Pretty sure they were also old as hell too, so they got to like regain their youth. Sort of a win if you don’t mind living, well, here. You know, rather than a magical world with talking animals and stuff.
As I recall, they were adults but not old. I think they were riding through the forest, got off their horses to follow some light in the denser trees or something, then fell out of the wardrobe and couldn’t get back.
In hindsight, those horses definitely fled the country or got executed.
Yeah I think based on the later books, Peter would’ve been at most like maybe early thirties but probably only late twenties by the time they leave Narnia. And Lucy would’ve been like early to mid twenties. So they were adults, but certainly not old. In fact, it’s mentioned that Susan was courted by many princes and in The Horse and His Boy (warning: it’s super fucking racist and Islamophobic) she’s genuinely considering marrying someone but it turns out he’s pretty horrible. Right after the events of The Horse and His Boy, the kids hunt the white stag, see the lamppost, dimly remember the Wardrobe and end up back in our world
As for the horses, unlike in the movies, in the books it’s said that it’s very rare for people to ride talking horses bc talking horses are free in Narnia. So in the books they would’ve been riding normal horses that they probably wouldn’t bother punishing
So basically in The Magician’s Nephew we see the creation of Narnia and how the White Witch got there. And after creating all the animals Aslan picked out two from a handful of different species and gave them the ability to speak. He also made the small animals, like squirrels, bigger and the big animals, like elephants, smaller (but only the ones that could speak changed size). So the descendants of the speaking ones can speak and the non-speaking ones (which are literally called the dumb ones in the books) can’t speak. Some species can’t talk and aren’t intelligent, like the mice in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But bc the mice in that book chewed through the ropes that bound Aslan on the stone table they were eventually gifted with speech and intelligence which is why Reepicheep and his friends can talk by the time of Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Well… not in Narnia, no. There is a completely separate show (based on different books iirc) called The Magicians which as a concept is like Narnia but darker (also a bit of Harry Potter bc there’s a magical grad school). And in The Magicians they do bring up the matter of human-animal relationships since the animals in the magical world can talk and all
I really hope they instituted democratic elections or at least established a clear line of succession because the power vacuum caused by the sudden disappearance of the entire top level of revolutionary leaders is bad news for everyone hoping for a peaceful couple of decades.
Reading all of this is both hilarious and disturbing. The post itself and this whole comment chain is just “I read it 30 years ago and barely remember anything but here’s my take on those vague memories”.
And I’m replying to the very top comments, what the fuck is happening? It’s so fucking weird.
lmao yeah it’s a Ken Burns documentary where we are getting the first hand accounts of the civil war because we can’t go back and watch the reply of the actual events but instead it’s a comment thread about a tweet about a movie about a book.
Been a while since I read the books, but weren’t they a bunch of Christian kids coming up with a fantasy explanation so they could spend hours in the closet together?
Not only that but in the books they live there until they are adults and have forgotten about the real world. They rediscover the wardrobe while hunting. When they leave narnia the become kids again with all their memories intact.
If they were escaping war, they sure did fight a lot in Narnia. And escaping the war has multiple layers in that lots of children were sent away from cities to safer places in the countryside as well as the escapism of Narnia. In the end they also escaped life via train crash, though that’s beside the point.
This will give some of the context for the backdrop of the war.
they had a massive walk-in wardrobe with hundreds of different outfits, in a time before SEA slave labor/modern industry made clothing incredibly cheap…they rich as fuck
That wasn’t their house. They had been sent to the professor’s house to stay as the blitz was going on, so London, where they actually lived, wasn’t the safest place.
If you’re talking about the wardrobe they find Narnia in, that’s not their house. The the house of the old, rich professor they are staying with in the countryside, safe from the bombings during the war. The Pevensies themselves are meant to be like middle class I think
Gentle reminder that slave labor, industrial automation and exploitation of far away lands were not even recent in 1950, and that still today, the vast majority of humanity still doesn’t have the means to own hundreds of outfits at a given time, let alone have a walk-in wardrobe.
Its been a long while since I’ve read the books or seen the movies, but weren’t they escaping WW2?
Seems kinda… worse than taxes and the subway. “Ah yes, lets give up on this magical world to return to ours to get *checks notes* bombed. Perfect.”
Been a while for me, too, but didn’t they find their way back by accident?
Pretty sure they were also old as hell too, so they got to like regain their youth. Sort of a win if you don’t mind living, well, here. You know, rather than a magical world with talking animals and stuff.
As I recall, they were adults but not old. I think they were riding through the forest, got off their horses to follow some light in the denser trees or something, then fell out of the wardrobe and couldn’t get back.
In hindsight, those horses definitely fled the country or got executed.
