They might be joyous, an aching sorrow, puzzling, haunting, et cetera. What are some of yours?
Example: THE HORSE AND HIS BOY.
As they arrive and prepare for attack, King Lune at Anvard at the gates watching for the boy (or vision, or ghost) until Lune realizes he isn't coming.
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THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE:
Not original (as C.S. Lewis mentioned it in a letter to a child), but there are a group of Christmas celebrators (the Fox, squirrels and dwarves) that the White Witch turned to stone. I would love to see Aslan and his group pause on their way from the White Witch's Castle to the Battle of Beruna to restore this festive group back to life. I think the excitement of the young squirrels at meeting Aslan where only a moment earlier (from their point of view) they were in terror of the White Witch would be awesome and joyful.
PRINCE CASPIAN:
Doctor Cornelius leaves Miraz's Castle with care to avoid being seen. He sets off South along the route he had asked Caspian to travel towards the Archenland. He has to avoid Miraz's scouts repeatedly as he finds remains from the sites where Caspian had stopped and eaten meals during his journey.
As his travel goes on, he starts to notice tracks not just of Caspian, but of fauns and other woodland folk. He sees some clear remains of a dwarvish camp fire. He then spies some more scouts who are likewise investigating a similar site of Narnian activity.
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER:
During the time that Caspian and Lord Bern are organizing the rescue, Eustace is nagging the slave drivers and treating them as if they are Air B&B hosts and he is a dissatisfied customer. (Basically more shenanigans with Eustace before his Dragon-ifying and redemption).
The term is over: the holidays have begun.
The dream is ended: this is the morning
@davidd Good ideas.
I disagree about remains of a dwarfish fire. Old Narnians were very careful about keeping safe, and I'm sure that the dwarfs would have covered their tracks very well including smothering the fire and scattering the ashes and any burnt pieces.
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
@coracle I like your point, but may I suggest a defense of the uncovered fire-remains? The arrival of Caspian would have been a unique and exciting event - having the remains of a fire would suggest that things were not in their normal state. It would subtly suggest that the dwarves had something of importance they were dealing with (either they had been attacked, or something or importance had come up that made them disregard their normal care). Also, the thing of importance (the arrival of a king who would set them free) was actually the very thing which freed them from needing to hide.
In other words, while it's very possible the dwarves would still have been careful to hide their tracks, it seems plausible to me that they would have cast aside all caution at the exciting arrival of their new king. They were free, at last.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen: not because I can see it, but because by it I see everything else." C.S. Lewis
That’s a tough one. Well, CS Lewis could have shift perspectives in the books, but that would’ve been too tedious, I reckon.
The Horse And His Boy-
Rabadash visiting Cair Paravel and a seemingly nice and charming guy, sweeping Susan off of her feet. Then Susan and Edmund visit Tashbaan, and Edmund speaks with Rabadash, he becomes angry and threatening, revealing his true nature.
The Last Battle-
Farsight the eagle seeing Cair Paravel being discriminated by the Calormenes and flies to inform King Tirian. Then Farsight sees Roonwit in his last moments, and Roonwit tells Farsight to tell King Tirian his last words: “A noble death is a treasure that no one is too poor to buy.” Then Farsight flies to deliver the message.
"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me beloved."
(Emeth, The Last Battle)
@lamp-lighter it's possible that Cornelius could spot some clue left behind by less cautious dwarfs (not dwarves; this is not Tolkien). That's because he's extra alert
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
@coracle
I think you are right. The dwarf camp fires are probably going too far, as the Narnians would have been careful as you point out. I was trying to think of something that could account for Doctor Cornelius' comment:
"... I don’t think some of your—um—pure-blooded Dwarfs have as much woodcraft as might be expected. You’ve left tracks all over the place. Great carelessness. At any rate something has warned Miraz that Old Narnia is not so dead as he had hoped, and he is on the move.”
Tracks are far more likely to be left by accident than a camp fire, but I suggested a camp fire to make the error more careless and apparent.
The term is over: the holidays have begun.
The dream is ended: this is the morning
@davidd Ah!! Quoting from the book! I didn't think of looking at what Lewis actually wrote!
@lamp-lighter Yes, something Dr Cornelius found did show that the dwarfs were less careful than their normal standard.
Well spotted, both of you.
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
In THE LAST BATTLE, Eustace is surprised to recognize one of the Dwarfs who helped to shoot the Horses. I wonder which other people in Narnian Heaven might be surprised.
Did Aravis find her brother? Perhaps even her mother?
Did Emeth ever find even one person he knew?
Did Jill Pole look up in surprise and see the Giantess nurse of Harfang?
If the criteria is that "they looked in Aslan's face and loved him," we might well be surprised. The majority of people on Planet Narnia never had decent nurture or training, as King Lune said.
I'd expect the most likely candidate is the sl@ve-secretary who helped Aravis. Clearly he cared more for her than did her father. Do you not know that the children's angels behold the Father's face in Heaven, so to speak. Whatever you did for the least of these, so to speak.
But it's fair to say that we cannot speculate about Narnian Heaven. The original question after all was about scenes we knew happened but we didn't see them.
