#battle of calormen

[artist-issues]

I love your post detailing greta gerwig's changes in her adaptation of little women, but isn't Narnia definitely flavored with some universalism? In the Last Battle, a worshipper of Tash ends up in heaven because he's like "truly seeking the face of God" essentially even if he knew Aslan by the wrong name because his culture only exposed him to Tash. Also, I was raised protestant so I don't know if catholics have a different idea about what counts as universalism or not, but basically I'm not so sure if this will get in the way of her working on the films, especially if she does the Magicians Nephew. Unrelated, I wonder how they're going to go about adapting the Horse and his Boy without it being lambasted for racism etc lol

I think "flavored" with Universalism is a good way to describe The Last Battle--and only The Last Battle, and only that bite of the meal that deals with the young Calormene. Because my understanding of Universalism is that they believe all people, regardless of their beliefs contradicting Biblical Christianity, go to heaven and are not condemned for choosing to be god-of-their-own-life.

You can't quite look at C.S. Lewis' entirety of work and believe he was a Universalist in that sense. He certainly believed in the Biblical truth of Hell. Otherwise, specifically in Narnia, there would be no "Darkness on Aslan's Left Side" that all the creatures who fear and hate him disappear into at the end of the world. That seems like a pretty straightforward representation of Judgement.

I think the whole thing with Emeth the Calormene is interesting. From the language Lewis uses, it seems like he's trying to say something about the posture of a heart more than the name one swears by. Emeth is confused that he's been allowed into the True Narnia because "all my life I have served Tash." But Aslan basically looks at the heart; he says if Emeth had been serving Tash, his deeds and his heart would match Tash. It actually seems more like Emeth didn't know who Tash was at all, or he would have been performing vile works to please Tash. Aslan also says Emeth would never have kept "seeking" for so long if his heart had been serving Tash, which implies that Tash is easier to know than Aslan.

All of that is fascinating (I do think it is the theologically weakest, if not worst, part of the Chronicles of Narnia series.) But I don't think it has anything to do with Universalism as we know it today. Unitarian Universalism is just "Believe whatever you want as long as your belief system doesn't judge other people's belief systems, and you'll be fine with 'God.'" Lewis certainly didn't subscribe to that unbiblical worldview, even with the Calormene in the Last Battle.

I don't know what you mean about the Magician's Nephew.

The real problem with Greta Gerwig is not that she claims Unitarian Universalism. It's that she can't tell a story that is faithful to the original books; she has to transpose it into her own values. So, for example in what we're talking about, if she were doing "The Last Battle," she'd certainly cut out The Darkness on Aslan's Left Side scene, and maybe even reduce the whole conversation between Aslan and Emeth to "all are welcome!" But the main thing she'll do is elevate Susan, Lucy, Jill, Aravis, and Polly to a disproportionate degree.

Finally, I would just say, I'd love for somebody to explain to me what makes The Horse and His Boy racist. (With a reminder that nobody on this website knows my race, so nobody can claim that race-based unconscious bias is what's keeping me from seeing it.)

Lewis invented his own race that, yes, is heavily influenced by Western-Arabian-Nights-interpretations of Middle Eastern cultures. But the Calormenes don't serve Allah, they serve Tash and other gods. The Calormene characters are not all ugly. The Calormen food is not all disgusting. Aravis is a Calormene, and she is a heroine and a main character. Not even every Calormene is even evil, or the enemy of Narnia, though the nation is. What, just because a non-white nation is depicted in Narnia and you can see what culture their fantasy culture is based on, that makes it racist? How? Because Lewis doesn't even write all Calormenes as good or evil, he writes them as humans. Explain to me how that's racist.

(I mean, not you, @childlessoldcatlady, I'm enjoying answering this question. I just meant, someone explain it, now that I'm on the subject. Thanks for the question. I'm Protestant, too.)

[whats-in-a-sentence]

There were fifteen Calormenes, a Talking Bull of Narnia, Slinkey the Fox, and Wraggle the Satyr.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle" - C. S. Lewis

[tenth-sentence]

Two Calormenes were driving a horse which was harnessed to a log.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle" - C. S. Lewis

[randomcanbian]

.

[demhen]

Aslan, what’s wrong with you?

From the horse and his boy:

Aravis a girl running away from being a child bride to someone its unimportant tricked her handmaiden so she could flee. Now what does Aslan do, give her a magical bow and arrow to defend herself, does he protect her until they come to Narnia? No, He slashes her back 10 times with his CLAWS! Because the handmaiden she tricked got whipped 10 times with a whip… ASLAN WHY?! Like Peter gets magic weapons the skill to use them and probably super strength seeing as how often he fights against adults, Susan and lucy get smart advice and warm hugs Aslan literally sacrifices himself for Edmund (yes, he knows he would come back but it’s the effort that counts) and Aravis gets shredded worse then.

Also, Jesus fursona finds it necessary to be a background character (doing stuff like chacing Bree, Shasta, Hwin and Aravis through a giant desert) in this one book, he never has problems to just meet the main characters and be like "Hey it’s me Jesus’s fursona", so why not in this book who knows I certainly don’t.

From the Last battle:

Aslan ends Narnia. Excuse me Mr. Furry Jesus I have a Question why? Because Narnia fell? It fell before let’s talk about some examples shall we just to see how many times it did?

Jadis the white witch for 100 years

The Telmarines for 1000 years

The Calormenes for what 20 minuets

So, Aslan kills Narnia his creation with all is inhabitants that are basically Aslan’s children because, … I am unsure I cannot find a real reason.

Your book hoarding dragon,

Demhen

[raging-violets]

The Night Witch Chapter 34 || FFN  • AO3

"Are you sure?" Susan demanded. Edmund turned to her with a roll of his eyes. "No, I'm making it all up for my own enjoyment." At that, Susan folded her arms, making Edmund do the same. Peter and Lucy merely shared smiles. Not that they didn't believe Edmund, but the few times that his sarcasm wasn't directed their way, the Pevensie siblings did find humor in it. As it was, the conversation needed a bit of lightening anyway. If what Edmund was saying was true…things were even more dire than they'd originally thought. "Yes, Su, I'm serious. There's more than enough evidence that we're being watched. And probably for a lot longer than we thought we've been." He gestured vaguely with his arm in the direction of the forest and village surrounding the Telmarine castle. "You couldn't have possibly believed that Archenland would have let us escape without some sort of a response." Susan shook her head. As diplomatic as ever she said, "We don't know for sure they're going to retaliate." But even the words rang hollow with her. No, they couldn't know for sure. But they'd been through enough battles, enough wars to know if there was a moment of power, a moment of weakness that could be snuffed out, people would take advantage. It was enough to have returned to Narnia and seen how much had changed, but another to readily admit their oldest ally had become their enemy. Edmund made a sound of impatience. All the evidence was staring them in the face. They arrived at Anvard, weren't welcome with the open arms they expected, the Calormens knew where they were so that Peter would be attacked when he went to Cair Paravel, the heavy stillness around Telmar., vegetation picked clean, branches broken, prints that weren't made from animals seen around the perimeter. It didn't take much for anyone to figure out that there was something coming. They'd said as much, all agreed on it before they had left Anvard. Now Susan was changing her mind? "You always were considered the more diplomatic one," He mused before nodding, making her smile with the thinly veiled compliment. It usually took a lot more prodding and a begrudging scowl for Edmund to say anything nice of his siblings let alone the ease it came of his fellow kings and queens. "Su, we know they're going to do something." "But we don't know that it's coming from King Nain and Queen Aria! Or that they're working with the Calormens specifically," Susan pointed out. She slowly lowered herself to the seat behind her. "If we decide to go in and accuse…what will that mean about our own reputation?" It was then Lucy decided to speak up. She simply watched as the two more outspoken of the kings and queens hashed things out. It was they way they'd always worked, Peter was the one that gave the final decision, but Edmund and Susan, the Just and the Gentle, were the ones who had the most power, the most sway when it came to their political leanings and conversations. "Our reputation is that we care about our people." She paused, waiting for the words to sink in. "And not just of our people, but of everyone in Narnia, this world, who is facing injustice." "It's a good reputation to have," Susan agreed. "But you do have to agree with some of the detractors…that sometimes we ought to leave things alone to those that are in the conflict." Susan shook her head. "It's the same that has been said of the war back home." "With the war back home, we had to run out of our house in the middle of the night amongst an air raid!" Edmund snapped, eyes flashing. "Or did you forget what brought us to the countryside and to Narnia in the first place?" "Maybe that was meant to happen," Lucy mused quietly.

Tag List: @darknightfrombeyond @farfallasunicas @foxesandmagic   @witchofinterest @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon

[fartherupandfurtherin]

Narnia Headcanons: Archenland

- Has three major cities (Anvard, Perth, and Ende) and then several smaller towns and villages.

- The people are generally hardy and have a reputation for being tough from living in the mountains.

- Archenlanders have an affinity for magic due to most of the human inhabitants having dryad ancestors.

- Good magic practitioners are called Cunning Men or Cunning Women.

- Archenland was hidden by Cunning people during the reign of the White Witch.

- Some of Archenland's humans had ancestors from Finland, Ireland, Scotland. Greece, and France. This is most obvious given their naming conventions.

- They speak a pidgin language called Narn, which mixes English and Old Narnian. Their own language is called Archen, which is a very weird mix of Irish and Old Narnian.

- They have accents that sound Scottish.

- Everyone knows how to use a weapon of some sort due to coming into constant conflict with the Calormen Empire.

- Everyone is also taught survival skills from a young age and children are expected to be self-sufficient, which is why Corin is the way he is.

- Edmund learns Archen so he can talk to his wife's great-grandparents, who never learned Narn due to the reign of the witch.

- Edmund scares some of his classmates later when he starts cursing at someone in Archen. His Irish classmates immediately adopt him, because he's speaking Irish. Very weird Irish but still Irish.

- Archenland's last King and Queen were King Eoin and Queen Ines. They were both murdered by Calormene assassin's and their young blind son Sol (15 during the events of the Last Battle) was placed on the throne as a puppet ruler. This was a mistake and Calormen was pushed out shortly before the last great battle.

- Archenland has creatures unique to them, specifically they have wolverines, moose, and other animals associated with colder places. Some are talking animals.

- Susan Does Not Like the fact many Wolverines can talk but Lucy is very fond of them and they adore her.

- Susan loves the snow bears (polar bears). They're very pleasant and civilized creatures that regularly murder giants.

- Peter likes the moose. They like him and one named Teo would let the High King ride him into battle on occasion.

- Edmund prefers the talking mink as they are clever, excellent spies, and foul mouthed.

- Ariane had a mink friend named Avi. He would ride around on her or Edmund's shoulders and pretend to be a dumb beast to get information or free food. Mr. Beaver thinks he's uncivilized and they bicker about it.

- Boxing is a popular sport, as is skiing.

- Archenland is well known for its poetry and music.

- The nobility favor practical clothes over grand ones. They do have royal clothing but these are brought out for special occasions.

[pevensiegiigi]

67 years ago "The Last Battle" was published, the seventh and last book of The Chronicles of Narnia. What is your favorite moment in the book?

Mine lies in the later chapters, when Tirian and those with him fearlessly rush to fight the Calormenes.

'The Last Battle' is my third favorite book in the franchise.

[who-canceled-roger-rabbit]

You know that post about how Tolkien's stories are presented as translations of texts from earlier ages, and how that's grounds to diversify Middle-earth because translators in our world (like say a white male Oxford don born in the late Victorian era) may have made erroneous assumptions about characters' gender and race (and hell who's to say those characters even thought of gender and race the same way we do in the first place)?

Well I thought something similar could work for Narnia. I seem to recall that the narrator mentioned hearing these stories firsthand from the Pevensie kids. One could easily imagine that said narrator added a lot of the series's relatively conservative attitudes on gender and colonialism. For example, Father Christmas might not have actually told the kids that "battles are ugly when women fight," and Calormen might not have really been a dystopia of Oriental Despotism™ standing against Christian virtues.

Hell, maybe The Last Battle got written when Susan woke up in a cold sweat after Aslan sent her a "get your shit together" vision because she'd grown estranged from her family. Then some time after telling the narrator that she saw Narnia's destruction and her family's death, Susan sent a followup letter/telegram along the lines of "false alarm, Lucy sent word that they're all fine."

[why-bless-your-heart]

Will only Catholics get into Heaven?

A man died, and at the pearly gates St. Peter asked him, “Name?” “John Smith.” “Religion?” Methodist.” St. Peter looked at his list and said “Okay, you’re in room 24, but be very, very quiet as you pass room 6.” Another man died, and St. Peter asked the same questions. “Name?” “Jack Smitt.” “Religion?” “Baptist.” St. Peter looked at his list and said “Okay, you’re in room 17, but be very, very quiet as you pass room 6.” Yet another man died, and St. Peter asked the same questions. “Name?” “Joe Schmidt.” “Religion?” “Jewish.” “Okay, you’re in room 10, but be very, very quiet as you pass room 6.” Joe hesitated. “Excuse me, I hope you don’t mind me asking. I can understand there being different rooms for different religions, but why do you need me to be quiet when I pass Room 6?” “Not at all,” St. Peter said, “You see, the Catholics are in room 6 and they think they’re the only ones here.”

