Prince Caspian

Summary

Prince Caspian begins a year after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are waiting on a railway platform on their way back to school when they are pulled out of England and set down on a wooded island beside a ruined castle. From the apple orchard and a treasure chamber still holding their old gifts, they realize the ruin is Cair Paravel and that centuries have passed in Narnia. They rescue a red dwarf, Trumpkin, from two soldiers about to drown him, and he tells them the story of the land since their day. Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines, who silenced the talking beasts, drove the dwarfs and creatures into hiding and taught that Old Narnia was a fairy tale. Young Caspian, nephew and heir of the usurping King Miraz, learned the old stories from his nurse and from his half-dwarf tutor, Doctor Cornelius. When Miraz's wife bears a son, Cornelius warns Caspian that his uncle murdered his father and will now kill him, gives him Queen Susan's ancient horn, and sends him off by night. Caspian is thrown from his horse in the woods and wakes in the den of the badger Trufflehunter and two dwarfs, the loyal Trumpkin and the bitter Nikabrik. The Old Narnians, among them the centaur Glenstorm and the valiant mouse Reepicheep, gather at the Dancing Lawn and make Caspian their king, but Miraz's army drives them back to Aslan's How, the mound built over the broken Stone Table. In desperation Caspian blows the horn, and Trumpkin is sent to the coast to meet whatever help it brings. The skeptical Trumpkin is won over when the children beat him at swordplay and archery. In a gorge only Lucy sees Aslan beckoning; the others outvote her and go wrong. That night Aslan calls Lucy and tells her she must follow him even if the others will not. One by one they come to see him, and Susan admits she had believed Lucy all along. At the How, Nikabrik, with a hag and a werewolf, proposes calling back the White Witch, and all three die in the struggle. Peter challenges Miraz to single combat; when Miraz stumbles, his own lords Glozelle and Sopespian stab him and start the battle. Aslan's roar wakes the trees, and with Bacchus and Silenus he frees the river god and the townsfolk. Reepicheep's lost tail is restored for the love of his followers, and Aslan heals Caspian's dying nurse. He explains that the Telmarines came from our world, descendants of pirates who stumbled through a cave on a South Sea island, and makes a door in the air for any who wish to go back. Peter and Susan learn they are now too old to return to Narnia. Geoffrey Bles published the book in London on 15 October 1951, subtitled The Return to Narnia, with drawings by Pauline Baynes; Macmillan published it in New York the same year.

Plot or Argument

• Chapters 1–3: The island and the ruin

  The four Pevensies are pulled from a railway station to an island, discover that the ruin is Cair Paravel, recover their old gifts from the treasure chamber, and rescue Trumpkin from Telmarine soldiers.

• Chapters 4–5: Trumpkin's tale of Caspian

  Trumpkin tells how Caspian learned of Old Narnia from his nurse and Doctor Cornelius, fled his uncle Miraz with Susan's horn, and woke in the cave of Trufflehunter, Trumpkin and Nikabrik.

• Chapters 6–7: The council and the war

  Caspian meets the hidden Old Narnians, holds a council at the Dancing Lawn, retreats to Aslan's How before Miraz's army, and finally blows the horn.

• Chapters 8–9: Trumpkin tested; what Lucy saw

  Trumpkin doubts the children until Edmund outfences him and Susan outshoots him; in the gorge Lucy sees Aslan, but the others will not follow her and take the wrong road.

• Chapters 10–11: The return of the Lion

  Aslan wakes Lucy at night and bids her follow him even alone; the others follow her, see him in turn, and Aslan's roar wakes the trees and begins the revel.

• Chapters 12–13: Sorcery and the challenge

  Nikabrik's plan to call up the White Witch with a hag and a werewolf ends in their deaths; Peter, Edmund and Trumpkin arrive, and Peter sends Miraz a challenge to single combat.

• Chapter 14: The duel and the rout

  Glozelle and Sopespian, after urging Miraz to fight, stab him when he falls; the woods march, the Telmarines flee to the river, and Aslan frees the countryside with Bacchus and Silenus and heals Caspian's old nurse.

• Chapter 15: Aslan makes a door in the air

  Caspian is crowned, Reepicheep's tail is restored, Aslan reveals the Telmarines' human origin and offers them passage back, and the Pevensies return to the station, Peter and Susan for the last time.

Characters

• Prince Caspian (Caspian X), title character

  Rightful heir of the Telmarine throne who longs for Old Narnia and becomes its king.

• Lucy Pevensie, protagonist

  The youngest, who sees Aslan first and must follow him when the others will not.

• Peter Pevensie, High King

  Leads the children and challenges Miraz to single combat.

• Susan Pevensie, Queen and archer

  Doubts Lucy against her own better knowledge and later confesses it.

• Edmund Pevensie, King

  Now loyal and level-headed, the first of the others to side with Lucy.

• Trumpkin, red dwarf

  Gruff, faithful dwarf who does not believe in Aslan until he meets him.

