Summer Challenge 2020 - LWW Sharing thread

[Ajnos]

Chapters 6&7

Didn't actually get time to read today, but I'd been thinking about doing this for a couple of days. I may take a better photo in the daylight and see how it is, but for now...

Behold, the Beavers' lodge!

[Swanwhite]

@Ariel Great observations! I love the detail of them wanting to take apart the armour. I would have loved to see Macready's reaction if they had succeeded!

@Ren Great drawings of Aslan and the beavers! They're my favourite of yours so far!

@Ajnos The Dinner with the Beavers set up is really fantastic!

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

@Ren: I love the way you did Aslan! So cool. And the Beavers are cute. ^_^
@Swan: I don't know how you do it. Your Robin looks fantastic!
@Ajjie: Aww, so cute!

*reads and reflects while she waits for her TD to set*


Chapter 7
You know, I tend to read Edmund with a critical approach, but I'm realizing that while, no, he doesn't have the trust that makes the other three "good guys" so to speak, he's not wrong in asking questions like, "If it comes to talking about sides, how do we know you're a friend?" I know Narnia is steeped in childlike faith and innocence, but sometimes its characters could do with a little more caution.
Aww, Mr Beaver is so proud of his dam. And this is probably the first time in a long time he's got to show it off.
I'm really rather comfortable with the Beavers' home being very familiar in that they do much of what humans do: cooking, sewing (though I still want to know how a sewing machine came to be in Narnia!), sleeping in bunks, making marmalade rolls, that sort of thing. For some reason, though, I tend to struggle with imagining other Animals doing the same. Not so much the ones with "hands" (like Mice and Bears), those are fine, but the ones who are operate exclusively on all fours, like the Fox or Horses. Do they have houses of a sort? Furniture? Do they, like the Beavers, regularly eat things outside of their expected diets (eg: do Birds bake bread? could a Dog eat chocolate and grapes without being sick? do Elephants eat venison?)?
A hundred years of winter, and all this food. This has, again, been a discussion point before, but I still think about this from time to time. I have a theory that those in service of the witch are paid in food (or at least more and/or better food), but what about the others? Smuggling? Trade? Does Jadis negotiate with other nations or are the Narnians left to fend for themselves?
How does one "unexpectedly" pull out a baked good from the oven? As someone who bakes a fair bit, I can say that you can always smell something. And you can't tell me that the fish masked the scent because if it was baking before the fish came in, then they would have smelled it. If Mrs Beaver snuck it into the oven after dinner was laid, then they would have eventually smelled something not-fish after a while.

Chapter 8
Methinks the air of Narnia and the name of Aslan (and likely the reading of the right books) has worked some magic on Peter. He knows basically nothing and he's jumping into the deep end with both feet suggesting rescue operations.
"I'm longing to see him," said Peter, "even if I do feel frightened when it comes to the point." This feels like a kind of declaration of faith. Peter, again, knows oh so little, but he's longing to see Aslan even though he's sure he'll be afraid when he does.
"Word has been sent." Okay, who all knows the time and place of the Pevensies' appearance? Mr Beaver hadn't just been camping out waiting for them. Mrs Beaver had a lot more than just two Beavers' worth of potatoes already boiling. And now we find "word has been sent" that they're to meet Aslan "tomorrow". Talk about God's timing!
"... there's never been any of your race here before." So... Mr Beaver hasn't even heard of humans? Is this why Is Man a Myth? a thing? because Lewis hadn't established that there were humans anywhere in that world as of yet?
If the dwarfs least like men are the best ones, maybe that further explains the hatred toward half-dwarfs in PC. Besides the obvious fact that they're not only half-breeds, but half-Telmarine.
Oh, sure, let's be all secretive and cautious and then just go outside and yell for Edmund. That won't turn any heads at all.
Why are all three so certain that Edmund was betraying them? He might be a little beast, but what else would they base this on, especially since Mr Beaver had not yet revealed the bit about Edmund having the look of someone who's eaten the witch's food?


*sees that TD has set, takes care of that*


I had hoped to do a graphic for both today and yesterday, but only managed yesterday's before it got too late.

lyrics from Steven Curtis Chapman's "Remembering You"
I chose to do this because, though Lewis didn't give the Professor a Narnian adventure till a few years later, it did happen and that has ramifications on the character in LWW. Reports of children finding a world in his special wardrobe surely would have brought on memories of his own adventures.

[Swanwhite]

Chapters 7-8
I like how distinct, but each good in its own way, the homes of Tumnus and the Beavers are. Tumnus is clearly very artistic and cultured while the beavers are more practical and down to earth. I kind of want to know more about Mr. Beaver and his hatchet working in the Narnian underground.

Something I noticed for the first time is how much the Pevensies lack agency in this story. A more typical adventure story would see our protagonists follow through on their desire to dress up as peddlers and infiltrate the witch's castle, but they are told that they can do nothing until they join with a greater power and cooperate with Him.