Yeah I think based on the later books, Peter would’ve been at most like maybe early thirties but probably only late twenties by the time they leave Narnia. And Lucy would’ve been like early to mid twenties. So they were adults, but certainly not old. In fact, it’s mentioned that Susan was courted by many princes and in The Horse and His Boy (warning: it’s super fucking racist and Islamophobic) she’s genuinely considering marrying someone but it turns out he’s pretty horrible. Right after the events of The Horse and His Boy, the kids hunt the white stag, see the lamppost, dimly remember the Wardrobe and end up back in our world
As for the horses, unlike in the movies, in the books it’s said that it’s very rare for people to ride talking horses bc talking horses are free in Narnia. So in the books they would’ve been riding normal horses that they probably wouldn’t bother punishing
So, are the non-talking horses… Retarded or something like that? Why do they not talk?
So basically in The Magician’s Nephew we see the creation of Narnia and how the White Witch got there. And after creating all the animals Aslan picked out two from a handful of different species and gave them the ability to speak. He also made the small animals, like squirrels, bigger and the big animals, like elephants, smaller (but only the ones that could speak changed size). So the descendants of the speaking ones can speak and the non-speaking ones (which are literally called the dumb ones in the books) can’t speak. Some species can’t talk and aren’t intelligent, like the mice in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But bc the mice in that book chewed through the ropes that bound Aslan on the stone table they were eventually gifted with speech and intelligence which is why Reepicheep and his friends can talk by the time of Voyage of the Dawn Treader
I’m somewhat relieved to hear they were dating other humans
Well… not in Narnia, no. There is a completely separate show (based on different books iirc) called The Magicians which as a concept is like Narnia but darker (also a bit of Harry Potter bc there’s a magical grad school). And in The Magicians they do bring up the matter of human-animal relationships since the animals in the magical world can talk and all
Im not against the human-magicalanimal pairing, it was more relief that they werent dating each other.
Thanks for the recommendation about The Magicians though!
Oh. Yeah that’s kinda a valid concern lol. Hope you enjoy The Magicians!
I really hope they instituted democratic elections or at least established a clear line of succession because the power vacuum caused by the sudden disappearance of the entire top level of revolutionary leaders is bad news for everyone hoping for a peaceful couple of decades.
Nope, Narnia falls to ruin after they leave. Boowomp.
That Mr. Tumnus the Fawn guy is definitely sus…
Reading all of this is both hilarious and disturbing. The post itself and this whole comment chain is just “I read it 30 years ago and barely remember anything but here’s my take on those vague memories”. And I’m replying to the very top comments, what the fuck is happening? It’s so fucking weird.
I was being honest, the last time I read any of those books was probably 20+ years ago, but I read them repeatedly before then.
lmao yeah it’s a Ken Burns documentary where we are getting the first hand accounts of the civil war because we can’t go back and watch the reply of the actual events but instead it’s a comment thread about a tweet about a movie about a book.
But when they returned to Narnia they were still young again.
So they got Narnia plus they also got the youth.
Been a while since I read the books, but weren’t they a bunch of Christian kids coming up with a fantasy explanation so they could spend hours in the closet together?
Given the kind of person C.S. Lewis was,
probably notmaybe (holy shit)…Not only that but in the books they live there until they are adults and have forgotten about the real world. They rediscover the wardrobe while hunting. When they leave narnia the become kids again with all their memories intact.
Susan was not the sharpest bulb.
I am worried for how you did the lighting in your house…
I use the light generated by my indoor kerosene heaters.
And occasionally the curtains.
Far more occasionally as I’m running out of curtains.
Okay, you have to tell me what paint you’re using.
I got a really great deal on some cheap paint from India. All off-brand.
She wasn’t the sharpest cheese in the fridge
Or the brightest hammer.
On the other hand, she’s the only one who survived.
By going into denial about it.
If they were escaping war, they sure did fight a lot in Narnia. And escaping the war has multiple layers in that lots of children were sent away from cities to safer places in the countryside as well as the escapism of Narnia. In the end they also escaped life via train crash, though that’s beside the point.
This will give some of the context for the backdrop of the war.
Good read, thanks for this
It only lasted 8 months and had 40k deaths for the whole country, but that’s why they were sent out to the countryside.
they were rich britbongs though werent they? barely in danger
I don’t think they were rich, but they were definitely not lower class.
they had a massive walk-in wardrobe with hundreds of different outfits, in a time before SEA slave labor/modern industry made clothing incredibly cheap…they rich as fuck
That wasn’t their house. They had been sent to the professor’s house to stay as the blitz was going on, so London, where they actually lived, wasn’t the safest place.
If you’re talking about the wardrobe they find Narnia in, that’s not their house. The the house of the old, rich professor they are staying with in the countryside, safe from the bombings during the war. The Pevensies themselves are meant to be like middle class I think
Gentle reminder that slave labor, industrial automation and exploitation of far away lands were not even recent in 1950, and that still today, the vast majority of humanity still doesn’t have the means to own hundreds of outfits at a given time, let alone have a walk-in wardrobe.