Edmund and Lucy were talking about Narnia, the name of their secret country – except that it was no imaginary land.
They were in Lucy’s room, looking at the picture of a
ship. The waters were wet, the waves were going up and down – and the ship was moving. Lucy felt the wind in her face, blowing at her hair. The picture seemed to have grown larger, as they were drawn into the frame. It was Narnian magic at work again.
On board the ship they find Prince Caspian, who has
set sail to seek the exiled lords, and to explore the unknown Eastern Seas.
Their first port of call are the Lone Islands. There, Caspian moves swiftly to put an end to the slave trade. And declares that henceforth the Lone Islands are to be governed in accordance with the old customs, and the laws of Narnia.
They also set foot on Dragon
Island, where their cousin Eustace has an unlikely adventure, and is turned into a dragon. And then they stop at Goldwater island, where all things turn to gold. Before they set sail again – with the hope that it is to Aslan (the Lion of Righteousness) country that they are going…
In chronological order, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was the first of the Narnian books to be published, and it was closely followed by “Prince Caspian” and “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”. The main protagonists of these three books are the four Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy), and they are joined by Prince Caspian of Narnia.
It is around this structure that the author has woven the other tales of Narnia, filling in missing bits of the puzzle with each successive volume.
The ancient Celtic myths and legends were the source and the inspiration for C.S. Lewis – as they were for Tolkein, that other chronicler of the fantasy
world. Dwarves and wizards, talking animals and dragons may seem commonplace in the world we live today, the world of animated movies and computer games; but it was C.S. Lewis and Tolkein who first captured the popular imagination with tales that charmed fans a whole generation ago.