Summer Reading Challenge 2021 (HHB) Sharing Thread

[renegadeoftheshire]

Here is a printmaking project I did earlier this year. I thought it was appropriate for today's reading!
Love what I'm seeing here!

[Ajnos]

That's lovely, Ren!
@Ariel: Good thoughts. The comparison between fat Tisroc and fat Lune is an interesting one (another of your contrasts!). Also, I agree that his ignoring who Shasta is for now must have taken so much self control.
Hopefully his horse is a sensible "dumb and witless horse" and returns home to his "stable and paddock"

Chapter 13
I like how Lewis doesn't over-glorify battle. Yes there are some parts that are a little more detailed than we'd like but this is written by a man who saw frontline action in one the worst wars, fighting-wise, and I think he wants his readers to know it's not all great. It's interesting how romantic a view Aravis has of it in Ch 14 and I love Shasta's response "It wasn't at all like what I thought".

Cheat time again: This is a little scene I wrote for the 2011 Summer Challenge on how Lune might be feeling during the seige. http://hedgepickle.blogspot.com/p/chapt ... -lune.html

Chapter 14
This chapter can be summed up in two words: Silly Bree
(Also so much humour and touching scenes and intensity and pathos)

[The Happy Islander]

From chapter 13, one thing I like is the moment when, on the way back from Narnia to Archenland, Shasta realizes that he had come along the edge of a precipice in the fog at night. At first he shudders, but then he realizes that he was quite safe the whole time because Aslan had stayed between him and the edge of the precipice. Because of some of the traumatic things I have lived through, this felt really familiar to me. There have been so many times, either when I was being mistreated, or when I was in physical danger, and I was protected; there was a limit set to the harm that could be done to me. Because God was watching over me all along, guiding me, protecting me. Helping me know the exact thing to say to soften someone's heart so they would do no further harm to me--despite my usual struggle with expressing myself in words. Sending someone to rescue me. A car's brakes working properly when they actually had been in need of repair. A sudden thought that turned into an unexpected action, that turned out to be the exact thing that needed to be done in that moment.

One thing from chapter 14 that I like is that King Lune wants Aravis to come live with them. She has given up everything to come north with the others, and now she is probably feeling a bit lost. Not sure where she belongs. She left her family behind and she knows no one here, besides her companions and the Hermit and Aslan. But she is wanted. She will have a home again, she won't ever have to run away again to escape a miserable future. King Lune doesn't even wait to meet her before extending the invitation to live with them. That must have meant so much to someone in her situation. In an instant, she has gone from being a stranger in an unfamiliar land, to having a home and people to belong to.

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

@Ren: I like that image!
@Islie: There is such a beautiful comfort in that scene with Aslan. Even when we don't see Him, even when we feel alone, even when danger lurks nearby (known or not), looking back and realizing He was there all along.... This is why it's my favourite scene.
@Ajjie: Ah, how did you know I wanted to read something like that? Good little piece on Lune's reflections on the boy-who-could-be-his-son.


Chapter 13

"If you funk this, you'll funk every battle all your life. Now or never." I wonder if this ever came to mind as Cor trained in the swordfighting? Lewis says he was an excellent swordsman when he was grown.

I've wondered for some time what the purpose of the hermit's... hermitage is. It is not as though he's cut himself wholly off from the world, as he plays host with the ease of one who's done it many times, he has a pool by which he can see the events of the world (and knows who he's watching), the like. There's something about him that feels a little like the hosts one might find in Pilgrim's Progress, the kindly homes of rest and restoration as well as instruction and council. I've sort of toyed a little with ideas about him, but apart from a short piece for a writing contest here some time ago, I haven't written any more of these thoughts out.

Lune is such a remarkable blend of characteristics. He is merry and stern, just and jesting, deferent and authoritative. And none of these contradict the others. In a way, he sort of reminds me of Frank in MN: a good and honest sort of man, who thus makes for a good sort of king.


Chapter 14:

Interesting that the hermit didn't clue into Shasta's identity. Perhaps it had slipped from memory, like in Ajjie's fic. Perhaps he'd simply dismissed it as a case of coincidence. Perhaps he did have an idea but did not voice it for one reason or another.

Funny that Bree suggests that even Aravis should know that "Aslan is a real lion" is an absurd idea. She's come out of a religion that worships gods of beast-like form (or at the very least, Tash fits this description). If anything, Aslan's being a lion may actually be less absurd to her than it is to Bree. Bree, being a Beast, considers the notion of Aslan's also being a Beast to be "disrespectful": surely someone so high above all else could not possibly be anything so low as a Beast! (Much like how Jesus, the Son of God, humbled Himself and dwelt among us in human flesh.) Aravis, on the other hand, had worshipped at least one god with beastial qualities, beings she believed higher than herself. Besides the very appearance of Aslan inspiring awe, perhaps there is some of this background behind the reactions Bree and Aravis have to him: a humbling experience for both as Bree learns that Aslan (for all his majesty!) has the lowly form of a Beast and as Aravis meets a Being so very unlike herself that he cannot be anything but powerful.

