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The Christmas Story In Narnia

Jasmine
(@jasmine_tarkheena)
NarniaWeb Guru

In the spirit of Christmas, the Christmas story can been seen almost throughout the series. What I mean is that there are some references in the series that almost makes you think of Christmas.

The Magician's Nephew- Aslan is not only the Savior of Narnia, but also the creator. Christians say that Jesus came to earth over 2,000 years ago. But John refers to Jesus as "In the beginning was the Word." Also, Aslan made a promise from the beginning to help defeat evil that was brought to Narnia.

"Evil will come of that evil, but it is still a long way off, and I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself. In the meantime, let us take such order that for many hundred years yet this shall be a merry land in a merry world. And as Adam’s race has done the harm, Adam’s race shall help to heal it."

Aslan was foreshadowing that He would die on the stone table when He said, "I will see to it that the worse of it falls upon myself." God made the promise to send a savior in the Garden of Eden.

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe- The famous line, "Always winter and never Christmas." Narnians were anticipating the coming of Aslan after being gone for so long. People in the Old Testament were anticipating the coming of the Messiah. Mrs. Beaver even exclaims when the Pevensies arrived-

“So you’ve come at last!” she said, holding out both her wrinkled old paws. “At last! To think that ever I should live to see this day!"

It's similar to where Mary and Joseph bought baby Jesus to the Temple, and Simeon and Anna saw the Christ child. They were both old, and God even told Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Christ child.

Another is where the White Witch ordered Maugrim/Fenris Ulf (depending on what edition you've read) to go to the house of the Beavers and kill everyone. It can almost be seen as where Herod ordered his solders to kill every male child under the age of 2 in Bethlehem, in order to kill Jesus.

Then Aslan coming to save Edmund from the penalty for his sins. The story of Christmas started in a manger yet ended on a cross. But that's not the end of the story. "Death starts working backwards."

The Horse and His Boy- When Shasta was a baby, he was placed in a boat by a soldier. The soldier starved himself, and Aslan had caused the wind to blow on the boat to put Shasta on shore. The baby was saved from death. It almost reminds you of Moses in a basket as an infant. Jesus was saved from death as an infant as well, when he, Mary, and Joseph escaped to Egypt from Herod's massacre of the innocents. Even Prince Rabadash made a threat in Archenland when he was leading his Calormene army-

"In the assault on this castle of King Lune’s, nothing matters but speed. Show your mettle. It must be mine within an hour. And if it is, I give it all to you. I reserve no booty for myself. Kill me every barbarian male within its walls, down to the child that was born yesterday, and everything else is yours to divide as you please—the women, the gold, the jewels, the weapons, and the wine."

Rabadash ordered that every male would be killed, even down to the child that was born the day before. Pharaoh had ordered that every Hebrew male child in Egypt was to be killed. Herod ordered every male child to be killed under the age of 2 in Bethlehem. Shasta realized that he was meant to save Archenland from destruction brought by the Calormenes. Jesus was meant to save all from sin. If Herod had killed him as an infant, he would not have gone to the cross.

Prince Caspian- Doctor Cornelius tells Caspian of Tarva, the Lord of Victory, and Alambil the Lady of Peace.

“The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their dance too well for that. Look well upon them. Their meeting is fortunate and means some great good for the sad realm of Narnia. Tarva, the Lord of Victory, salutes Alambil, the Lady of Peace. They are just coming to their nearest.”

Doctor Cornelius said Tarva and Alambil coming together was saying that something will happen in Narnia. The wise men in the East saw a Star. They knew at once that a new king was to be born. They followed the star to find Jesus. While nativity sets usually includes the wise men, they did not come until He was almost two years old. Plus, we don't really know if there were actually three.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- Eustace is turned into a dragon, and in Revelation 12, dragon is the personification of Satan. The story of Christmas there is told from a Heavenly perspective. While Christ's birth seemed to be quiet, there was a lot going on in the unseen world. Reepicheep's longing to the see the world's end, Aslan's country, is seen as a Christian's longing for a home in Heaven. Aslan even tells the children that He is in our world-

“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

CS Lewis gave clues for Aslan's other name. (1) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas; (2) It is said to be Son of the Great Emperor; (3) Had no fault but allowed Himself to be jeered at and killed by wicked people; (4) Came to life again; (5) It is sometimes called a lamb.

The Silver Chair- People in Narnia have lost hope. Caspian was going to die without anyone sitting on the throne after having lost his only son. Christmas is about hope. Jews were in the state of hopelessness when the Romans took over. They had no idea that Jesus had come to save them from something greater.

The Last Battle- Tash in the stable can almost be seen as the red dragon in Revelation 12. Also, Lucy makes the reference-

“Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.”

She was most likely talking about Jesus being born in a stable. This where the Christmas story really comes in. Christmas is about hope. Narnians have lost hope when it seemed that Aslan has not been seen for so long. As the people in the Old Testament were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, Christians are anticipating the second coming of Christ. I think that could be any day now, since the way things are in the world. Anyhow, Aslan eventually comes, and set things right. The old Narnia was destroyed, and there was the new Narnia. Jesus will come again one day and set the world right. He will create a new Heaven and new Earth.

