I would need to read LB again. Off the top of my head, I would agree with you that Jewel may have been a Christ-symbol. Jewel, if I remember correctly, is a loyal friend and may be a foil for Puzzle. I would want to re-read LB under the hypothesis of Jewel quietly demonstrating Christ-like qualities amidst all the hubbub of Puzzle dressing in the Lion skin and Tash running around.

I would need to read LB again. Off the top of my head, I would agree with you that Jewel may have been a Christ-symbol. Jewel, if I remember correctly, is a loyal friend and may be a foil for Puzzle. I would want to re-read LB under the hypothesis of Jewel quietly demonstrating Christ-like qualities amidst all the hubbub of Puzzle dressing in the Lion skin and Tash running around.

Well, Conina, I think she's talking about unicorns in general, not just the character Jewel in the Chronicles. Of course, Jewel is a loyal friend, just as you said, so he does seems to be reminicent of the true meaning of unicorns.

I think it's such a wonderful idea for unicorns to be a Christ-symbol. And what a difference between the flittery pink pony unicorns that have ribbons in their manes and talk in high-pitched voices.

Good question. I think that perhaps not so much a Christ figure, because he is not perfect, nor does he redeem Narnia, but a symbol of purity that fights against the dark evil of the Calormenes.

I would probably agree that it would be a bit odd to have TWO Christ figures, but maybe Jewel was just representing how we should be Christ-like as oposed to actually Christ?

I think only Aslan is, well, Aslan's Secret Identity.

Tirian and Jewel seem to me to be best friends like David and Yonatan. Except doesn't Caspian parallel David?

David and Yonatan? Do you mean David and Jonathan?
Anyway, it's not a strict allegory, it's a suppousal, much like Lord of the Rings. So there can be several characters that portray elements of Christ (or others).

Yup, I used the Hebrew phonetic spelling. Correct me if I spelled it wrong.

I know not everything in Narnia is supposed to be a parallel allegory. But the friendship of Tirian and Jewel reminded me of this episode in the Old Testament.

interesting thoughts guys...

it's not a strict allegory, it's a suppousal, much like Lord of the Rings. So there can be several characters that portray elements of Christ (or others).

good point!

comment of May 26th:
After two days thinking about what I wrote below, I rather regret the lot. I do not believe Lewis wrote thinking in this manner at all (as I indicated originally) though by happy accident this particular hieroglyph turns out to be just what it is. Sometimes a Unicorn is Just a Unicorn (could it ever be otherwise).

original follows:

What is Jewel?

What does he represent in LB?

I confess this isn't the way I pose questions to myself. Rather I ask, how does he operate in the story.

I think your point about the Legends of Unicorns are actually closer to the mark. King Tyrian is in fact "the virgin Maid". He is unmarried. He is also a bit naive, and by that I mean that although he is battle tested, he has no real sorrows that we ever hear about, no life tragedies, no adversities overcome. A blank. You might almost say that he is as innocent as puzzle (though a good deal more intelligent we hope). Eustace by contrast has gone through far more. Iron must first be refined before it is shaped by fire and hammer.

In that sense then, Jewel is just the sort of companion for Tyrian. The white and the purple (think of those little snails they used for dye back in the day). Too perfect, too pure. And against this perfection is sent the most unlikely and absurd plot: a donkey, an ape, and a platoon of Calormenian mercenaries.

It's quite a contrast from what's happening in our world today where we have universal deceit, and moral decay. Instead in Tyrian's Narnia, you have complacency.

Well does Tyrian say "My friend, I have now this sudden feeling that we it would have been better to have died in battle years ago than to bear what we will now experience". Which turns out to be correct. It is a eucatastrophe, all Tyrian's plans run amiss, almost as though they are both destined to be the sacrificial lambs, not to redeem the world, but merely to mark the doorpost that shows the way out of the world.

I will leave you with another symbol, a bit bloody. In alchemy it is called "The Massacre of The Innocents." You may have heard of it at christmastime, it is but a side note to the flight into aegypt. But in the alchemical understanding it is a bit more than that. In order to renew the world, the living spirit must be extracted from the old body, distilled and then implanted in the new material. I know this seems hard to understand because it seems so unfair. At this stage in the game it's no longer about redemption, it's about extraction.

So many innocents (all the horses, and so many others) so pointlessly felled at the end, and then the bath of stars. You would be deluded or blinded by tears were it not for the fact that by this point in the story you begin to see the final goal of the process.

So the legend you quote, and both images you posted seem to be correct, but not as a symbol of the redemptive christ, but as a symbol of the end of the process of the refining, grapes crushed into wine. This seems confusing, because we are more familiar with the story of THE Christ, as opposed to the process that we individually experience at the end, or the much rarer process of the end of the world. And, well, we're obviously not dead yet, so how could we be expected to know?

Though if anyone has any more precise memories, please feel free to correct my ignorant babbling.

I'd better emphasize that this is speculation at best, I'd have to know how old Tyrian was when all this happened, and I just dont remember. What I hope is clear is that nothing I've said here changes the essence of the story. Otherwise it would be highly suspect.

Wow Elluinas Mirion you apear to be very thoughtful! Thanks for taking the time to adress this interesting point.

You make a good point saying that "Sometimes a Unicorn is Just a Unicorn", and if any observation or possible allegory seems to change the essence of the story it probably shouldn't be taken into much consideration.