The Last Battle!

The Last Battle is the seventh and final installment of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and was first published in 1956. As all the others had been, this one was illustrated by Pauline Baynes. Lewis starts this story in a strange place, a quiet section of Narnia where we encounter Shift a talking ape and Puzzle a talking donkey. Shift dominates Puzzle and takes advantage of him. When a lion's hide ends up in his mitts, he concocts a scheme to have Puzzle pretend to be Aslan. The creatures of Narnia have not seen Aslan for many years and if you keep him at a distance and in the shadows, he almost resembles the great Lion who created Narnia. 

The plot works all too well as Shift uses men from Calormen to enslave the Narnian talking beasts and use them for his own enrichment and comfort. Key portions of the Narnian forests are cut down, slaying the dryads who embody them. When King Tirian becomes aware of this sacrilege, he and his ally Jewel the Unicorn slay two Calormenes in haste. Not realizing the true nature of the threat to Narnia they surrender themselves to Shift's forces and Tirian at long last begins to suspect the truth and his error. He remembers how in times past children from another world came to Narnia in times of extreme strife and calls out. He breaks through and in answer to his summons, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole arrive back in Narnia. 

The arrival of Eustace and Jill give Tirian support after freeing him. They rally in a stocked tower and pretending to be the enemy head back into the camp where they free Jewel and discover Puzzle. Tirian learns that the trust in the long unseen Aslan has weakened and potential allies in the fight, even after learning the truth about Shift and his schemes reveal they no longer wish to serve Aslan as well. Even more devastating news rocks our group when they learn of a full-force invasion by Calormen which has sundered the Narnian forces in the capitol of Cair Paravel. That only prepares our heroes for the final battle which extends further than they can imagine. 

The Last Battle shows us a Narnia of talking magical creatures who have lost touch with their origins. The underlying truth of their existence is confused by the introduction of an ape's story. The analogy Lewis wishes to draw with modern Christianity couldn't be clearer. This wrap up to the saga does what I suppose Lewis wanted, but it does get more than a tad intentional preachy in the ending. That said, there are a few shocks and even a disappointment for the reader as well. These books are worth the time. 

Tomorrow, I take a glimpse at the sundry film and television adaptations of these tales of Narnia. It's a double-header so come prepared.  

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The Silver Chair!

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis was published in 1953 and is the fourth book in The Chronicles of Narnia. The book featured illustrations by Pauline Baynes. It is the first book which does not feature a member of the immediate Pevensie clan as a protagonist, but it does feature Eustace Scrubb, a cousin. Eustace was featured in the previous novel The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and he matured mightily as a consequence of his adventures in that book. 

This book starts a year or so later and introduces us to Jill Pole, a young girl in the same school as Eustace, who is being harassed by other students in the school. Lewis is highly critical of modern schools which deviated from traditional formats for education and which in his opinion failed to form the character of their charges. In an attempt to save her Eustace and Jill end up in Narnia where she meets Aslan who gives her a quest. She shares this with Eustace, and they find themselves seeking the lost prince of the kingdom, the son of King Caspian. As it turns out, this time decades have passed since Eustace was last in Narnia and Caspian is an old man. 

Eustace and Polly are led to Puddleglum, a Marsh-Wiggle who despite his dour outlook becomes a reliable guide for the two children as they trek through harsh conditions to find the lost Prince. There are many hardships, but none so immediately dangerous as a city full of giants who consider mankind a delicacy. They are led on their journey by signs given to our young heroine by Aslan himself, but they keep bungling the signs. Nonetheless they eventually end up in a sprawling underground realm where all manner of secrets are revealed, including that of the insidious silver chair. 

In many ways this story struck me as the most classic adventure yet. We have limited personnel on his trek and the danger they encounter feels somehow a little grimmer than in previous books in the series which always kept a somewhat more whimsical character. The book may suffer from too many endings, but that's common in fantasy I find. 

Next time wrap all this up with The Last Battle. 

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The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader!

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S Lewis was published in 1952 and is the third volume of The Chronicles of Narnia. In this one, two of our original child heroes age out of the Narnian experience leaving only Edmund and Lucy to travel to the famous fantasy land. They are joined this time by Eustace Scrubb, their cousin. He's been raised without the benefit of a traditional rearing by his parents whom he refers to by their first names. He's a spoiled bully who is dragged into Narnia and joins Edmund and Lucy aboard the ship which gives the book its title. Pauline Baynes once again illustrates the book with great aplomb. 

