Aslan

From NarniaWeb

Jump to: navigation, search
 
Line 11: Line 11:
'''First Appearance:''' ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', Ch. 12 (1950), first referenced in Ch. 7
'''First Appearance:''' ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', Ch. 12 (1950), first referenced in Ch. 7
-
 
-
 
-
==About Aslan==
 
-
<blockquote>''Who's Aslan? Why, don't you know? He's the King—the King of the whole wood, and the Son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. He's wild, you know. If there's anyone who can appear before him without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly. He isn't safe... But he is good. He'll often drop in, only you musn't press him to stay. He's not like a tame lion. Yes, Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.''<br />— The Chronicles of Narnia</blockquote>
 
-
 
-
Aslan is the creator of Narnia and the only character to appear in all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia. In some of the books, He only has a few brief appearances, but He is referenced in almost every chapter and is always a significant player in the story. His very name causes people to experience intense emotions. In ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', the sound of Aslan's name gives the traitor [[Edmund Pevensie|Edmund]] a sensation of mysterious horror. [[Peter Pevensie|Peter]] feels suddenly brave and adventurous. [[Susan Pevensie|Susan]] feels as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. [[Lucy Pevensie|Lucy]] gets the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer. After her winter is destroyed, the [[White Witch]] threatens to kill the next person who mentions the name of Aslan. Before he becomes a dragon, [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] hates the name. When [[Jill Pole|Jill]] first hears it, she says, "What a curious name!" But [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] replies, "Not half so curious as Himself."
 
-
One of the most interesting aspects of Aslan's character is that He can be both loving and terrifying. In Ch. 12 of ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', Lewis writes, "People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly."
 
-
Nothing has ever harmed the Great Lion except with His consent. When [[White Witch|Jadis]] throws a metal bar from a lamppost at Aslan, it bounces off and falls harmlessly to the ground. After [[Caspian|King Caspian X]] dies and enters Aslan's Country, the Lion asks [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] to drive a thorn into His paw, and a large drop of blood splashes over the [[Caspian|King]] and awakens him. And of course, Aslan allows Himself be bound on the Stone Table where the [[White Witch]] kills Him with her stone knife. But even then, Aslan does not remain dead. He has knowledge of a Deeper Magic which the [[White Witch]] did not know. As it says in ''The Last Battle'', it was by His blood that all Narnia was saved.
 
-
 
-
 
-
==Inspiration==
 
-
In the late 1940s, C. S. Lewis began to have nightmares about lions (one in particular with a "big personality"). When Lewis first began writing the Chronicles, he admits that he did not know where the story would go. But then, "Aslan came bounding in." (Aslan is the Turkish word for lion.) Lewis says, "When I started ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', I don't think I foresaw what Aslan was going to do and suffer. I think He just insisted on behaving in His own way."
 
-
An 11-year-old girl named Hila wrote to Lewis and asked what Aslan's other name in our world was (mentioned in VDT). Here is Lewis' response: "As to Aslan's other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2.) Said he was the son of the great Emperor. (3.) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4.) Came to life again. (5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb... Don't you really know His name in this world? Think it over and let me know your answer!"
 
-
Of course, a widely discussed topic is the similarities between Aslan and Jesus Christ. In a letter to a young girl named Sophia, Lewis writes, "I don't say. 'Let us represent Christ as Aslan.' I say, 'Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there.'"
 
