Hobbit: Your horse picture is amazing! I can't believe how well you captured the action and terror.
Tenny: I really like the illustration of the Lord guiding our steps as Aslan taught the starts their dance. About Cornelius and his use of magic, we had a really long thread in which we discussed just that question some years ago on the old forum (it was up to like 16 pages of discussion). I'm sorry we lost that because it had some interesting thoughts about the matter.
Narniac: How exciting to have a French copy. I've read some of the Narnian books in Afrikaans - it's kinda cool to see how they translate things. I think I read the PC one but I can't really remember it well. (Also someone was giving away a Danish copy of one of the books at the CSL society last year and I nearly took it. But I don't know any Danish, although my great parents came from Denmark
)
Ariel: That is interesting about the table being implied to be older than the lamppost. I agree that the magic from before the dawn of time being linked with it could be an explanation but it's origin is curious. It's interesting that Lewis didn't mention it at all in MN although he used that to explain so many other origins like the lamppost, Jadis' presence in Narnia and the wood for the wardrobe.
I'm a bit behind on reflections though I'm just keeping up with the reading. (Then again I'm almost half a day ahead of you guys by time zone). This reflection is based mainly on Chapters 7-8, but takes some information from earlier and from chapter 9.
Day 4
Chapter 7-8 (and 5 and 9): Character Profile - Trumpkin
So I was thinking about Trumpkin's characterisation in the book and it struck me for the first time that to some degree it's actually his story. He's the first Narnian we meet and the one telling much of the early story. But more than that, he's the one that undergoes the greatest change. From a highly sceptical dwarf (sceptical about everything from the existence of magic and Aslan to the Children's abilities) he turns out to be one of the most likeable characters and ends up being Caspian's first choice for regent on two occasions.
Appearance: "Very stocky and deep-chested… about three feet high… an immense beard and whiskers of coarse red hair [which] left little of his face to be seen except a beak-like nose and twinkling black eyes."
Skills: Fishing, Sword-fighting,
"A famous bowman among his own people"
Background: We aren't really told anything, but I'm rather curious how he came to be living with a black dwarf and a badger (rather than with the other red dwarfs). What did the three of them do when they weren't rescuing princes who had fallen off their horses?
Personality and characterisation:
(For this, I went through the various bits where he speaks or does something that reveals his character; each paragraph relates to a different bit of the story)
At first Trumpkin is introduced as a character who represents the middle-ground, in contrast to Trufflehunter and Nikabrik. When they are discussing what they should do with Caspian, Nikabrik wants to kill him, Trufflehunter wants to look after him but Trumpkin points out that if they wanted to kill him they should have done so and that by taking him in and bandaging him, he had become a guest. This sums up his practical and level-headed character. Trumpkin seems to have a soft spot for Caspian right from the start,
"it isn't the creature's fault that it bashed its head against a tree outside our hole. And I don't think it looks like a traitor." Trumpkin is also very quick to put Nikabrik in his place
"will you contain yourself, or must Trufflehunter and I sit on your head?"
Trumpkin's scepticism is shown from early on. He is shocked that Trufflehunter believes the old stories about High King Peter and the children from our world, and doesn't think many people
"still believe in Aslan nowadays." Despite this, he does have a clear sense of good and evil and sides with Caspian and Trufflehunter in overruling the black dwarfs' desire to have a hag and ogre join their army. Like magic and the children and Aslan, Trumpkin is also hesitant to believe in the spirits of trees and woods which had fallen into a deep sleep during his lifetime,
"What imaginations you animals have!", he says,
"But why stop at Trees and Waters? Wouldn't it be nicer if the stones started throwing themselves at old Miraz?"
One of the things that reveals Trumpkin's good intentions despite his unwillingness to believe in the unseen is the way he responds to Doctor Cornelius. While Nikabrik sees him as a traitor (as Cornelius predicted a true dwarf would), Trumpkin stands up for him saying
"the creature can't help his ancestry".
Trumpkin is extremely practical (in some ways he's a lot like Susan and perhaps shares some of her failings). He says, while plans are being made to hide out at Aslan's How
"I wish our leaders would think less about old wives' tales and more about victuals and arms."
One of my favourite bits about Trumpkin is the speech he gives regarding how he feels about using Aslan's horn. He is clear that he does not believe it can be of any help:
"Your Majesty knows I think the Horn - and these broken bits of stone over there - and your great King Peter - and your Lion Aslan - are all eggs in moonshine," but then he astounds them all by offering to be one of the messengers sent to look for the help if it should come.
"But I thought you didn't believe in the Horn, Trumpkin," said Caspian.
"No more I do, your majesty. But what's that got to do with it? … You are my King. I know the difference between giving advice and taking orders. You've had my advice, and now it's time for orders."
I was wondering a couple days ago how Trumpkin managed to get through his whole story without giving the children a chance to tell them who they were or figuring it out himself. But seeing just how much of a sceptic he was, it makes a bit more sense. He was so convinced that the children were not real and would not come, it hadn't occurred to him that these might be them. In a way, it reminds me a bit of when Jesus came to earth and many of the Jews who had been expecting a Messiah, didn't recognise him. He didn't meet their expectations so they couldn't see who he was and were blinded to the truth. That's where Trumpkin found himself when he was face to face with the famous kings and queens of old - despite having been sent to look for them. I think that serves as a lesson to us: we must be prepared to recognise when our expectations are wrong, or we might miss out on something important. (A similar message comes through later when Aslan suggests to Lucy that she ought to have followed him despite what the others thought and despite the fact that it looked like he was leading them the wrong way).
I agree with Ariel that Peter's plan to show Trumpkin that they were really the great Kings and Queens he was looking was a very clever plan, and also rather gracious. (As an aside, I hadn't remembered until now that the term "dear little friend(s)" was actually originally given by Trumpkin to the children and they applied it to him. I also thought, like Ariel, that it was odd that Trumpkin was so condescending of their youth despite Caspian being around the same age. Perhaps he had some sense of loyalty to the fact that because Caspian was the rightful king, his youthfulness was irrelevant.)
We see something of Trumpkin's sensitive side when he deals with the killing of the bear and encourages Susan who was concerned about it being a talking bear, and thus hesitating to kill it. His practical side is clear when he suggests their taking the bear meat for food. He's also the one to figure out that the landscape would have changed drastically since the children had been in Narnia.
Trumpkin's scepticism rises to the fore again when Lucy sights Aslan. While he's willing to accept that Lucy had seen a Lion, he suspects it might have been a wild lion and has no belief that if it was the talking one they knew as Aslan that he might have gone wild or aged. When it comes to the vote on whether to follow Lucy's lead or not, he takes what he thinks is the practical option.
I want to end with two comments (misconceptions) Trumpkin makes about Aslan which will be important later when he actually meets Aslan face to face:
When the black dwarfs want to bring in the hag and ogre, Trufflehunter says
"We should not have Aslan for our friend if we brought in that rabble." Trumpkin replies, "Oh Aslan!" (he says cheerily but contemptuously) "What matters much more is that you wouldn't have me."
Then to Lucy he says:
"Her Majesty may well have seen a lion…There are lions in these woods, I've been told. But it needn't have been friendly and talking lion any more than the bear was a friendly talking bear…He'd be a pretty elderly lion by now…if it's the one you knew when you were here before! And if it coul be the same one, what's to prevent him having gone wild and witless like so many others." Peter chastises him for this, but kindly
"The D.L.F doesn't understand, how could he?...You mustn't talk like that again. It isn't lucky for one thing: and it's all nonsense for another…"