There are so many children's stories where the characters are orphans so that they can make independent choices on their adventure, and here we have children that are separated from their parents and other authority figures and they still have choice taken away from them except for the one fundamental choice of which source of power to align themselves with.

Conventional story logic is that this makes weaker characters, but I don't think that rings true in this case.

[Ajnos]

Commenting on Ch 5-6 posts:
@Ren: All your pictures are great, and I absolutely love Susan's skirt!
@Swan: As I reacted on Facebook *jawdrop*. I love robins anyway, and you captured him beautifully.
@ Ariel

We know for sure that Digory ate with them twice, but what about now?

Responding after having just read Ch7-8. It struck me how they didn't talk "business" at all during the meal at the Beavers' house. That coupled with your comment here, reminded me of how my Mom says that when they were growing up, her father didn't allow them to talk at the dinner table (I can't remember if it was just the children or included adults). But it got me wondering whether there might be something of a tradition of eating in silence in the presence of adults. Seems so weird to us, but I can kinda see it being a thing. (*will have to investigate further*)

Commenting on Ch 7-8 posts:
@Ren: My favourite part about the Aslan picture is how you did his fur with the pen-strokes. And the Beavers are just so cute. (Always been a fan of beavers; second to hedgehogs, but they're up there).
@Ariel (this will include some of my own thoughts on reading these chapters)

Mr Beaver is so proud of his dam. And this is probably the first time in a long time he's got to show it off.

Okay, so, this bit really confused me a bit:
And below the dam, much lower down, was more ice, but instead of being smooth this was all frozen into the foamy and wavy shapes in which the water had been rushing along at the very moment when the frost came. And where the water had been trickling over and spurting through the dam there was now a glittering wall of icicles, as if the side of the dam had been covered all over with flowers and wreaths and festoons of the purest sugar.

1. While I like the image of the Witch just freezing the river in mid-flow, would it seriously still look like that after 100 years? Maybe I don't know enough about frozen winters (I guess it's not snowing with frozen water all the time), and there will be partial thaws, but does it re-freeze like that in mid-flow every time?
2. Perhaps more puzzling: How does a beaver build a dam on a frozen river? How is there a sufficient amount of trout living in a river frequently frozen over?
This all makes me think (like Tumnus' Silenus stories) that at this point Lewis only envisaged a few years of "always winter". Yet by the end of Chapter 8, we have a clear idea that Aslan hasn't been seen (and the witch has been in power) for a few generations. Any thoughts?

I'm really rather comfortable with the Beavers' home being very familiar in that they do much of what humans do: cooking, sewing (though I still want to know how a sewing machine came to be in Narnia!),

Yeah, I have mixed feelings on this. I kinda like the anthropomorphism of the beavers at this point. There were a few oddities I noticed (in addition to the sewing machine), though. Like why do the Beavers have gumboots (yay for using what I think of as a South African word, but one which actually does originate in Britain!) and fishing rods!? (esp. if Mr Beaver doesn't need a rod.). [Aside: I think I may have just solved something of the sewing machine riddle, while typing this. My question was always why she needs it if they don't have clothes. But in that picture of her sewing, it seems she may be sewing a table cloth or something like that.] But we definitely loose a bit of the anthropomorphism in later books. We get something like it with the way Trufflehunter lives, but he's living with dwarfs. Similarly, in HHB, when Shasta arrives in Narnia, all the animals are kinda careless, and it takes the arrival of a dwarf before any of them think of offering him breakfast. To be honest, I think it's a little difficult to maintain the format of anthropomorphised animals (unless you're writing a story in the style of Wind in the Willows). I know from my SuFic, that creating a world with no humanoids at all becomes very complicated. I think Lewis sort of abandoned maintaining this depiction of animal life later.

A few more thoughts on 7 & 8
I was a bit critical above, so I do need to add that these chapters have some of my favourite passages. Especially the Beavers telling the kids about Aslan. The revelation that Aslan is a lion and "of course he isn't safe" are just great. I also like Mr Beaver's little piece on "things that pretend to be human but aren't". It fits in with Lewis' idea of talking animals going back to being wild and that the same can happen to humans (Uncle Andrew, the Neevil; and the boys who turn to pigs, anyone?). It must have been a recurring idea for Lewis because he visits it again in That Hideous Strength with the reversal of Babel thing. Also the story-telling in this section, and the build up at the end of not knowing how much Edmund knows is rather beautiful.

Last point on Mr Beaver's comment about Edmund "having the look of one who had been with the witch and eaten her food". Going back to Ariel's chapter 5 comment about Prof Kirke taking one look at Lucy to know she's not mad, it strikes me as odd that the Prof didn't realise there was something up with Edmund. But maybe he did, and just didn't know what to do with that info (didn't want to interfere, but rather let Ed learn the lesson he needed to learn).

Oh, which reminds me (really my last point this time): I feel that there are a few similarities between how the TD affects Edmund and the effects the enchanted apple in MN has on those who eat it unworthily. (Which also ties in nicely with Ariels Prof Kirke set, which I really like btw.