Line 44: Line 30:
===~ The Silver Chair ~ (1953)===
===~ The Silver Chair ~ (1953)===
-
[[File:3787.jpg|left]][[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace Scrubb]] and [[Jill Pole]] have just been calling to Aslan to allow them to enter Narnia when they are discovered by the bullies of Experiment House, their boarding school. While they are trying to escape, they open a door that is usually locked and are amazed to see another world stretching before them. They plunge into that world, where [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] accidentally falls from a high cliff. The Lion suddenly appears and blows him to Narnia. Aslan then tells [[Jill Pole|Jill]] that they would not have been calling to Him if He had not been calling to them, and He has brought them into Narnia to find the lost Prince [[Rilian]]. He gives [[Jill Pole|Jill]] four Signs to guide them and blows her to Narnia as He did [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]]. By the time [[Jill Pole|Jill]], [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]], and the Marshwiggle [[Puddleglum]] reach Harfang (home of the Gentle Giants), [[Jill Pole|Jill]] has forgotten the Signs. Aslan appears to her in a dream and tells her to repeat them. When she cannot, He carries her to the window to see the words "UNDER ME" carved on the hillside, showing them that they must look for the prince underneath the ruined city. After [[Rilian]] is found and his father, King [[Caspian]] X, dies, Aslan tells [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] and [[Jill Pole|Jill]] that He would send them home. But first He takes them to His own country where they see [[Caspian]] lying dead. After a drop of blood from the Lion's paw falls over him, [[Caspian]] awakens, looking like his younger self. Aslan then opens the door into Experiment House, and the sight of Him terrifies the bullies and teachers there. When the police come and see nothing but the Headmistress panicking and talking about a lion, there is an inquiry into the whole business. The Headmistress is removed, ten people are expelled, and Experiment House becomes a decent school.
+
[[File:3787.jpg|left]][[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace Scrubb]] and [[Jill Pole]] have just been calling to Aslan to allow them to enter Narnia when they are discovered by the bullies of Experiment House, their boarding school. While they are trying to escape, they open a door that is usually locked and are amazed to see another world stretching before them. They plunge into that world, where [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] accidentally falls from a high cliff. The Lion suddenly appears and blows him to Narnia. Aslan then tells [[Jill Pole|Jill]] that they would not have been calling to Him if He had not been calling to them, and He has brought them into Narnia to find the lost Prince [[Rilian]]. He gives [[Jill Pole|Jill]] four Signs to guide them and blows her to Narnia as He did [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]]. By the time [[Jill Pole|Jill]], [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]], and the Marshwiggle [[Puddleglum]] reach Harfang (home of the Gentle Giants), [[Jill Pole|Jill]] has forgotten the Signs. Aslan appears to her in a dream and tells her to repeat them. When she cannot, He carries her to the window to see the words "UNDER ME" carved on the hillside, showing them that they must look for the prince underneath the ruined city. After [[Rilian]] is found and his father, [[Caspian|King Caspian X]], dies, Aslan tells [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] and [[Jill Pole|Jill]] that He would send them home. But first He takes them to His own country where they see [[Caspian]] lying dead. After a drop of blood from the Lion's paw falls over him, [[Caspian]] awakens, looking like his younger self. Aslan then opens the door into Experiment House, and the sight of Him terrifies the bullies and teachers there. When the police come and see nothing but the Headmistress panicking and talking about a lion, there is an inquiry into the whole business. The Headmistress is removed, ten people are expelled, and Experiment House becomes a decent school.
===~ The Last Battle ~ (1956)===
===~ The Last Battle ~ (1956)===
[[File:3774.jpg|left]]In the last days of Narnia, [[Shift]] the Ape starts a rumor that Aslan is in Narnia. Using a lion-skin and [[Puzzle]] the Donkey, he manages to persuade most of the Narnians that this is true, and that [[Tash]] (the Calormene god) and Aslan are actually the same person — "Tashlan." When King [[Tirian]] meets [[Tash]] face-to-face inside the stable, [[Tash]] is commanded to leave "in the name of Aslan." Aslan later appears to the friends of Narnia and shows them that the Dwarfs "would not be taken in." Then, so loudly that it could have shaken the stars, Aslan shouts that it is TIME. He calls all the creatures of that world to the doorway. When some of them look upon Aslan, fear comes into their faces, and they cease to be Talking Beasts. But others see Aslan's face and love Him, and come inside. Then the sun is put out, and Narnia (or, "the shadowlands") is ended. Aslan tells all the Narnians that, at last, they have come to stay with Him forever. And after that, He no longer appears as a Lion to them. As Lewis writes at the end of the tale, "And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has ever read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."
