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Narnia Beckons: C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - and Beyond
Narnia Beckons is an elegant coffee table book rich with photos relating to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and other C. S. Lewis stories. This book will be full of profound, enlightening, inspiring, and discerning information and stories about the book from which the movie has been drawn. Also included is information about previous television adaptations of Lewis's children's masterpiece as well as interviews with some of the key players producing the movie and leading Lewis scholars.
- GenresNonfictionChristian
192 pages, Hardcover
First published September 23, 2005
3 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Ted Baehr
18 books3 followersTed Baehr is the founder and Chairman of The Christian Film & Television Commission™ and Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®, aka http://www.movieguide.org, a family guide to entertainment. An award-winning media authority often on television, radio and print, his purpose is to be used by God to redeem the mass media and to encourage families to use wisdom in selecting their entertainment. His many books include How To Succeed In Hollywood (Without Losing Your Soul), The Media-Wise Family, Narnia Beckons, Faith In God & Generals, The Amazing Grace Of Freedom, and The Culture-Wise Family, among many others. For more information, please visit www.movieguide.org.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 5, 2023
Holy. Bigotry.
I tried, really tried, to like this book. I love Narnia, and I love literary analysis. That’s what I thought this was, but I was mistaken. The book presents itself to be a collection of essays about Lewis’ stories, but a majority of these essays are actually sermons or otherwise evangelical propaganda with the principal aim of conversion. Lewis was indeed a Christian, but I have to question if even he would appreciate such pushiness. Not to mention, some of these “pro-Christian” rhetoric are quite assumptive if not straight up offensive — there’s a small section on Lewis’ wife Joy Gresham that sounds anti-Semitic (I’m not Jewish so I won’t presume on whether it actually is or not). If you want to read this, skip around to the parts that most interest you and don’t waste your time being dragged on their literal mission.
I tried, really tried, to like this book. I love Narnia, and I love literary analysis. That’s what I thought this was, but I was mistaken. The book presents itself to be a collection of essays about Lewis’ stories, but a majority of these essays are actually sermons or otherwise evangelical propaganda with the principal aim of conversion. Lewis was indeed a Christian, but I have to question if even he would appreciate such pushiness. Not to mention, some of these “pro-Christian” rhetoric are quite assumptive if not straight up offensive — there’s a small section on Lewis’ wife Joy Gresham that sounds anti-Semitic (I’m not Jewish so I won’t presume on whether it actually is or not). If you want to read this, skip around to the parts that most interest you and don’t waste your time being dragged on their literal mission.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2025
Some chapters I loved, but most chapters I personally did not find easy to read, they were very physiological, and deep. The art work was great. I did find out the writer of my favourite chapter and probably easiest chapter to read has done a whole book so may try that one.
January 26, 2022
I loved the beginning and the insights offered. However, the more I read, the more I thought they were taking liberty with spiritualizing too much of the book.
December 20, 2015
This is an interesting examination of The Chronicles of Narnia, including allusions and meaning, with deep theological discussions. It also discusses the influences on Lewis' life, and other works by Lewis. Fans of Narnia and Lewis will enjoy this.
It’s a collection of essays by various authors. The pencil illustrations and photos add visual flair. My favorite essay is "Deeper Magic: Allusions in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by Marvin Hinten.
Notes
Lewis wrote against indifferentism (that all religions are equally valid) and syncretism (synthesizing elements from the traditional religions into a new, inclusive, civil religion). This plays out in The Last Battle. But, Lewis did believe that God "prizes" those who follow bad causes they believe to be good. For example, Emeth the Calormene in The Last Battle, or Plato.
"The artistry, the archetypes, and the pattern of Christian thought all make it preferable to read the books in the order of their publication "
Deeper Magic: Allusions in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Peter, Susan, Lucy may be may represent disciples Peter, James, John, respectively.
• "Tumnus" may be abbreviation of Vertumnus, Roman god of seasons and growth.
• "Kirk" is old Norse and Scottish for "church."
• Maugrim means "grim maw" or "fierce mouth." His name in other editions is Fenris Ulf, where "ulf" is Old Norse for "wolf" and Fenris is a form of Fenrir, wolf-son of evil god Loki.
• Aslan is a lion, king of beasts, "lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5.5).