King Caspian is aboard with a hearty crew, and he is on an epic quest to voyage to the far ends of Narnia in search of seven lost lords of the land. Our trio of modern Earth kids are piped aboard, and the quest begins. Back for more too is Reepicheep the dashingly heroic sword-wielding mouse. Reepicheep immediately has trouble with Eustace who doesn't understand that in Narnia a sour attitude and a few pranks can get sword put where you'd rather not have it. 

Our band of explorers do indeed find the seven lords they search for, but those unfortunate (mostly) fellows have found all manner of dangers on islands along the way to the end of the Earth. Some are still alive and some are not. Eustace undergoes a strange transformation, both in body and character on the voyage. In truth the children are somewhat secondary in this story, with Lucy and Eustace getting the most attention. Lucy's constant trust in Aslan is an absolute boon to the voyage time and again. The surprise star of this adventures is Reepicheep, who is always seeking danger and adventure. The image of such a small creature being so brash is heartening in many ways, though of course his choices are often irresponsible. 

This remains my favorite story in the series. It's filled with all manner of oddities, and every few chapters a new aspect of the world of Narnia is revealed to the reader. The revelation at the end of the sea is a triumph for Lewis. And no reader will never forget the Dufflepuds -- enough said.

Next time The Silver Chair. 

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The Horse And The Boy!

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis from 1954 was the fifth book published in The Chronicles of Narnia, but it is the third one to read in the chronological order. It is the story of Shasta, a young orphan who is raised as a slave in the kingdom of Calormen. He longs to escape his situation and when he meets Bree, a talking warhorse, he gets his chance. Bree is a talking horse from the land of Narnia and was taken while still quite young and trained for the battlefield. The two team up and head for Narnia. 

The duo soon meets Aravis and Hwin. The former is a princess longing to escape an arranged marriage. The latter is another talking horse, also longing for Narnia. The four join forces and we follow their adventures. They are forced get disguises to travel through the bustling city of Tashban where they get separated. Shasta is mistaken for a prince named Corin when he meets up with King Edmund and Queen Susan from Narnia. The latter two are the adults who we are told ruled Narnia for many years before heading back through the wardrobe in the previous novel. 

There is more adventuring when Shasta at last gets out and heads to a massive graveyard where they quartet had arranged to meet if things got out of hand. Eventually all four are reunited and they head quickly to Narnia, because Aravis has become aware that Prince Rabadash is bent on attacking the magical territory because Queen Susan rebuffed his offers of marriage and had successfully escaped by ship from Tashban. In this quest across a desert the quartet encounters a lion who proves to be quite important their individual stories. 

This volume read more like a traditional fantasy or fairy tale adventure. A young boy finds a bit of a magic who begins to take advantage to change his circumstances. There's quite a bit of violence in this story, but the bloodshed is hardly front and center, nor the point of the novel. Bree the warhorse is a dandy character, who is confronted with some true dilemmas. We do get a sense of what Narnia is, and how it is perceived in the grander universe that Lewis has concocted. Pauline Baynes illustrations are particularly effective in the volume that I read. 

Next time, which will be in December, we will get around to Prince Caspian. 

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The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe!

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe buy C.S. Lewis was first published in 1950. It begins what is now known as The Narnia Chronicles. According to a note at the beginning of the book Lewis intended this story for one particular young person but the complexity of making it, meant that she was no longer within the target range of the audience. It tuns out that Lewis was wrong in that estimation, in that the novel has resonance for children of all ages. That's certainly helped by the charming illustrations by Pauline Baynes. This story and the ones that followed have been reprinted time and again over the decades. 

The story is set during World War II when children were evacuated from London due to the dangers associated with the German Blitz attacks on the city. The four siblings -- Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie find themselves welcomed by an old professor into his large home. To pass the time they play the game of hide and seek and Lucy, the youngest hides in a big wooden wardrobe isolated in an upstairs room.  She discovers to her dismay and delight that it offers access to Narnia, a land frozen in ever-present snow. She is found by a faun named Mr. Tumnus who explains to her that she should go back to her home. She does and tells her siblings who don't believe her. Then one day she goes into the wardrobe again and the mischievous Edmund follows her. His meeting with the evil Queen really kicks off things. 

This is a story of sin and redemption. Edmund is a greedy and selfish boy who finds himself slave to his wicked impulses. To save him from paying the price for his sins, a great sacrifice must be made, but that sacrifice must made by free will. In the first novel, The Magician's Nephew we saw Aslan create the entire world of Narnia. In this adventure he functions as another aspect of the Trinity -- Jesus Christ. He is willing to lay down his life for another, someone who is far from hardly innocent. 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first Narnia book to be written and published but is regarded as the second installment in The Narnia Chronicles, the first being The Magician's Nephew. I suspect Lewis had little idea he was creating an epic in children's literature, but this series has endured now for three quarters of a century. 

