TLC Forum

So I just now noticed a big inconsistency in the Narnia books. Remember how it mentions that no one ever rides centaurs or Unicorns? And yet in LWW Aslan says: "Those who can't keep up...must ride on the backs of those who can--that is...centaurs, unicorns..." I mean, Aslan can do whatever he likes, but someone mentioned in SC that they didn't believe anyone had ever ridden a centaur before.
I can't believe I never noticed that before. Does anyone have ideas or explanations? All I can think of is that perhaps no one who may have remembered this event was alive at the time of SC. But still, you'd think they'd have some record of it!

I hadn't noticed that! But my idea is that even if they did have a record of it, which they probably would have, those woodland creatures probably wouldn't have known/remembered about it. Oooh, and maybe if there were records of it, they were in Cair Paravel and it kind of was... ruined? That doesn't sound right, though.

*isn't really sure*

I guess that makes sense...?

I think it's a bit of a few things. Narniac has a very valid point about them being in different time periods. The Golden age would have been so hazy to those Narnians that it would have been a different culture in some ways to them, similar to how we have many historical links to Renascence Europe as an American culture, but we're considerably different as a society. While Narnia's culture seemed to have evolved at a much slower rate than Western culture they would still have customs pop up and then assume that 'It was always like that"

Another thing is that HHB seems to make it pretty clear that it's not at all uncommon in war for talking horses to be ridden, and that could be extended to elephants, zebras and such. However, I doubt that even in the context of LWW it was likely that many would have ridden on Centaurs because custom in war would have dictated that they be left bare backed because they are much more useful as solo fighters than horses, same with the big cats and most likely unicorns. So when Aslan gave the order for those who could carry to do so I would think that traditional "beasts of burden" would probably take care of most that needed carried and came forward to do so first.

Plus, I would think that in recounting the history of the Battle of Beruna, such a thing would be of rather small note. I mean, looking at history books (and I'm talking along the lines of textbooks than anything else), how many times do you read about the exact model of plane(s) that the Germans would have used during The Blitz? Sure, you can find that info somewhere else, but I've never seen that in any of my scholastic history texts. I imagine that the Narnians (even part from the whole "customary in war-time" bit) wouldn't have really cared too much about how all the littler creatures managed to get from the Witch's castle to the battlefield.

If my memory serves me correctly, doesn't LB mention that the "unridden beasts" (centaurs, unicorns, etc.) may be ridden when the need is imminent? In LWW, the foremost need was to get everyone out of the castle as quickly as possible, which would have been very challenging with smaller and slower animals. Thus, Aslan bent the customs in order to help achieve the bigger goal at the time - that is, join the battle and fight the Witch - because the need called for it.

I thought so, too, but then there's that one bit in SC...

The not-in-universe answer is, of course, that Lewis wasn't always consistent. I've also had quite a few headscratching moments over trying to figure out the distances and travelling times in Narnia, between LWW, PC and HHB.
There is, I think, especially a tendency for LWW, as the first book to be written, to not be completely consistent with the rest, where Lewis decided to flesh out the world more. The Beasts being less consistently like their animal counterparts (the Beavers are the most human-like of Narnian Beasts, who are a lot more animal-like afterwards), being even more a fantasy kitchen sink than the rest of the books with the inclusion of Father Christmas...

An in-universe answer is most likely a combination of everything that's been brought up... it being a solitary occurence, and quite likely pertaining particularly to small Beasts that would not have subsequently taken part in the battle, so they were probably left out of the histories... and maybe really centaurs being the last option to fall on, due to custom.

My assumption's always been "taboo lifted in wartime because desperate times/measures", but the centaur line is a point. I'm assuming there's a measure of third person limited going on here, though? The reader gets the information that characters at the time know about? Maybe there was something going on like the Centaurs being sort of "let us never speak of this again" and everyone afterward politely not mentioning the idea of the big majestic Centaurs who are totally not anyone's mount being covered with various small animals on their way to battle?

This is coming at the problem from a completely different angle, but in hospitals healthcare workers help weaker patients who are too weak to stand up on their own out of their beds and to where they need to go. There are a few patients who are men who don't like the idea of women having to help them stand up, but for the most part, people see it as necessary.

I think it would be the same with Narnians.