[renegadeoftheshire]

@Ariel: Thank you! Love your graphic!
@Swan: Thanks! Glad you like them! (I'm actually surprised by how Aslan turned out.)
@Aji: Thank you! Love your beaver's lodge. It's so cute!

Here's my picture for today! Hope you like it

[kristi]

*imagines Mr. Pricklepants auditioning for Ajnos' arrangement and being disappointed.*

Hmm, the stone lion is said to be enormous. I know he's not Aslan size, but are all Narnian lions a bit larger than ours?

Goodness, Maugrim has a STRONG Scottish accent in the audiobook. It may be more jarring than the American one in the movie.

Susan descends to hopelessness in her conversation with Mrs. Beaver. I hadn't notice that before.

So a voice can be pale and a smell can be dim, purple. Interesting.
My daughter always surprises me when she speaks of Father Christmas instead of Santa. It's all the Peppa Pig XD

Regarding Lucy's gifts, if you've never looked closely at the vial, I've always thought it clever that Weta connected the fireflowers with the fire berries in VDT. It had never occurred to me it might be the same plant.

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

@Swan: The difference between Tumnus' cave and the Beavers' dam is always fun to look at.
You know, I'm not sure I've thought about their lack of agency, leastwise, not in those words. Granted, they're not totally passive, especially Lucy and Edmund. Peter and Susan are left to react to a lot of stuff before they get a chance to make many choices.

@Ajjie: Oh, good point. "Children must be seen and not heard" and all that. Yeah, if that sort of information is out there to be found, that might answer at least part of the question. (Though I would think Digory is perceptive enough to pick up on unspoken tensions at the dinner table.)
Regarding the frozen river, do a google image search on "frozen Niagra Falls". I don't know what conditions have to be met before it happens, but it does happen, and one man at church has told me that when the falls freeze over, locals hear the silence.
I've wondered about dam-building in perpetual winter. I've more or less added it to the list of What All Is Affected By 100 Years of Winter?
Oh, is that why I struggle so much with other creatures being anthropomorphic? Because Lewis just didn't write them that way a whole lot after LWW?
Clearly, we need more of Prof Kirke, lol. (I did read a fanfic recently that let him overhear Edmund teasing Lucy and then process that information and make a decision as to what he should or shouldn't do.)

@Ren: Thank you! I like how happy Father Christmas looks.

@Kristi: I don't really blame Susan for feeling that way. She's desperate and Mrs Beaver has just said something that sounds like their chances of making it have dwindled into the single digits.
Lewis does have an interesting way of describing things.
I love Weta's vial design. It brings that whole world together.


Chapter 9
"... there's nothing that spoils the taste of good ordinary food as the memory of bad magic food." That's one effect of sin in a nutshell!
The lengths Edmund goes to justify Jadis seems to be another aspect of sin in a nutshell: no matter how bad it is and now matter how bad you know it is, if you want to keep going in it, you can always fool yourself into thinking it's not so bad after all. Similar situation when he spurs himself onward with the promise of the pleasures that are to be his reward.
I wonder if Jadis has set the Lion right at her gate on purpose?
Funny that Edmund would tell Jadis about Aslan so soon after thinking that the stone Lion was Aslan.

Chapter 10
"Two or three loaves"? How much bread do Mr and Mrs Beaver consume in a week?
Can we all just take a moment to appreciate Mrs Beaver's supreme cool-headed-ness? The way she breaks down the problem and arranges for a solution without rushing and fussing is amazing. (Though I do agree with Mr Beaver and the kids about at least hurrying up with it.)
I wonder if Mrs Beaver's flask was a result of Lewis' WWI memories of rum rations. It was doled out to the soldiers and had a similar warming effect.
Father Christmas must have magic. If only because of the tray of hot tea, but I don't think it ends there. Locks and bolts don't matter to him (though perhaps he is a skilled locksmith?), his reindeer take off awfully fast, and maybe he juiced that fireflower himself (though of course, he could have received it from Aslan or one of the birds from Aslan's Country). Magic probably also gives him the ability to know what each person needs (either that or his bag is magical like that).
Say... I've just realized that Father Christmas is rather fitting. Not merely because he's a symbol of cheer in winter or because of the gifts he brings, but because he is a herald of Aslan's coming. What came to mind specifically was "Joy to the world/ The Lord is come/ Let Earth receive her King". Aslan is on the move, joy to the world. Just a thought.
(Sorry, Mrs Beaver, I'm with the men on this one: fantabulous swords require an immediate look-over.)


Again, no graphics. It's even later than the last time I skipped out and I need sleep.

[Swanwhite]

Chapters 9-10

stone lion.jpg (168.75 KiB) Viewed 3552 times

Chapters 11-12

For the first time I thought about what happens to the reindeer once they're cut loose from the sledge. I like to think they ran free and lived happily ever after so I wrote this:

Reinless reindeer running
through an unexpected spring
celebrate the coming
of the long expected king!

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

@Swan: you added the glasses and mustache!

I didn't get to the reading today, but I was determined to catch up on graphics, so here are days 4 and 5.