• Trufflehunter, badger

  Steady talking beast who holds to the old faith and waits for Aslan.

• Nikabrik, black dwarf

  Embittered dwarf who would accept any power, even the White Witch, against the Telmarines.

• Doctor Cornelius, tutor

  Half-dwarf scholar who teaches Caspian the true history of Narnia and helps him escape.

• Miraz, usurper

  Caspian's uncle, who murdered his brother to take the throne.

• Reepicheep, chief mouse

  Small, fiercely honorable mouse knight whose tail is lost in battle and restored.

• Aslan, the great Lion

  Returns to Narnia, seen first by those who trust him, and sets the land free.

• Glozelle and Sopespian, Telmarine lords

  Miraz's treacherous lords, who goad him into the duel and murder him.

Lessons

• Following when others will not

  Lucy sees Aslan in the gorge, but the others outvote her and she gives in, and the party loses a day and is nearly killed. That night Aslan tells her that what might have happened is never told, but she must follow him now, whether the others come or not. Faithfulness sometimes means going first and alone.

  • Why does Lucy go along with the others in the gorge even though she saw Aslan?
  • What does Aslan ask Lucy to do the second time, and why is it harder?
  • Who is the first to believe Lucy, and why do you think it is him?

• Knowing what is true and pretending not to

  Susan later admits that she knew in her heart it was Aslan, but she did not want to believe it. Lewis shows that doubt is sometimes not a lack of evidence but an unwillingness to follow where the evidence leads.

  • What does Susan confess to Lucy after they all see Aslan?
  • Why might someone not want something to be true?

• Remembering the old stories

  Under the Telmarines, Old Narnia is called a fairy tale and children are punished for speaking of it. Caspian's nurse and Doctor Cornelius keep the true history alive, and Trufflehunter holds that the beasts do not forget. A people's memory of the truth can survive long years of being told it was never real.

  • Why is Caspian punished for talking about the Old Narnians?
  • How do Trufflehunter and Nikabrik remember the past differently?
  • What stories from your family or your church are worth keeping and passing on?

• Humble kingship

  When Aslan asks Caspian whether he feels himself fit to be king, Caspian says he is only a boy, and Aslan tells him that this is exactly why he is fit. Caspian is also reminded that he comes from Adam and Eve, which is both a dignity and a humbling. Lewis's picture of a good ruler begins with humility.

  • Why does Aslan say Caspian's answer shows that he will make a good king?
  • How is Caspian different from his uncle Miraz as a ruler?

Context

Prince Caspian appeared in the austere years after the Second World War. Its story of a conquered land whose rulers deny its old faith and history, and of hidden loyalists who keep that memory alive, belongs to a period much concerned with occupation, resistance and the restoration of rightful order. The book also draws on Lewis's knowledge of classical myth, giving Bacchus, Silenus, dryads and a river god roles in Narnia's liberation.

Composition

Lewis wrote the story in 1949, soon after finishing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and before that book was published; his working title was Drawn into Narnia. Geoffrey Bles published it on 15 October 1951 with illustrations by Pauline Baynes, and the publisher added the subtitle The Return to Narnia. Lewis later described the book's theme, in a 1961 letter, as the restoration of the true religion after a corruption.

Reception

It was well received as a sequel and has remained a standard part of the Narnia sequence. The BBC adapted it, with The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, for television in 1989, and Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media released a feature film in 2008.

Comparisons

• the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe

  The first book's Stone Table now lies buried under Aslan's How, and the Pevensies' coronation gifts are dug out of their own ruined treasure chamber; the sequel asks what remains of a golden age after centuries.

• the-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader

  Caspian, now king, sails east with Edmund, Lucy and Reepicheep, and Reepicheep's longing for Aslan's country carries on the faith he shows here.

• the-silver-chair

  Both turn on following Aslan's signs against appearances; Puddleglum's stubborn loyalty echoes Trufflehunter's patient trust that Aslan will come.

• the-hobbit

  Tolkien's dwarves and Lewis's Trumpkin and Nikabrik share a gruffness and a long grievance, but Nikabrik shows where bitterness without faith can lead.

• the-aeneid

  A rightful heir driven out, a war for a homeland and help from the gods: Virgil's epic is the classical pattern behind Caspian's restoration, though Lewis's hero wins by humility rather than destiny alone.

• the-bacchae-and-other-plays

  Euripides' Dionysus brings a wild, dangerous revel to Thebes; Lewis's Bacchus is tamed by Aslan's presence, as Susan remarks that she would not feel safe with him if Aslan were not there.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The apple trees, the well and the treasure chamber that tell the children the ruin is Cair Paravel.
• Who believes in Aslan, who doubts, and who stops caring, especially Trufflehunter, Trumpkin and Nikabrik.
• The two times Lucy sees Aslan, in the gorge and in the night, and what she does each time.
• How the trees and rivers wake up when Aslan returns, and who joins his procession.
• The bargain Miraz's lords make with him before the duel, and what they do when he falls.