 

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
https://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aslan-and-emeth2.jpg

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Topic starter Posted : December 7, 2021 9:13 am
Narnian78 liked
Narnian78
(@narnian78)
NarniaWeb Guru

I always liked the appearance of Father Christmas in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. It was one of first signs of Aslan’s good magic working against the White Witch’s evil magic. Father Christmas is not a commercialized Santa Claus in this story, but he is a part of the true Christmas myth. When you have the genuine Christmas patriarch helping Narnia the Witch’s magic begins to weaken. It is only one chapter in which he appears, but it changes the direction of the story, and good begins to triumph over evil. It is not long after his appearance that the snow begins to melt and the real Christmas spirit spreads throughout Narnia. 🙂

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Posted : December 19, 2021 11:26 am
Jasmine
(@jasmine_tarkheena)
NarniaWeb Guru

@narnian78 The return of Father Christmas helped to show that Aslan had come, as the Narnians anticipated. In order for spring to come back, Christmas had to come first.

Christmas is a symbol of hope, and it's played throughout the series. The eternal winter in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe is a picture of hopelessness. Narnians were longing for the return of spring and Aslan coming back. Even in Prince Caspian, old Narnia in hiding were longing for the return of the old days. Caspian called the Pevensies for help, and they helped bring back the old days. In The Silver Chair, Narnians were hopelessness once again. Caspian was going to die without an heir after he had lost his son. After the reunion of Caspian and Rilian for a brief moment, Caspian dies (I actually tear up whenever I read that). In The Last Battle, Calormenes have taken over. We even learned from Farsight that Cair Paravel was ransacked by the Calormenes. Aslan brings an end to the world of Narnia. And those on the good side were welcomed into the new Narnia, where they didn't grow tire or weary. I was actually happy that Emeth was accepted by Aslan. I think it's a great demonstration that Jesus didn't come to just save the Jews but all people, no matter their racial background. So when it comes to hope, there's not only hope for the Narnians, but for the Archenlanders, Telmarines, and Calormenes.

When you observe The Chronicles of Narnia chronologically, you can almost see the story of God's redemption plan from Genesis to Revelation. In The Magician's Nephew, Aslan said that he would see that the worse would fall upon Himself. He even said that He would make Narnia a happy and merry land as He meant it to be. The promise was fulfilled in The Last Battle, when Narnia was made new.

 

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
https://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aslan-and-emeth2.jpg

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Topic starter Posted : December 19, 2021 12:32 pm
Narnian78
(@narnian78)
NarniaWeb Guru

@jasminetarkheena 

And those are certainly more important reasons to like the appearance of Father Christmas in the story. 🙂

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Posted : December 19, 2021 1:46 pm
Jasmine liked
Jasmine
(@jasmine_tarkheena)
NarniaWeb Guru

@narnian78 I've heard Tolkien wasn't impressed with Father Christmas making an appearance in Narnia. I'm kind of surprised, because he and Lewis were close friends. I wonder how the other members of the Inkling felt about it.

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
https://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aslan-and-emeth2.jpg

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Topic starter Posted : December 19, 2021 1:50 pm
Narnian78
(@narnian78)
NarniaWeb Guru

@jasminetarkheena 

Tolkien didn’t like Narnia very much, which surprised me.  He apparently thought Lewis’ use of mythology didn’t work well in the stories.  Many readers of Narnia have disagreed with his criticism, and the books have been well loved for generations.

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Posted : December 19, 2021 2:00 pm
Jasmine
(@jasmine_tarkheena)
NarniaWeb Guru

@narnian78 

And I think it will be for many more. I don't have any kids, but I am a children's worker in my church. I am single (not married and not dating anyone). If I ever have kids, I will certainly introduce the Narnia series.

One of my best friends whose also a Narnia fan became a new mom not too long ago, so I'm sure she will want to introduce Narnia to her new boy in the future, perhaps when he's at the right reading age.

 

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
https://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aslan-and-emeth2.jpg

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Topic starter Posted : December 19, 2021 2:20 pm
Jasmine
(@jasmine_tarkheena)
NarniaWeb Guru

Well, with Christmas around the corner, might as well talk about the Christmas Story in Narnia.

Our pastor will be doing a sermon series on the different gifts of the wise men- gold frankincense, and myrrh for the month of December.

A scene in Prince Caspian, where Dr. Cornelius and Caspian are in the tower, Doctor Cornelius pointed out two stars named Tarva the Lord of Victory and Alambil the Lady of Peace.

There was no difficulty in picking out the two stars they had come to see. They hung rather low in the southern sky, almost as bright as two little moons and very close together.

"Are they going to have a collision?" he asked in an awestruck voice.

"Nay, dear Prince," said the Doctor (and he too spoke in a whisper). "The great lords of the upper sky know the steps of their dance too well for that. Look well upon them. Their meeting is fortunate and means some great good for the sad realm of Narnia. Tarva, the Lord of Victory, salutes Alambil, the Lady of Peace. They are just coming
to their nearest."

"It's a pity that tree gets in the way," said Caspian. "We'd really see
better from the West Tower, though it is not so high."

Doctor Cornelius said nothing for about two minutes, but stood still with his eyes fixed on Tarva and Alambil. Then he drew a deep breath and turned to Caspian.

"There," he said. "You have seen what no man now alive has seen, nor will see again. And you are right. We should have seen it even better from the smaller tower."

Doctor Cornelius was explaining that the joining of Tarva and Alambil meant something was about to happened. The old days would come back to Narnia after years of corruption. In the Walden adaption, there is a scene with Doctor Cornelius and Caspian in the tower which ended up getting deleted. Though you can still watch it on youtube.

The wise men saw a star in the east, and knew that it meant a new King was born. They followed the star, and found Jesus, and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
https://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/aslan-and-emeth2.jpg

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Topic starter Posted : December 3, 2022 10:09 am
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