(I wonder if I ought to do some research on warships back in the day. Lune embarked "within twenty minutes", which is rather not like Bree's statement about two hundred men and horse marching within an hour.)

(Shasta may not know the story of the man in the rowboat, but that didn't stop me from writing his last hours! https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11312894/1 ... e-a-Prince (fanfiction.net is not affiliated with TLC; click at thine own risk))

"They're not like me, they've been properly brought up." This is both funny and sad. Funny in that Cor figures that the best way to appeal to Aravis is to offer her something she's better used to, even if he's got to talk down on himself. Sad in that I think he may have felt some of the loneliness Aravis had been feeling earlier (though not as acutely, given his family reunion with a brother he'd already become friends with and the fabulous father that is Lune), and he's desperate to have the familiarity of his travelling companion. At the same time, I think it shows (again) how he is concerned for her happiness and well-being. He could have gone and enjoyed himself with all the luxuries his new life had to offer, but he also took the time to actually think about Aravis' situation, and how his new life might suit her as well.

[renegadeoftheshire]

Here's my reflection for today! This is what I did for the Summer Challenge video. I have two American Girl dolls dressed as Lucy (left) and Aravis (right).

[Ajnos]

I'll try come back and reply to your other posts tomorrow. Love your dress-up, Ren!!

Chapter 15
This chapter can be summed up in two words: Silly Rabadash

I forgot that Rabadash became a "good" (or at least peaceful) King in his later life. I did a thing on this last time so won't repeat it in detail, but I always relate Rabadash's demise to that of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel.

I'll end with my favourite quotes from the chapter:
“Shame, Corin," said the King. "Never taunt a man save when he is stronger than you: then, as you please.”

“For this is what it means to be a king: to be first in every desperate attack and last in every desperate retreat, and when there's hunger in the land (as must be now and then in bad years) to wear finer clothes and laugh louder over a scantier meal than any man in your land.”

I love how many random details Lewis stuffs into those last two pages about Golden-Age Narnia and Archenland. Often authors can leave you hanging with so many unanswered questions about what happened to the characters next. The party is also a tantalising little taste of what every day life was like in the Golden Age. They're beautiful little nuggets.

[The Happy Islander]

In chapter 15, I like that Rabadash was offered mercy. He chose not to accept it, but it was offered to him.

"Rabadash," said Aslan. "Take heed. Your doom is very near, but you may still avoid it. Forget your pride (what have you to be proud of?) and your anger (who has done you wrong?) and accept the mercy of these good kings."

I wonder if he ever regretted his choice not to accept mercy when it was offered to him (acknowledging that his curse was due to his own choices), or if he continued to feel that others were wronging him when he didn't get his way. It would be the easy thing for him to believe it was terrible of Aslan to turn him into a donkey. It is harder to see things as they really are.

The mercy offered to him by the Archenlanders and Narnians--and Aslan--was a gift, but Rabadash chose to keep his pride and anger rather than accept that gift. Perhaps if he had seen it as a gift, he would have valued it more.

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

Chapter 15

I love how involved Lune is in the running of things. Again, I'm reminded of Frank, as both men are willing to get their hands dirty with labour.

Aravis got into his good graces mighty quick, telling a story about Cor that would make any papa proud. Not accusing her of being strategic -- I believe she meant that most sincerely -- but, you know, it doesn't hurt.

Going back to my interest in contrasts, Lucy gets to be the contrasting counterpart to Lasaraleen. This time around, Aravis would be much more interested in matters like her new wardrobe (it's a practical need, and there would be all sorts of things to know from a cultural standpoint), and she gets to discuss it with someone who enjoys lovely clothes without gushing over them and fawning over herself.

Lucy and Lune are both tenderhearted monarchs. At the same time, Lune and Edmund share a practicality, because even though a traitor may mend, strong assurances must be obtained from Rabadash against a repeat performance.

Maybe this is because of the last year and a half that have passed, but Rabadash's railings seem even more unhinged than before. In particular, I notice that he 1) does not care to listen to the conditions, 2) prefers to "debate" by violence, 3) resorts to name-calling and cursing in place of actual arguments.

What did Mrs Beaver say about meeting Aslan without knocking knees? "Either braver than most or just plain silly?" Given the face he makes, I'd say Rabadash is solidly in the latter half of the equation: he's got no regard for who or what Aslan is and somehow thinks he can ward him off (or disconcert him, or something) with some ghoulish face.

Much as Rabadash's humiliation and "treatment" are a lesson for him, I like to think that his transformation back into a man has a bit of Old Testament flavour to it: namely in the supremacy of the true God over a false one. (Examples of this include the image of Dagon falling before the Ark of the Covenant and the plagues on Egypt contesting the power of the gods supposedly in charge of those elements.) Rabadash had appealed to Tash and yet his venture failed miserably; furthermore, he never leaves Tashbaan again, which he might have done if he believed Tash to be greater. I hope to play with this idea more in a future fic, but this short story touches a little on it in the memory of a witness to the event: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13809624/2 ... -Should-Go (fanfiction.net is not affiliated with TLC; click at your own risk)