Aslan

From NarniaWeb

Jump to: navigation, search
m (Protected "Aslan" ([edit=sysop] (indefinite) [move=sysop] (indefinite)))
Line 1: Line 1:
 +
==Bio Info==
 +
'''Titles:''' The Great Lion, the Son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea (or Over-the-Sea), the King Above All High Kings, the great Bridge Builder, "Myself" (He is said to have nine names, but not all of them are given in the Chronicles)
 +
 +
'''Age:''' Eternal, as Aslan has knowledge of the Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time
 +
 +
'''Species:''' Talking Lion, though He can appear in any form that He wishes (such as an albatross, a lamb, and a cat in Narnia)
 +
 +
'''Home:''' Aslan's Country, beyond the sea, the eastern end of the world
 +
 +
'''Physical Description:''' Aslan looks like a regular lion, but His size varies at will
 +
 +
'''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 a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter feels suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan feels as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. 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 hates the name. When Jill first hears it, she says, "What a curious name!" But 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 Jadis throws a metal bar from a lamppost at Aslan, it bounces off and falls harmlessly to the ground. After King Caspian X dies and enters Aslan's Country, the Lion asks Eustace to drive a thorn into His paw, and a large drop of blood splashes over the 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.'"
 +
 +
==Appearances==
==Appearances==
===~ The Magician's Nephew ~ (1955)===
===~ The Magician's Nephew ~ (1955)===
Line 20: Line 48:
===~ 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==
 
-
<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 a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter feels suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan feels as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. 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 hates the name. When Jill first hears it, she says, "What a curious name!" But 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 Jadis throws a metal bar from a lamppost at Aslan, it bounces off and falls harmlessly to the ground. After King Caspian X dies and enters Aslan's Country, the Lion asks Eustace to drive a thorn into His paw, and a large drop of blood splashes over the 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.
 
Line 46: Line 66:
*"The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." (LB, Ch. 16)
*"The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning." (LB, Ch. 16)
-
==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.'"
 
-
 
-
 
-
==Bio Info==
 
-
'''Titles:''' The Great Lion, the Son of the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea (or Over-the-Sea), the King Above All High Kings, the great Bridge Builder, "Myself" (He is said to have nine names, but not all of them are given in the Chronicles)
 
-
 
-
'''Age:''' Eternal, as Aslan has knowledge of the Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time
 
-
 
-
'''Species:''' Talking Lion, though He can appear in any form that He wishes (such as an albatross, a lamb, and a cat in Narnia)
 
-
 
-
'''Home:''' Aslan's Country, beyond the sea, the eastern end of the world
 
-
 
-
'''Physical Description:''' Aslan looks like a regular lion, but His size varies at will
 
-
 
-
'''First Appearance:''' ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', Ch. 12 (1950), first referenced in Ch. 7
 
-
'''Portrayals:'''
+
==Portrayals==
*Liam Neeson (voice): Disney/Walden ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', 2005; ''Prince Caspian'', 2008; Fox/Walden ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', 2010
*Liam Neeson (voice): Disney/Walden ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', 2005; ''Prince Caspian'', 2008; Fox/Walden ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', 2010
Born: 7 July 1952
Born: 7 July 1952

Revision as of 00:10, 2 September 2009

Personal tools