So, how did the Calormene Carson (DOWNTON ABBEY reference) find out that his little girl was safe and happy? I'd assume the Tarkaan reads his mail, so no mail there. But maybe a Talking Bird could slip through and tell him quietly in the garden. At minimum, there must have been gossip and a flurry of outrage among the Calormene nobility when Crown Prince Cor married the Lady of the Southern Stars. Ten years after her crass family would have married her off, by the way.
But speaking of King Lune and his kindly, decent family, I wonder how the Tisroc ... or Ahoshta ... or Son Number Two ... reacted to that Donkey in their royal presences. Where did Rabadash sleep? How did he live?
I would not trust a carrot from the hand of those three.
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@the-old-maid I find the old slave/secretary an intriguing character too. (Since he was elderly and, as you say, it's implied Aravis didn't marry until years after the main events of The Horse and his Boy, would he have even been alive to hear she wed the king of Archenland?) I'm not really criticizing C. S. Lewis for not writing more about him though. It wouldn't have fit with the book's pacing and, anyway, it's fun to speculate in threads like this.
For better or worse-for who knows what may unfold from a chrysalis?-hope was left behind.
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@col-klink elderly? Remembering that the Professor was described as elderly, but was mid-50s, maybe we can be assume that the older slave was only 50-ish in HHB, so still living when Aravis and Cor married a decade or so later.
There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."
During the time that Caspian and Lord Bern are organizing the rescue, Eustace is nagging the slave drivers and treating them as if they are Air B&B hosts and he is a dissatisfied customer. (Basically more shenanigans with Eustace before his Dragon-ifying and redemption).
YES
This is the journey
This is the trial
For the hero inside us all
I can hear adventure call
Here we go
I doubt the sl@ve-secretary was what we would call truly "old." Most sl@ves don't live very long. I expect that if he loses his unique skills of reading and writing (arthritis, dementia, etc.), he too would die. We have proof that Aravis' family are cruel, and Rabadash mentioned that killing off "idle" sl@ves is routine in his culture.
...
Another one from THE HORSE AND HIS BOY:
The unknown knight sacrificed himself to save his enemy's tiny child. Maybe a different knight of Lord Bar would have saved himself instead.
Aslan states that he (Aslan) pushed the rowboat to shore. Did the knight behold the face of Aslan before he died? I hope so.
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Not original (as C.S. Lewis mentioned it in a letter to a child), but there are a group of Christmas celebrators (the Fox, squirrels and dwarves) that the White Witch turned to stone. I would love to see Aslan and his group pause on their way from the White Witch's Castle to the Battle of Beruna to restore this festive group back to life. I think the excitement of the young squirrels at meeting Aslan where only a moment earlier (from their point of view) they were in terror of the White Witch would be awesome and joyful.
Definitely this — I've mentioned it elsewhere as a scene I'd love to see included in an adaptation. I'm always sorry that Lewis never mentions that Aslan brought them back to life again. He did once say (in the letter that DavidD mentions) that he assumed his readers would know that's what happened, but he admitted he should have said it explicitly.
I also wish we had a more exact view of what happens when Mr Tumnus is restored by Aslan, as Lewis doesn't quite describe the scene directly. I like to imagine that, after catching Lucy's hands and dancing round and round as we're told in the book, Tumnus suddenly sees Aslan watching him, and we see Tumnus's look of fear and remorse as he remembers how he originally sided with the Witch. But Aslan (as I picture it) just gives the Faun a knowing look and a smile, and the Faun realises in that moment that he is forgiven.
I'd expect the most likely candidate is the sl@ve-secretary who helped Aravis. Clearly he cared more for her than did her father. Do you not know that the children's angels behold the Father's face in Heaven, so to speak. Whatever you did for the least of these, so to speak.
Definitely, since we're told very clearly how much he loved Aravis, perhaps more than anybody else she knew, other than her late brother. There's an idea — among the non-Narnians we see in Aslan's country in LB, I would love for Aravis's brother to be there too. The criterion for those who are allowed in, after all, is not whether or not they knew and followed Aslan in their earthly life, but whether or not they recognise him for who he is and love him — even if they're also terribly afraid — when they meet him face to face. We see that illustrated most directly, of course, in Emeth.
If a movie version of the Chronicles ever gets this far, I would also love to see the slave girl whom Aravis drugged, and who was whipped after Aravis escaped, as one of the people in Aslan's country. We of course don't know what happened to her and what kind of life she led, but the very fact that Aravis — after she receives the same punishment from Aslan — asks "Will any more harm come to her by what I did?", suggests we're definitely supposed to feel for that girl and realise, as Aravis is starting to, that we don't have the right to condemn her or wish ill on her.
The unknown knight sacrificed himself to save his enemy's tiny child. Maybe a different knight of Lord Bar would have saved himself instead.
Aslan states that he (Aslan) pushed the rowboat to shore. Did the knight behold the face of Aslan before he died? I hope so.
I hope so too, although — as mentioned above — even if he didn't see Aslan before he died, he would have seen him, and been given the chance to accept or reject him, after death, as we learn in LB. Lewis was emphatically not a supporter of the brand of theology that says that only those who accept Christ in this mortal world will go to heaven.
By the way — I'm genuinely curious — why do you keep spelling "slave" as "sl@ve"? It's not a swear word in any form of English that I know of, and it definitely isn't a banned word in this forum.
"Now you are a lioness," said Aslan. "And now all Narnia will be renewed."
(Prince Caspian)