[[File:3774.jpg|left]]In the last days of Narnia, [[Shift]] the Ape starts a rumor that Aslan is in Narnia. Using a lion-skin and [[Puzzle]] the Donkey, he manages to persuade most of the Narnians that this is true, and that [[Tash]] (the Calormene god) and Aslan are actually the same person — "Tashlan." When King [[Tirian]] meets [[Tash]] face-to-face inside the stable, [[Tash]] is commanded to leave "in the name of Aslan." Aslan later appears to the friends of Narnia and shows them that the Dwarfs "would not be taken in." Then, so loudly that it could have shaken the stars, Aslan shouts that it is TIME. He calls all the creatures of that world to the doorway. When some of them look upon Aslan, fear comes into their faces, and they cease to be Talking Beasts. But others see Aslan's face and love Him, and come inside. Then the sun is put out, and Narnia (or, "the shadowlands") is ended. Aslan tells all the Narnians that, at last, they have come to stay with Him forever. And after that, He no longer appears as a Lion to them. As Lewis writes at the end of the tale, "And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has ever read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before."
 +
 +
 +
==About Aslan==
 +
<blockquote>''Who's Aslan? Why, don't you know? He's the King—the King of the whole wood, and the Son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. He's wild, you know. If there's anyone who can appear before him without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly. He isn't safe... But he is good. He'll often drop in, only you musn't press him to stay. He's not like a tame lion. Yes, Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.''<br />— The Chronicles of Narnia</blockquote>
 +
 +
Aslan is the creator of Narnia and the only character to appear in all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia. In some of the books, He only has a few brief appearances, but He is referenced in almost every chapter and is always a significant player in the story. His very name causes people to experience intense emotions. In ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', the sound of Aslan's name gives the traitor [[Edmund Pevensie|Edmund]] a sensation of mysterious horror. [[Peter Pevensie|Peter]] feels suddenly brave and adventurous. [[Susan Pevensie|Susan]] feels as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. [[Lucy Pevensie|Lucy]] gets the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer. After her winter is destroyed, the [[White Witch]] threatens to kill the next person who mentions the name of Aslan. Before he becomes a dragon, [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] hates the name. When [[Jill Pole|Jill]] first hears it, she says, "What a curious name!" But [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] replies, "Not half so curious as Himself."
 +
One of the most interesting aspects of Aslan's character is that He can be both loving and terrifying. In Ch. 12 of ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', Lewis writes, "People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan's face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn't look at him and went all trembly."
 +
Nothing has ever harmed the Great Lion except with His consent. When [[White Witch|Jadis]] throws a metal bar from a lamppost at Aslan, it bounces off and falls harmlessly to the ground. After [[Caspian|King Caspian X]] dies and enters Aslan's Country, the Lion asks [[Eustace Clarence Scrubb|Eustace]] to drive a thorn into His paw, and a large drop of blood splashes over the [[Caspian|King]] and awakens him. And of course, Aslan allows Himself be bound on the Stone Table where the [[White Witch]] kills Him with her stone knife. But even then, Aslan does not remain dead. He has knowledge of a Deeper Magic which the [[White Witch]] did not know. As it says in ''The Last Battle'', it was by His blood that all Narnia was saved.
 +
 +
 +
==Inspiration==
 +
In the late 1940s, C. S. Lewis began to have nightmares about lions (one in particular with a "big personality"). When Lewis first began writing the Chronicles, he admits that he did not know where the story would go. But then, "Aslan came bounding in." (Aslan is the Turkish word for lion.) Lewis says, "When I started ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', I don't think I foresaw what Aslan was going to do and suffer. I think He just insisted on behaving in His own way."
 +
An 11-year-old girl named Hila wrote to Lewis and asked what Aslan's other name in our world was (mentioned in VDT). Here is Lewis' response: "As to Aslan's other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2.) Said he was the son of the great Emperor. (3.) Gave himself up for someone else's fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4.) Came to life again. (5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb... Don't you really know His name in this world? Think it over and let me know your answer!"
 +
Of course, a widely discussed topic is the similarities between Aslan and Jesus Christ. In a letter to a young girl named Sophia, Lewis writes, "I don't say. 'Let us represent Christ as Aslan.' I say, 'Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us imagine what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there.'"
Line 78: Line 78:
-
*[[File:BBCAslan.jpg|left]]Ronald Pickup (voice): BBC TV series, 1989 – 1990
+
*[[File:BBCAslan.jpg|left]]Ronald Pickup (voice): BBC TV series, 1988 – 1990
Line 91: Line 91:
-
*Ailsa Berk/William Todd Jones/Timothy M. Rose (puppeteers): BBC TV series, 1989 – 1990
+
*Ailsa Berk/William Todd Jones/Timothy M. Rose (puppeteers): BBC TV series, 1988 – 1990
Line 110: Line 110:
-
*Bernard Kay (voice): LWW TV series, 1967
+
*[[File:67Aslan.jpg|left]]Bernard Kay: LWW TV series, 1967

Current revision as of 21:14, 19 December 2010

Personal tools