Aslan

Aslan
Aslan's Country

Aslan (/ˈæslæn, ˈæz-/) is a major character in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series. Unlike any other character in the Narnian series, Aslan appears in all seven chronicles.^[1] Aslan is depicted as a talking lion and is described as the King of Beasts, the son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea,^[2] and the King above all High Kings in Narnia.^[3]

C.S. Lewis often capitalizes the word lion in reference to Aslan since he parallels Jesus as the "Lion of Judah" in Christian theology.^[4] The word aslan means "lion" in Turkish.^[4][5]

Role in The Chronicles of Narnia

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Aslan is first mentioned by

's rule.

Mr and Mrs. Beaver guide Peter, Susan and Lucy to the stone table to meet Aslan. They inform Aslan that Edmund has betrayed them by joining the White Witch. Aslan sends some of his followers to rescue Edmund. The next day, Aslan is approached by the White Witch who demands her right to kill Edmund, as the deep magic states that all traitors belong to her. Aslan discusses the matter in private with the Witch, persuading her to release Edmund.

That same night, Aslan travels to the stone table with Susan and Lucy. The Witch and her followers bind Aslan to the stone table—it is revealed that Aslan had agreed to be killed to save Edmund. However, due to a deeper magic (which the Witch was unaware of), Aslan is brought back to life and manages to rescue his followers who have been turned to stone by the Witch. He brings his followers to the battle where he kills the Witch himself, ending her tyranny once and for all.

Aslan is present at the coronation of the four Pevensie children. He then leaves to attend to other duties with Mr. Beaver convincing the Pevensie children that he will be coming and going.

Prince Caspian

The Pevensies are summoned into Narnia from their world to help

occupation. He later crowns Caspian as King and creates a door whereby surviving Telmarines can leave the Narnian world if they so choose.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are transported to the eastern ocean of the Narnian world along with their cousin, the recalcitrant

.

The Silver Chair

Aslan brings Eustace and his classmate

(who had disappeared years before), and gives her four Signs to guide them on their quest. Aslan makes no further appearances until the end of the story, but his Signs prove central to the successful quest. When he returns Eustace and Jill to their world, Aslan shows himself to the bullies at their school to frighten them.

The Horse and his Boy

Aslan's influence is at first hidden from the characters. Prior to the story's opening, he delivered the infant Prince Cor of

of Calormen. After Rabadash is defeated, Aslan turns him into a donkey as punishment.

The Magician's Nephew

This book tells the story of Aslan's creation of Narnia, his crowning of its first King and Queen, and his gift of the power of speech to some of the animals. Aslan tells the two main characters—Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer—that the evil Jadis (later to become the White Witch) will pose a great threat to the Narnians. Aslan charges Digory and Polly with a quest to acquire a magic apple that, when planted, will protect Narnia from Jadis.

The Last Battle

Though

in a lion-skin), Aslan himself only appears late in the story in a paradise entered through a stable door. He brings Narnia to an end, and leads into his own country such of its inhabitants who, coming to the Stable Door as the world ends, look into his face and love him, some to their own surprise. At the end of the book, he informs the other characters that "all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead", and that the afterlife in which they now find themselves is the true reality as they go "further up and further in".

Influences

Christian interpretation

Although Aslan can be read as an original character, parallels exist with

of Christ Himself:

If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however, he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, "What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?" This is not allegory at all.^[7]

In one of his last letters, Lewis wrote, "Since Narnia is a world of Talking Beasts, I thought He [Christ] would become a Talking Beast there, as He became a man here. I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; (b) Christ is called "The Lion of Judah" in the Bible; (c) I'd been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the work."^[8]

The similarity between the death and resurrection of Aslan and the

of Christian tradition.

Aslan's words to the Calormene in The Last Battle ("I take to me the services which thou hast done to [the false god]... if any man swear by [him] and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by [Aslan] that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him"), ratifying the good deeds the latter did even in service to a false god, have been the subject of controversy because they implicitly endorse inclusivism.^[12]

Adaptations

In the 1967 TV serial, Aslan was portrayed by Bernard Kay.

In the 1979 animated film, Aslan was voiced by Stephen Thorne, who later voiced Aslan in all seven of the BBC Radio 4 Tales of Narnia series.^[13][14]

In the

In the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre dramatisations, Aslan was portrayed by David Suchet.

In the 2005 film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the CGI Aslan was voiced by Liam Neeson. Neeson also voiced Aslan in the sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2008, and in the third film in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.^[17]

References

External links

• Imdb.com: Aslan
• SparkNotes reference to the meaning of Aslan's death
• "Aslan is still on the move" Christianity Today editorial, 6 August 2001.