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==Bio Info== '''Titles:''' Strawberry the Horse; Fledge, the Father of all Flying Horses '''Age:''' Unknown '''Species:''' A common horse; a Talking Horse; a Winged Horse '''Home:''' London, England; Narnia '''Physical Description:''' There are no specific details to Strawberry's physical description, but his father was an officer's charger in the cavalry and [[White Witch|Jadis]] chose him as her steed, so he must be a great horse. He is also likely a chestnut color because of his name and because when [[Aslan]] changes him into a Winged Horse, his wingfeathers are chestnut- and copper-colored. '''First Appearance:''' ''The Magician's Nephew'', Ch. 7 (1955) ==Appearances== ===~ The Magician's Nephew ~ (1955)=== [[File:3785.jpg|left]]Strawberry is a working horse on the streets of London, pulling the cab for his master [[King Frank|Frank]]. But all that changes one day when Jadis decides he will make a splendid steed for her assault on London. [[White Witch|Jadis]] rides recklessly through the streets atop the hansom cab pulled by Strawberry, maddening him by her wild driving. Outside [[Digory Kirke]]'s home, [[White Witch|Jadis]] crashes the hansom and leaps onto Strawberry's back. In an attempt to return [[White Witch|Jadis]] to her original world of Charn, [[Digory Kirke|Digory]] seizes her ankle while [[Polly Plummer|Polly]], holding his hand, touches her magic ring. Strawberry is pulled into the journey along with the others (including his master [[King Frank|Frank]]). But [[Digory Kirke|Digory]] and [[Polly Plummer|Polly]] choose the wrong pool and they all end up in a new world instead of in Charn. Strawberry is there to witness the creation of Narnia by the Great Lion [[Aslan]]. Strawberry becomes a Talking Horse when [[Aslan]] chooses which creatures will be able to speak. When Aslan sends [[Digory Kirke|Digory]] on a quest to remedy the evil he has brought into Narnia, Strawberry is summoned to be his mount. Aslan gives Strawberry the gift of wings, making him the Father of all Flying Horses, and renames him Fledge. Fledge, [[Digory Kirke|Digory]], and [[Polly Plummer|Polly]] fly west to find the apple that will be Narnia's protection. They then return to Narnia, where we may assume Fledge lives a long and happy life with his former master, [[King Frank|Frank]] the Cabby, now the King. ===~ The Last Battle ~ (1956)=== [[File:3774.jpg|left]]Fledge greets [[Digory Kirke|Digory]] and [[Polly Plummer|Polly]] and the other friends of Narnia at the final reunion. ==About Fledge== Fledge (first known as Strawberry) is a simple, honest horse who does his work well despite the hard cobbles of the crowded London streets. Despite his menial lot, his ancestry is lordly; his father was a cavalry charger. Fledge remembers his foalhood wistfully, thinking of the beautiful grass of the fields and the sugar he was given. Sometimes he is slightly resentful about how he has to pull the cab while [[King Frank|Frank]] sits in it, but deep down he probably knows that [[King Frank|Frank]] is working just as hard for their living. When [[Aslan]] offers to give Fledge wings, he nervously accepts, and bears [[Digory Kirke|Digory]] and [[Polly Plummer|Polly]] on their quest. He displays a sense of humor when he requests that the Elephant not join the group he has to carry and when he calls the humans "rum little creatures" for not being able to live on grass. His good horse-sense must have been a great help to his former master [[King Frank|Frank]] in the early days of Narnia. ==Quotes== *"Well, I don't exactly know, I think most of us don't know much about anything yet. But I've a sort of idea I've seen a thing like this before. I've a feeling I lived somewhere else—or was something else—before [[Aslan]] woke us all up a few minutes ago. It's all very muddled. Like a dream. But there were things like these three in the dream." (MN, Ch. 10) *"It was a hard, cruel country. There was no grass. All hard stones." (MN, Ch. 10) *"Ride? Oh, I remember now. That means sitting on my back." (MN, Ch. 10) *"Oh, I don't mind two, not when they're little ones. But I hope the Elephant doesn't want to come as well." (MN, Ch. 12) ==Portrayals== *Mervyn Stutter: Focus on the Family Radio Theater, 1999 – 2002 *Douglas Blackwell: BBC Radio Tales of Narnia

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