• "Aslan" is Turkish for "lion."
• Lewis used Arabs and Turks to represent evil because of the history of the 8th century and the Crusades.
• Jadis is descended from giants and jinn. In Norse, giants undermined gods. In Arabic legend, jinn are supernatural creatures who took on human and animal shapes.
• Lewis grew up with Norse myth, and spend time in late 1940s rereading Arabic myth.
• "Cair" is old Norse for "to go," and sometimes part of place names. Cair Paravel may stem from "caravel," a type of 15th-century sailing ship.
• Lewis said the Stone Table represents the 10 Commandments.
• The hill of the Stone Table represents Calvary and Mount Sinai.
• The pavilion near the Stone Table represents the tabernacle.
• Creatures with an animal body and human had are good; creatures with a human body and animal head are bad. This represents reason over passion.
• The Witch’s claim to Edmund seems based on Romans 6:23.
• The big star on the eastern horizon represents Christ as the morning star.
• Aslan’s rescue of the statues represents Jesus rescuing the souls of Jewish patriarchs (the Harrowing of Hell).
• Lewis uses images that match the setting or theme of the book. For a warm, wet climate (such as Caspian), he uses Greek images. For warm and dry (Horse), Arabian and Turkish. For Lion, with its winter, Norse.
Tolkien
• Tolkien literally embraced trees.
• Tolkien based Treebeard on Lewis.
Other books
• The Keys to the Chronicles by Marvin Hinten
• Further Up & Further In by Diane Pendergraft
It’s a collection of essays by various authors. The pencil illustrations and photos add visual flair. My favorite essay is "Deeper Magic: Allusions in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by Marvin Hinten.
Notes
Lewis wrote against indifferentism (that all religions are equally valid) and syncretism (synthesizing elements from the traditional religions into a new, inclusive, civil religion). This plays out in The Last Battle. But, Lewis did believe that God "prizes" those who follow bad causes they believe to be good. For example, Emeth the Calormene in The Last Battle, or Plato.
"The artistry, the archetypes, and the pattern of Christian thought all make it preferable to read the books in the order of their publication "
Deeper Magic: Allusions in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Peter, Susan, Lucy may be may represent disciples Peter, James, John, respectively.
• "Tumnus" may be abbreviation of Vertumnus, Roman god of seasons and growth.
• "Kirk" is old Norse and Scottish for "church."
• Maugrim means "grim maw" or "fierce mouth." His name in other editions is Fenris Ulf, where "ulf" is Old Norse for "wolf" and Fenris is a form of Fenrir, wolf-son of evil god Loki.
• Aslan is a lion, king of beasts, "lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev. 5.5).
• "Aslan" is Turkish for "lion."
• Lewis used Arabs and Turks to represent evil because of the history of the 8th century and the Crusades.
• Jadis is descended from giants and jinn. In Norse, giants undermined gods. In Arabic legend, jinn are supernatural creatures who took on human and animal shapes.
• Lewis grew up with Norse myth, and spend time in late 1940s rereading Arabic myth.
• "Cair" is old Norse for "to go," and sometimes part of place names. Cair Paravel may stem from "caravel," a type of 15th-century sailing ship.
• Lewis said the Stone Table represents the 10 Commandments.
• The hill of the Stone Table represents Calvary and Mount Sinai.
• The pavilion near the Stone Table represents the tabernacle.
• Creatures with an animal body and human had are good; creatures with a human body and animal head are bad. This represents reason over passion.
• The Witch’s claim to Edmund seems based on Romans 6:23.
• The big star on the eastern horizon represents Christ as the morning star.
• Aslan’s rescue of the statues represents Jesus rescuing the souls of Jewish patriarchs (the Harrowing of Hell).
• Lewis uses images that match the setting or theme of the book. For a warm, wet climate (such as Caspian), he uses Greek images. For warm and dry (Horse), Arabian and Turkish. For Lion, with its winter, Norse.
Tolkien
• Tolkien literally embraced trees.
• Tolkien based Treebeard on Lewis.
Other books
• The Keys to the Chronicles by Marvin Hinten
• Further Up & Further In by Diane Pendergraft
July 17, 2012
I really like this book so much that i thing people need to read this, if they want to know what C.S. Lewis is.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews