@johobbit: I love that one of the older girls took the privilege and responsibility of readingLWWto you younger gals. I wonder if she know now, decades later, what an impact that had on you.

When it was against the rules to have our belongings in the actual dormitories - they were supposed to be in lockers or cupboards - I don't think Betty (her name) would have read the book sitting up in bed. She paraphrased it from what she, herself, already read, & I don't remember her even finishing The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, which was why I made an effort to find out the rest of the story, when I finally got to join a council library. When I thought the council library (and the librarian) was nicer than the teachers I had, I preferred to be a librarian, rather than a teacher. The sad part about it, after so many years, I wouldn't even know where Betty is, or whether she would be still alive, or her younger sister, who was my friend some seventy years ago.  

@Courtenay: (for those who don't know, look up Aussie folk singer Ted Egan's song "Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga")

Nice to see you again, Courtenay, , & I look forward to hearing how you are getting on in England's bleak weather, or so we hear on the news. We have a lovely thread for doing so in The Spare Oom, where members can discuss weather in their part of the world. 

For those who don't live in Australia, we do tend to speak English a bit differently from other English-speaking places around the World. Wagga Wagga, derived from the Aboriginal Wiradjuri name for a place of many crows, is a regional university city in the Australian state of New South Wales. We also have a popular games thread here for learning geographical names around the world. 

@jo Thanks for the warm welcome 

@courtenay I would like to thank you as well for making me feel so welcome here. 

Welcome members, new and old!

I enjoyed reading your entry, wagga. (I think I learned the pronunciation of your name either from one of your posts, or hearing it casually mentioned on some YouTube video (perhaps in an intro to "I Am Australian" or another song).

@Courtenay: (for those who don't know, look up Aussie folk singer Ted Egan's song "Don't Call Wagga Wagga Wagga")

That's a fun song, and a catchy tune!

Thank you for your kind words, stargazer, and I'm happy to welcome Aryen to Narnia Web as well.  

1. Name (please avoid your real full name):  WhiteStag (aka Oliver)

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl):  King

3. Family (single/married/kids):  Married (April 2022)

4. Occupation:  Trainee Pastor

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb:  Been browsing since 2004!

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles:  14

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles:  2 or 3 (avid FOTF RT listener/BBC series watcher)

8. Favorite of the Chronicles:  The Silver Chair

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you:  Live in London, UK. Very involved in church. Big HP nerd. Spurs fan. Frequent Israel visitor. Love spending time with friends/family.

A warm welcome to NarniaWeb, @whitestag! Good to hear a bit about you. Is your wife a Narnia fan too? We're glad you have joined the forum after having browsed the site since shortly after its inception (nearly twenty years!).

Thanks very much, @jo . Yes indeed, I'm a long time Narnia obsessive! My wife is not a fan though, I'm sad to say! I've tried to convert her but no luck so far 😆 

@whitestag Hello and welcome, Oliver!  Good to see someone else from the UK! I lived just outside London (in Kent) for nearly 10 years, but I now live in Cheshire. (I am in fact an Aussie who's "gone native" here — I have dual citizenship now.)

Great to meet you and I hope you enjoy being part of the community here!

1. Name (please avoid your real full name): Courtney, most of the time I go by CC.

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl): Queen

3. Family (single/married/kids): Single

4. Occupation: Freelancer. 

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb: I learned about Narniaweb not short after I read about Prince Caspian filming. This site has remained my favorite source on Narnia news since.

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles: 7 or 8 when I read LWW. Read the others when I was 14.

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles: Not much. Probably 5-6 times.

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I remember this joy that sparked in me while reading it.

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: I do archery often, fell in love with the sport at church camp when I was 12. I’ve done some acting on stage and on small film sets. I’m about to direct one of my short screenplays I wrote a while ago. Writing I consider both a hobby and a passion that I hope I can one day turn into a profession. I also in free time love doing animal rescue. 

@daughterofthestar Hello and welcome, Courtney... we have the same name, spelled differently! (My user name on here is my actual first name — pronounced "Courtney" but spelled the old-fashioned way, I think because my parents wanted to be a bit "different". I have endless trouble with people misspelling it...)

Lovely to read a bit more about you and I hope you're enjoying the community here! 

@daughterofthestar (pretty Narnian username!), a warm welcome to NarniaWeb! It's good to see you already involved in the discussions here on the forum.

How cool is it that you are about to direct one of your own screenplays. What a wonderful opportunity! All the best with that. I do hope you have the opportunity some day to have your love of writing as your vocation. You are not alone in being a writer. Especially in the 'older days' on the forum (before social media) many here were passionate about writing. And some still are now.  

1. Name (please avoid your real full name):
Hilma

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl):
Queen

3. Family (single/married/kids):
I am living with my family 🙂

4. Occupation: 

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb:
It was one year ago when I wanted to know more about the Netflix Narnia adaptation. NarniaWeb was and is still the best place to find information.

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles:
I was about 13 years old.

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles:

Only one's, but it was in Finnish. But I am rereading it now in English. I have read LB and SC in Swedish also.

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: VDT is my absolute favourite of all the books!

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: I love horses and riding! A fun fact about me is that I almost hated Narnia at the beginning. That's really weird cause I am a really big Narnia fan now.

Welcome to NarniaWeb, @Hilma! Wow, that is impressive that you are trilingual, and have read some or all of the Narnia books in those three languages, bravo!

Interesting that you did not care for Narnia at first. I wonder what changed over the years. I'm glad it did!  

Re horses: do you own your own horse?

Thank you @jo for your nice answer! I don't own a horse, but i would love to! However I ride in a riding school once a week and I also take care of a my friends pony twice a week. I have been enjoying my time in NarniaWeb, keep up the good work! Have a nice weekend!  

1. Name (please avoid your real full name): Christine

2. King or Queen of Narnia (guy or girl): Queen

3. Family (single/married/kids): Single

4. Occupation: Disabled

5. How you learned about NarniaWeb: Stumbled across it ages ago and have lurked ever since but decided to take the plunge and create an account today.

6. How old were you when you first read the Chronicles: 7, I think? It's hard to recall my exact age since it's been over 30 years. I was obsessed immediately.

7. How many times have you read the Chronicles: Too many to count!

8. Favorite of the Chronicles: It varies now but the ones I read the most often as a child were Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair.

9. Hobbies and/or interesting things about you: I read a lot, I also enjoy listening to radio dramas (especially the Narnian dramatizations) and love animals, especially dogs.