Key terms and names

Telmarines

The people who conquered Narnia long after the Pevensies' reign. They fear the woods and the sea and teach that Old Narnia never existed.

Old Narnians

The talking beasts, dwarfs, fauns, centaurs and other creatures who have gone into hiding under Telmarine rule.

Aslan's How

A great mound with tunnels built over the old Stone Table, where Caspian's army takes refuge.

Queen Susan's horn

The magic horn given to Susan by Father Christmas, which Caspian blows to call for help and which brings the four children back.

The Dancing Lawn

The open place in the woods where the Old Narnians hold their midnight council and make Caspian their king.

Single combat

A duel between two leaders, like Peter and Miraz, to decide a war without a whole battle.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension How do the children figure out that the ruined castle on the island is Cair Paravel?
2. Comprehension Why does Doctor Cornelius tell Caspian he must run away from his uncle's castle?
3. Comprehension What does Nikabrik want to do at Aslan's How, and what happens to him?
4. Interpretation Lucy is the only one who sees Aslan in the gorge. Why do you think the others cannot see him yet?
5. Interpretation Aslan tells Lucy she will find him bigger every year she grows. What do you think he means?
6. Interpretation Caspian says he is only a boy and does not feel ready to be king. Why does Aslan say that answer is a good sign?
7. Big Question Lucy has to choose between following Aslan and staying with her family. When is it right to do what is true even if your friends and family will not come with you?

Faith Connections

• John 20:24-29 (Scripture)

  Thomas will not believe until he sees, and Jesus blesses those who believe without seeing. Trumpkin, who scoffs at Aslan until the Lion lifts him into the air, and Lucy, who trusts before the others see anything, are a picture of the two.

• 2 Kings 22-23 (Scripture)

  King Josiah's people find the forgotten Book of the Law and restore true worship after years of neglect. Caspian's Narnia, where the old faith has been denied and is restored when Aslan returns, follows the same pattern of renewal.

• John 2:1-11 (Scripture)

  At Cana Jesus turns water into wine. When Aslan heals Caspian's old nurse by turning water from her well into wine, Lewis echoes Christ's first sign.

• C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book III, chapter 8 (The Great Sin) (Great Conversation)

  Lewis argues that pride is the root of other vices and that humility begins with seeing oneself truly before God. Aslan's approval of Caspian's sense of unfitness, and his reminder that Caspian is a son of Adam, put that teaching into story.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: The Telmarines say that Aslan and the Old Narnians are only stories, and most of the characters cannot see Aslan with their own eyes; yet the old stories turn out to be true, those who trust them before seeing are proved right, and those who give up hope, like Nikabrik, turn to evil. Therefore faithfulness to what has been truly handed down is wiser than trusting only what one can see at the moment.

Rhetorical device: story within a story (embedded narrative). Chapters 4 to 7 are Trumpkin's account to the Pevensies of Caspian's boyhood, flight and war, so the reader hears Narnia's recent history through a skeptical dwarf before Aslan appears.

Debate: Resolved: Lucy should have gone on alone to follow Aslan the first time she saw him in the gorge.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Trace Lucy's two meetings with Aslan in Chapters 9 to 11. What does she do the first time, what does Aslan say to her the second time, and how does she change?

Comparison with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: In both books Lucy sees something the others do not believe at first. Compare the wardrobe in the first book with the gorge in this one: who doubts her, why, and how is she proved right?

Medical Lens

There is little clinical material. Lucy's cordial from the first book reappears and heals the wounded after the battle, including Reepicheep, though it cannot regrow his severed tail. Near the end Aslan visits Caspian's old nurse, who is dying in a cottage, and restores her with water from her own well turned to wine, a miracle of healing in the manner of the Gospels rather than a medical scene. Caspian's fall from his horse leaves him dazed and bruised in the badger's cave, where the beasts nurse him.

• Chapter 14

  Aslan finds Caspian's old nurse on her deathbed and restores her with a cup of water turned to wine.

  Death Dying Nursing Caregiving
• Chapter 15

  Lucy's cordial heals Reepicheep's wounds, but his lost tail is restored only by Aslan.

  WAR Wounds

Creative Prompts

• Fiction

  Write the night Caspian escapes from Miraz's castle, from the point of view of Doctor Cornelius watching him ride away.

• Classroom

  Draw a map of the journey from Cair Paravel to Aslan's How, marking the gorge where Lucy first saw Aslan and the way they should have gone.

• Dialogue

  Write the conversation between Susan and Lucy after Susan admits she believed Lucy all along.

• Essay

  Compare Trufflehunter, Trumpkin and Nikabrik: what does each believe about Aslan and the old days, and what does each choose to do?

Further Reading

• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis

• Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories, C. S. Lewis

  Lewis's essays on writing stories for children.

• Planet Narnia, Michael Ward

  Argues that each Chronicle is shaped by one of the medieval planets, with Mars governing Prince Caspian.

• Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles, David C. Downing

• The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis, Alan Jacobs