Next time we go out of publication order again to look at The Horse and His Boy. 

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The Magician's Nephew!

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis was published in 1955 and is the next-to-last novel in The Chronicles of Narnia. That said, it's the one in which Lewis decided to share the story of how Narnia came to be. It's a story told well into the series and so Lewis is able to foreshadow many elements of this fanciful land, which is found by several means, but most famously through a wardrobe. Just a quick note to compliment the interior art by the renowned Pauline Baynes. 

The story begins in 1900, the turn of the previous century and our attention is drawn to Digory. He's a young boy who lives in a row house and is constantly on the lookout for something interesting to do. He finds a potential partner in the girl Polly who lives next door. They choose to go upon an adventure of sorts by prowling the dingy depths of the attic and find themselves unfortunately in the study of Digory's Uncle Andrew, a man with a bit of a recluse with a strange reputation. They soon discover that he's discovered a means to travel to other places in time and space and being a coward of sorts, he uses the two children as guinea pigs without hesitation. 

The two kids find themselves in a strange quiet wood and ultimately in the clutches of Jadis, a cruel and murderous sorceress. Despite their best efforts, Jadis follows the kids back to Uncle Andrew's study where she immediately schemes to conquer our world. That goes poorly and before you know the children, Uncle Andrew, Jadis and some other unfortunate souls find themselves in a distant territory in which they encounter the great lion Aslan. They have come at a propitious moment as they are witness to Aslan's creation of Narnia itself.

This is a nicely crafted tale with a really good pace. Both Digory and Polly are proper protagonists you can root for and both Uncle Andrew and Jadis are proper villains. The encounter with Aslan upsets the status quo in all sorts of fascinating ways.  We discover some cool secrets from the next volume, such as where a certain wardrobe came from and why there is a streetlamp in the middle of the forest. But this is just the beginning of the stories in Narnia. 

Next time, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

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Bilbo's Last Song!

I think it's all too appropriate to wrap up my look into the works of J.R.R. Tolkien than to offer up Bilbo's Last Song. Pauline Baynes was a British artist who famously illustrated both Tolkien's and his Inkling ally C.S. Lewis's Narnia works. Her work has a lightness and gentility which is well suited to these works of high imagination. She began to draw images of Middle-Earth in 1948 when she was contracted to illustrate Farmer Giles of Ham, one of Tolkien's adult fairy stories. Tolkien much admired her artwork and requested she work on his lighter works. At one point her work was deemed to light-hearted for the heavy themes of The Lord of the Rings. But circumstances gave her the chance for her to create three posters for Tolkien's works. 

The first two were maps made with the assistance of cartographers. The first was "A Map of Middle-Earth" which shows the land with key characters showcased in circles on the side and in top and bottom bands. The second was "There and Back Again - A Map of Bilbo's Journey through Eriador and Rhovanian".

BILBO'S LAST SONG

(At the Grey Havens)

Day is ended, dim my eyes

but journey long before me lies. 

Farewell friend! I hear the call. 

The ship's beside the stony wall.

Foam is white and waves are grey;

Beyond the sunset leads my way. 

Foam is salt, the wind is free;

I hear the rising of the Sea. 

Farewell, friends! The sails are set,

the wind is east, the moorings fret.

Shadows long before me lie,

beneath the ever-bending sky,

but islands lie behind the Sun

that I shall raise ere all is done;

lands there are to west of West,

where night is quiet and sleep is rest. 

Guided by the Lonely Star,

beyond the utmost harbour-bar,

I'll find the heavens fair and free,

and beaches of the Starlit Sea.

Ship, my ship! I seek the West, 

and fields and mountains ever blest.

Farewell to Middle-Earth at last.

I see the Star above my mast! 

- J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien passed away September 2nd, 1973. Baynes produced her final poster in 1974 and it serves wonderfully as a farewell to the man who created one of the magnificent works of fantasy of the 20th Century, and of all time perhaps. Pauline Baynes passed on in 2008, and if you'd like a look at other work by this remarkable talent, check out this link. 

Tomorrow it's a new month and the Dojo turns to new things. 

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Tolkien In The Perilous Realm!

When one picks up a copy of Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham you are getting one of J.R.R. Tolkien's earliest works alongside his final published work in his lifetime. These two stories are often sold together for two reasons, they both operate within Tolkien's fairy world, and both are quite short. Farmer Giles of Ham was first written in 1937 and published in 1949 while Smith of Wootton Major was published in 1967 and began as an essay on fairies but then Tolkien just decided to write a children's story instead. 