Anyway. The doctrine “Nulla Salus Extra Ecclesiam” doesn’t mean that only Catholics will enter heaven. What it does mean is that the Catholic Church, as the body of Christ, is the way in which we are meant to enter Heaven. The church provides the sacraments of baptism, reconciliation, and the Eucharist, all three of which Jesus says are necessary for salvation: Mark 16:6, Luke 13:3, John 6:54, for starters. The way we approach Christ (the only way to the Father) is through the Catholic Church.

If you haven’t read The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis, you should, you’re missing out, but he addresses the question of the “just pagan” very clearly. In it, a good Calormene (the bad guys of the story) says that he wants to meet Tash, who he’s served all his life. Tash is a very bad dude who eats people, one of those classic scary pagan deities. However, the Calormene is instead met by Aslan, a very good dude who grants eternal life. Aslan tells him that every time the good Calormene made an oath by Tash, and kept the oath because he had made it, and every time he sacrificed something he wanted for the sake of Tash, Aslan counted it as if it had been sworn by him or offered to him. Somebody who’s been innocently ignorant—never had the chance to learn the Catholic Faith, or only ever been exposed to bad catechesis—isn’t as culpable as someone who’s invincibly ignorant.

In the same book, there are some dwarves who are selfish, cruel, and even go so far as to murder fellow Narnians in the final fight against the Calormens. When they’re brought face to face with what lies on the other side, they refuse to accept it. They’re given a feast and insist that it’s nothing but barn scrapings, shown the sky and the grass and insist that they’re still locked away, even hear Aslan roar and claim it’s their fellow prisoners trying to scare them. Sometimes you simply refuse to learn something because you don’t like what the knowledge might demand of you. This is invincible ignorance, and it’s something we’ll all be held accountable for one day.

If you don’t know about the Catholic faith, or think that it’s false, you can’t be blamed for not converting. However, if you do know the Catholic faith, believe that it’s true, and refuse to convert, you are in very grave danger.

At the end of the day, though, the Church doesn’t decide who does and doesn’t go to Heaven. God does. The Church is allowed to say with certainty that some of those who have died are now in Heaven (the saints), but cannot say with certainty that anyone who has died has gone to Hell (although I have some suspicions.) When Jesus was asked who would be saved and who wouldn’t be, He said that the important thing is to strive to enter through the narrow gate. Worry about your own salvation, because at the end of your life, yours is the one soul you are going to have to answer for.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Seventh and last in either order, the fittingly named The Last Battle is a peculiar way to end a children's fantasy series. Everyone except Susan dies and people are maddest about the fact she's the only one who didn't. We've touched on how Calormen the totally not Arab bad guy country is iffy. Do remember this is written by a man "punching down" on the fallen Ottoman Empire in a similar fashion as if I used Soviet Russia as a template for baddies today. It's definitely not trying to make any specific arguments against Islam and actually makes a pretty respectful one by the end even by today's standards. I have a problem with the gripes about Susan though. Like, some of them just show the person making them really needs to pay attention to the real point of this tale.

The story starts with Shift the ape and Puzzle the donkey. Shift is manipulative, Puzzle dim and nonconfrontational. In political science terms I'd call them a perfect example of authoritarian leaders and followers. Shift finds a lion skin and convinces Puzzle to dress as a fake Aslan, who no one has seen in so long. Leads to atrocities. This is a great allegory for how good people get to "just following orders" coming out when WW2 was still a healing wound. It grows into reflections on how abuses of ideology lead people to just abandon ideals altogether. And what he has to say here with this framework leading into our climax is honestly really cool to put next to later backlash specifically because it's a rather tepid, hot take criticism to make more of Susan's absence than the story comes anywhere near. It's more about trying to act too grown up too fast she's willing to deny things she knows happened. A human counterpart to the dwarves.

