just as easily suggest that 4 was the special number because there were 4 Pevensies in LWW and 4 Signs in the Silver Chair.

Taken on its own, the number 7 does appear in many sources of potential inspiration - the Seven Planets of Medieval Astronomy (as per Michael Ward's book), the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Kingdoms of Ancient Britain, the folklore concept of the Seventh Son, etc. however again there is no reason to believe that this one numerical reference has any greater significance over any other numerical reference in the book.

C.S. Lewis even rejected the idea that there was anything special about having seven books in the series - he just said it felt like a nice number to end on. And in that regard seven is mathematically speaking quite a nice number - not least of which being a Prime number.

Seven is a number that traditionally has good fortune or has a link with God in the Bible (God's number, seven churches of Revelation, many symbolic sevens). Europeans see seven as a lucky number, linked to completeness or perfection, and it seems to get chosen more than other numbers.

https://www.kitco.com/commentaries/2015-08-13/-7-What-s-so-special-about-the-number-7.html

In the Narnia stories: by the time we get to TLB we discover that the children who have visited Narnia from our world now call themselves The Seven Friends of Narnia (no matter what age they are). They appear to Rilian as seven kings and queens, even though only three of them were actually crowned in Narnia.  

I wonder if it is because "7" has been known to be the perfect number.

To @icarus point, the seven deadly sins is seen throughout the series.

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe- Gluttony because of Edmund's appetite for Turkish Delight

Prince Caspian- Envy because no doubt Miraz killed his brother Caspian IX out of jealousy

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- Greed because Eustace hoarding the treasure, causing him to turn into a dragon (and dragons have been known for being hoarders)

The Silver Chair- Sloth because Eustace and Jill made a detour by going to Harfang to get comfortable, making them forget about their purpose

The Horse And His Boy- Pride because Prince Rabadash thought highly of himself and Bree is full of himself

The Magician's Nephew- Wrath because there is a moment where Digory grabs Polly's hand and twists her wrist

The Last Battle- Lust because of lust for power with Shift and Rishda.

And if I remember correctly, there is an Irish legend about the blessings of the seventh son. It might explain Emeth being the seventh son of Harpha Tarkaan.

Keep in mind that Lewis had expertise in both philosophy and literature.  Pythagoras is widely considered the founder of western philosophy - and he looked for numbers in nature - numerology.  In fact - the Bible itself has much numerology.  So the idea that CSL used numerology in the Narnia series is entirely plausible. In fact - numerology has traditionally been important in western culture - it is out of style in the modern era - which means people don't look for it - and CSL would be attracted to it. I differ with some of Professor Lewis's conclusions in his Planet Narnia - he is going in the right direction.

@lindsaydoering could you clarify: in your last sentence did you mean Mr Ward?

Numerology certainly does pop up from time to time, but has never been significant in mainstream Christian faith.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

I wonder if it is because "7" has been known to be the perfect number.

To @icarus point, the seven deadly sins is seen throughout the series

I don't see why someone can't just like the number 7 for nonintellectual reasons. College professors are human too. 

I also can't resist pointing out that the seven deadly sins appear often throughout fiction and life. It doesn't mean the author intended to include them. It's sort of like writing about walking. 

@coracle Yes - Mr Ward - I need someone to proof read my comments! 

I guess it depends on how you define "mainstream" Christian faith; what is it and how long has it been around? 

CSL was sensitive to what he called "chronological snobbery" - so I wonder if numerology was not of greater significance at other times. I think there are ideas - such as purgatory - that are not part of - perhaps - "mainstream" Christianity today that CSL found important.

What do you think?  

@lindsaydoering to  amend anything you've posted, click the 'edit' button below the post, make the changes, and then 'save'.

@coracle

Sister if I had to go back and correct all my errors on all my posts - it would take me all day. 

No thoughts on chronological snobbery?

I'd need to look it up and read his relevant material, but I assume it's to do with thinking something better because it is older, or else because it's newer!  Neither of these viewpoints is absolutely valid. Sin in the distant past is just as bad as sin this year. Old ideas and abstract values are usually of ongoing validity.

I am not sure if Lewis intended that there would be seven Narnia books when he was writing them or if it was just an odd coincidence that The Last Battle was the seventh book in the series. It may have been providential in that God influenced Lewis’ writing. When people talk about an eighth book it seems like they want to add to something that is already complete. It seems something like that shouldn’t be written because the conclusion was already done. Seven often suggests completeness as it does with the stories coming to an end with The Last Battle. It is a very appropriate number.  🙂

Posted by: @narnian78

I am not sure if Lewis intended that there would be seven Narnia books when he was writing them or if it was just an odd coincidence that The Last Battle was the seventh book in the series.

From what I've read of Lewis's own comments on the matter — unfortunately I don't have any of my Narnia commentaries on hand (only the Chronicles themselves!), so I can't quote anything directly — he didn't start out intending to write a seven-book series. I've seen him quoted somewhere as stating that when he finished VDT (the third book), he "felt quite sure it would be the last. But it was not to be." (Quoting from memory and source unknown... can anyone here help me there?)

After VDT, however, he seems to have written the final four books in quite quick succession — I think they were all completed within a couple of years, though they were published at the rate of one per year — and I think it was somewhere around that stage that he decided there should be seven of them. In the collection Letters to Children (again, I have it, but not with me right now), there are a few instances of him telling young fans, before the last few books were published, that there would be seven books in total. I'm almost certain I've seen one or two other quotes from him saying something to the effect that he felt it was a good number and he didn't have any intention of writing more than that.

As for any mystical significance of the number seven, it does occur quite a lot in the Bible (particularly in Revelation) and, as far as I know, it's usually taken as symbolising perfection or completeness. Whether or not that specifically influenced Lewis's eventual decision to write seven books, or any of the other instances of the number seven within the books, I don't think anyone knows for sure. I doubt Lewis intended it to mean anything particularly special that readers are meant to "decode" somehow — from what I've read of Michael Ward's "Planet Narnia" theory, he is spectacularly off track in trying to do that with the supposed planetary symbolism. Lewis was quite explicit about the fact that he was NOT writing like that and people who attempted to find hidden meanings in his or other authors' works were inevitably wrong. So although it can be fun to speculate about why he chose to write what he did, I wouldn't take anyone's theories on this as gospel, so to speak.

EDIT: Just remembered — last month's "Did You Know?" post includes several of Lewis's own statements about his decision to stop at seven books. He doesn't say anything specific about the significance of the number seven, though, except that "seven is a good number", so we're left to make of that what we will!!