I first encountered these two tales when I picked up the sleek and handsome Ballantine Books paperback with the two stories. The cover showing Father Giles talking to the dragon Chrysophylax was a test for the Brothers Hildebrandt to see if they were up to painting more pieces for Ballantine's already successful Tolkien publications. 

Farmer Giles of Ham begins when his faithful dog Garm decides to raise the alarm that a giant decides to wander onto the property. Giles uses a blunderbuss full of nails and such to repel the giant. He becomes a local hero and is rewarded by the King with a neglected sword from the armory. Later the giant tells the dragon Chrysophylax that he found no knights in the little kingdom. That inspires the dragon to travel and begin to cause trouble by destroying property and gobbling up friars and suchlike. Giles is pressed to do something about it and is obviously reluctant, 

Turns out that the sword is called "Tailbiter" and is especially keen to kill dragons. The dragon is cowed and negotiates a deal to enrich the people if they let him go. They do and he reneges. The King wants those riches and sends Giles and more knights to get it. When Giles confronts Chrysophylax a second time, he comes up with a different scheme. 

This a lovely breezy whimsical story with lots of humor. Garm the dog is especially the focus of several jokes. The King is presented as a greedy bastard and deserves what he gets. The dragon is also a specific personality, not a wily I suppose as the more famous Smaug, but certainly of a devious bent. There's a haplessness to Farmer Giles at first, but he changes, not something that always happens in stories of this sort. 

The Smith of Wootton Major is a more somber story about how the magic of the fairies can slip into our world in almost unknown ways and delightful and lasting effects. The story takes place of course in a small village called Wootton Major and concerns a tradition of baking special cakes every twenty-four years for children who are lucky enough to have the right birthday. When the regular baker leaves unexpectantly his young apprentice is looked upon to help a substitute baker fill the order. That young apprentice is a quiet young man who himself does eventually become the baker. 

But the focus of the story is on a young boy named Smith who is at that party and gets a special prize in his piece of cake, a dazzling white star that gets embedded on his forehead and which seems to give him the power to perceive and even travel to the land of the fairies. 

But as a man and a husband and a father he meets the young man who was the baker and learns the true nature of gifts. What Smith decides to do warms the heart of any reader. 

I heartily enjoy both these stories and it's difficult to choose between them. But if pressed I'd have tos ay that the humor in the story of Farmer Giles and his dog Garm wins the day. These stories have been available in various collections over the years and currently you can find them both in Tales from the Perilous Realm along with many other of Tolkien's lighter supernatural tales. 

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The Adventures Of Tom Bombadil!

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil was first published in 1962, eight years after The Lord of the Rings made a splash. I first encountered these poems as part of The Tolkien Reader in the 70's. The book continued the conceit that it was Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam who wrote most if not all of The Red Book from which The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and these poems are derived. In the case of these poems some are suggested to be just lyrics from in and around the Hobbit culture that are included in addition to those written by specific characters. 

"The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" introduces us to Tom and the lovely river maiden Goldberry. They are not yet married as this poem begins and we follow Tom as he gambols in his signature blue coat though the forest. He first meets Goldberry who pulls him into the water of the Withy-windle playfully, then he deals with Old Man Willow and later still the more dangerous Barrow Wight. By the end of the poem, he has married Goldberry. This is one of Tolkien's earliest works, first published in 1934. 

"Tom Bombadil Goes Boating" was composed by Tolkien specifically for the 1962 collection and in this one we go along with Tom as he floats down the Withy-windle River into Brandywine River into Hobbit territory. He has various encounters with animals and spends time with Farmer Maggot and his wife. Both poems are light-hearted merriments and lack the more sinister atmosphere of the novel. 

"Errantry" and "Princess Mee" are two poems about fairies. "The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Late" and "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon" are both plays on the classic nursery rhyme, the former credited to Bilbo Baggins. "The Stone Troll", "Perry-the-Winkle", "Cat" and "Oilphaunt" are credited to Sam Gamgee. 

"The Mewlips" (about carniverous fairy creatures), "Fastitcolon" (about a monster that pretends to be an island), "Shadow-Bride", "The Hoard" (about a dragon and his loot) and "The Last Ship" (about Elves sailing away) are not connected to any fictional author though details suggest they come from outside the Shire. "The Sea-Bell" or "Frodo's Dreme" follows on with the tradition of Frodo and is likely assumed to be his writing, as it is a rather very somber poem. 

These are soulful little poems, many with more music than meaning in most cases. To hear J.R.R. Tolkien himself read some of these poems check out this link. 

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