The idea it's easy to dunk on an old Christian Brit, call him misogynist, and can score cheap "intellectual" points in certain circles today even if it requires ignoring usually the conflict ball goes to the shithead little boy all series to call Lewis a misogynist for this? Themes The Last Battle. preemptively and unintentionally called out. Funny thing is I could play this game too; Susan's the only one who didn't die in a train wreck directly because she's the one who focused on rad shit like parties and getting laid. CS Lewis, early feminist icon. Realistically that lens of feminism wasn't quite a thing yet by the time he died. Losing context like that over time is a theme too. Lewis died in 1963, I'm earnestly curious how he'd have viewed youth movements of the next ten years after that.

How JK Rowling went from being part of that trend to the weird bent she's on now is such a perfect example it is fucking hilarious. Framing prejudice as "protection" while doing stuff like tapping a former prison warden with a history of allowing abuse to head your "safe" shelter? Shift & Puzzle. They give a great thinly-veiled jab in there at Stalin misusing egalitarian language on top of the obvious religious commentary. It's a critique of rigid belief of any stripe as much as it is priests who abuse doctrine. A rigid orthodoxy is a bad thing, whether it be fundamentalist religion or radical politics or a social group drifting into tribalism because once it becomes a game of repeating slogans a charlatan can make those slogans mean anything. I love how we use this motif of a phrase you should be familiar with by this point in the series. "[Aslan] is not a tame lion."

Aside from that it's a good conclusion. I remember as a kid appreciating that it had a little weight. Offered something I could tell I wasn't yet old enough to really understand. It and Utena were the two big things younger me made a note to revisit later. King Tirian & Jewel the Unicorn are fun Narniabros and Puzzle is so precious. Shift is one of Lewis's best antagonists as well and Tash is scary as shit. I love the dialog between Aslan and Emeth the virtuous Calormen. Kinda boils down to like, any earnest devotion glorifies God regardless of the name being prayed to. The end of the Narnia we knew doesn't have quite the same pop as Nephew's song of creation but it is very vivid and forlorn in its own beautiful way. All in all, The Last Battle ends up being a suitable conclusion with a fittingly meta & timebending lesson in not being too rigid about the lens we view the world through. And that's pretty cool.

[symphonic-snapdragon]

i have such complicated feelings towards cs lewis!! i love him as a person!! as an author however i have Opinions and Thoughts

hot takes:

- narnia was good until the last battle. making the kids die was a stupid ending

- susan. that’s all. that’s the post. she got done dirty.

- the calormenes are an obscenely racist caricature of middle eastern cultures like. what the fuck why are the arab-coded characters the devil worshippers??

-the space trilogy had great ideas but horrendous execution

- that hideous strength is Bad and my 9th grade self was appalled when i read the words “give up on your dreams. have children instead” in a CSL book

- CSL’s apologetics are way better than his fiction !! mere christianity, the weight of glory essays, the abolition of man!! sooooo good. so much to meditate on. good stuff.

- personally, the screwtape letters, great divorce, and till we have faces >>> narnia

i am a Tolkien Gal through and through so i guess i’m biased by preferring JRRT over CSL *any* day but thanks for reading my Irks Regarding Jack Lewis

[whats-in-a-sentence]

And just as Tirian took his place, the gong stopped beating and from somewhere on his left three figures appeared.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle" - C. S. Lewis

[tenth-sentence]

"My Father," he said to the Captain, "I also desire to go in."

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle" - C. S. Lewis

[fictionadventurer]

"the MCU's take on the characters from his beloved teenage fandom would probably have left him apopleptic."

He'd probably have compared what the Calormen in the Last Battle were doing with Tash as equivalent to what they did to Loki in those "silly empty headed movies that are popular in these days"

Yeah, Clive really needed to chill sometimes.

[catchthewinds]

Re-reading (listening to, actually) The Horse and His Boy and I always forget just how much I love this book and now I need to gush about it

first of all the sheer humor. The conversations between Shasta and Bree. If a horse could hold a conversation, this is exactly how it would go.

This is probably the most political of all the Narnia books. We get an inside look at the relations between Narnia, Archenland, and Calormen. There’s intrigue! Kidnapping plots! Actual kidnappings! War plans! Talk that shows the relationships between the four Narnian royals! It’s all so awesome I can’t stand it

Our protagonists don’t know why they are constantly encountering lions but we, the readers, do. Aslan’s presence, protection, and guidance when they don’t know he’s there or that he even exists and whoops now I’m crying. 

I haven’t finished it yet but I KNOW WHAT’S COMING and the battle?? Aravis and Shasta learning their own stories??? Hwin and Bree returning home????? This is the best book ever written and if you disagree you are WRONG.

anyway if I ever have a daughter I am naming her Aravis