40 Things You Never Knew About Narnia

The original names of the children were Ann, Martin, Rose, and Peter.

The first draft of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was completed in 1949.

The first draft of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” contained no mention of Aslan.

The word “jadis” means “witch” in Persian.

“Aslan” is the Turkish word for “lion.”

“Cair Paravel” means “a lesser court” (Old English: “caer” means “court” and “paravail” means “lesser” or “under”.) In other words, the kings of Narnia are under Aslan.

“The Horse and his Boy” was completed before “The Silver Chair,” though it was published after.

C.S. Lewis died on the same day as American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

During World War II, four children stayed at Lewis’ home, the Kilns.

“The Last Battle” was finished before “The Magician’s Nephew,” though it was published after.

C.S. Lewis began writing the books in this order: LWW, PC, VDT, HHB, SC, MN, LB.

C.S. Lewis completed writing the books in this order: LWW, PC, VDT, HHB, SC, LB, MN.

The books were originally published in this order: LWW, PC, VDT, SC, HHB, MN, LB.

The books were recently renumbered chronologically: MN, LWW, HHB, PC, VDT, SC, LB.

The image of a faun carrying parcels and an umbrella in a snowy wood came to Lewis when he was sixteen.

“The Last Battle” was awarded the Carnegie Award, the highest award for children’s literature.

Pauline Baynes created approximately 350 line drawings for the Chronicles of Narnia.

Pauline Baynes added color to each of the line drawings in 1998.

Six films of The Chronicles were made prior to the 2005 release of the new Walden Media series, all for TV: An animated version of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in 1979; the BBC live versions of “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader” (combined into one film), and “The Silver Chair” in the 1980’s; and a little-known black-and-white version of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” for England’s ITV in 1968.

Lewis considered these other titles for “The Silver Chair”: “The Wild Waste Lands,” “Night Under Narnia,” “Gnomes Under Narnia,” and “News Under Narnia.”

Puddleglum was based on C.S. Lewis’ gardener, Fred Paxford.

Roger Lancelyn Green suggested naming the books “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

According to Lewis’ timeline, in 302 the Calormenes who then inhabited Telmar behaved very wickedly and Aslan turned them into dumb beasts (Whether these inhabitants were humans or Talking Beasts remains debated.)

Lewis’ timeline, written after the books, is in disagreement with the text of “The Magician’s Nephew.” The timeline claims that Archenland was established in 180 by Col, the youngest son of Frank V, but “The Magician’s Nephew” claims that the second son of Frank I was king of Archenland.

Although there are supposedly no Talking Mice in Narnia prior to the Resurrection of Aslan, there are two suspiciously mouse-like creatures in Pauline Baynes’ illustration of the coronation of Frank and Helen in “The Magician’s Nephew.”

“Arslan Tash,” meaning “stone lion” in Turkish, is the name of an archaeological site which deals with the legend of Lilith (the White Witch’s ancestor.)

The Lone Islands became tributaries to Narnia in 302, when King Gale of Narnia delivered those islands from a dragon (according to Lewis’ timeline).

Although Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham assures readers of “The Narnia Cookbook” that there are no Talking Pigs in Narnia (because a lot of recipes contain pork), there is a Talking Boar in “The Magician’s Nephew.

The Giant Pire, mentioned in “The Horse ans His Boy,” was killed by Olvin of Archenland in the year 407 (according to Lewis’ timeline).

Narnia was the name of an Italian town, now called Narni.

“The Last Battle” is the only book not dedicated to anyone.

Lucy spends more time in Narnia than any other child from our world, about four hours longer than Edmund.

In 1998, Great Britain released a series of stamps entitled “Magical Worlds,” which includes a stamp based on “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Reported by Kristi

In the 1980’s, five “Choose Your Own Adventure”/Gamebook-style books were released which were based on the Chronicles. They were called Narnia Solo Games and were entitled “The Sorceress and the Book of Spells,” “Return of the White Witch,” “Return to Deathwater,” “The Lost Crowns of Cair Paravel,” and “Leap of the Lion.”

Two additional Narnia Solo Games were planned but never released (There seems to have been a copyright question.). These were to be entitled “The Magician’s Rings” and “Keeper of the Dreamstone.”

The War between Miraz and Caspian and the Old Narnians is called “The War of Deliverance”.

The pirates who would become the Telmarines left our world between 1933 and 1940, when there were still pirates in the South Seas. They arrived in Telmar in the Narnian year 460.

Before the release of the 2005 LWW film, four board games were created based on the Chronicles: one for LWW, one for PC, one for VDT, and another simply entitled “Narnia” which was based on the BBC movies. A number of new games, including an LWW version of Stratego and a PC version of Monopoly, have since been released.

Prior to the current film series, three video games had been made about the Chronicles, all for now outdated computers like Commodore and Apple II. There was one for LWW, one for VDT, and another simply called “Narnia.” New games have since been released in conjunction with the new films.