So for a while, I had assumed that rats are one of the creatures in Narnia that don’t talk. Firstly, we never really meet any rat characters. Yes, I know there was the water-rat in LB, but I’ve heard speculation that it was meant to be a vole or something, not an actual rat. Then, more tellingly, there’s the fact that mice only gained the ability after gnawing away the ropes binding Aslan to the stone table, and prior to that, there was nothing about talking rats. So there’s really no reason to assume they exist.

So talking rats in Narnia just plain don’t exist.

Or do they?

The truth is in this line from TSC:

A flourish of silver trumpets came over the water from the ship's deck: the sailors threw a rope; rats (Talking Rats, of course) and Marsh-wiggles made it fast ashore;

I was naturally shocked. Not just by the revelation, but by Lewis’s blunt “of course” as if there had ever been any question. Oh, and the fact that there are other Marsh-Wiggles that appear, something I hadn’t really noticed when I initially read the book. And yeah, the fact that there are Marsh-Wiggles (besides Puddleglum, obviously) who don’t just sit around crying and moaning all the time.

So I’m curious, how did rats gain the ability to talk? Were the rodents that chewed away the ropes binding Aslan both mice and rats? That seems the most likely answer. However, it’s possible that rats were, for some reason, chosen from the beginning to be able to talk, while their cousins who have a much nicer reputation were somehow overlooked? I’ve been very curious about this for a while.

Despite their less-than-heroic reputation in most media (espicially compared to mice), it at least sounds like the rats are on the “good” side in Narnia. However, the fact that they’re associated with Marsh-Wiggles suggests they aren’t as likeable as the mice. But hey, if there can be a likeable marshwiggle, a likeable rat doesn’t seem too far out. I’d be interested to see how Reepicheep would get along with them, though…