The Narnia Tag

Scale of Fanaticism

1. Nostalgic Fanatic: You read the book and/or watched the movies as a child and the word Narnia gives you a warm feeling.

2. Serious Fanatic: You rediscovered the wonder of Narnia after you were older and have read the books and watched the movies.

3. Maniacal Fanatic: You have lived Narnia from childhood, hid in closets on more occasions than is healthy, have read and watched all the movies including the BBC version.

- I am definitely a maniacal fanatic! I was introduced to Narnia when my family watched the BBC mini-series. My parents recorded them on tape and my siblings and I watched them repeatedly. Then my parents bought the series for us for Christmas and we wore those out too. Another favorite is the 1979 animated film of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It's a wonderful film and a good way to introduce little children (between ages 4-6) to Narnia. 

The books have been repeatedly read over the years and we even did a homeschool study on the series. I've also listened to the Narnia audiobook series from Focus on the Family, which are excellent!

When the Disney films were made, we were all a little skeptical, but fell in love with them! The downside with the remakes is that people tended to trash the BBC series, which is wrong on all fronts. The BBC mini-series were 100% faithful to the original story and didn't veer off in anyway to appease certain audiences. They weren't made to show off special effects, but rather to just tell the story.

Questions

1. Who’s your favorite Pevensie sibling?

- An obvious favorite among fans, but I do love Edmund so much. Once redeemed by Aslan's sacrifice, Edmund became a character of such moral conviction and honor. True he faltered and stumbled, but he was always the voice of reason, a calm confidante and sound advisor. 

This is especially apparent after Eustace's own redemption in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Edmund, in a sense, gave Eustace his own testimony, painfully admitting for the first time to his cousin, that he was not always just and upright. And I like to believe that by telling Eustace about his own redemption, that this made Eustace seek Aslan more and by doing so was able to redeem Prince Rillian, his friend's son, years later. 

2. What is the most underrated Narnia book?

- It pretty much comes down to The Silver Chair or The Horse and His Boy.

The Silver Chair has always been considered the darkest of the Narnia series. It deals with the warfare of the spirit and the heart. The ideology of believing by faith and not by sight, and the price that one is willing to pay for standing by those beliefs. 

The Horse and His Boy was very different in the fact that none of the story takes place in Narnia (technically neither does The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but they were still Narnians) and that we're dealing with a pagan society that is completely countercultural to Narnia. Unfortunately the story is also rampant with racist undertones, which I don't believe reflects on Lewis' own personal beliefs, but nowadays the book is considered controversial. 

3. Who is your favorite Narnian king?

“Everything I told you, everything I didn't, it was only because I believe in you. You have a chance to become the most noble contradiction in history - the Telmarine who saved Narnia.” 

Per Dr. Cornelius' words, Caspian was a Telemarine, the enemy of the Narnians' who became their unlikely savior. Similar to King Cyrus from the Old Testament who freed the Hebrews from Babylonian captivity, Caspian became the definitive hero king whose whole life was devoted to his people and above all to Aslan. 

His justice is so strong that he's willing to travel to uncharted and dangerous territories to bring back the men who were wronged by his uncle. Her fought for and married the woman that he loved and raised a wonderful son. And Caspian's teachings of Narnia must have been concrete in Rillian's life, seeing that after 10 years of captivity and brainwashing's, Rillian was still able to remember Aslan. 

4. Who is your favorite Narnian queen?

- Sweet Nancy, the London laundress, who was called by Aslan to become Narnia's first queen and changed her name to Helen. It's clear that Nancy and her husband, Joe, are simple people with strong faith. Nancy is willing to leave her life with no argument of all, possibly believing in a power that is stronger than what she can find on Earth. 

5. Which non-human Narnian do you like best?

- Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are the some of the most faithful of Aslan's followers. Although they're are small and maybe a little unremarkable, the Beavers show immense courage by standing against the White Witch's commands and bringing the Pevensie children to Aslan. The Beavers' always reminded me of the Apostles who spread the Good News and risked their lives to let the world know the truth. Even if it meant imprisonment or death.

6. Which book deserves a movie?

- There's only three books that haven't been made into films, but the one film I want to see is The Magician's Nephew! Everything about this book was crazy and fun! I love origin stories, discovering where the story began and answering the questions that never seemed to make sense. Seeing Charn would be awesome and scary, but nothing can compare to seeing the creation of Narnia. 

7. What is the one thing you did as a Narnia fan that you do not regret?

- Well, I've done and am continuing to do more likely are my fan-fictions. My first story, The Beloved and The Just, needless to say, had a good plot, but when I reread it, my writing was terrible! I've since edited most of it, making it more concise, adding a little more maturity and better understanding of the original stories. My second story, A Love Unknown and a Grace Unseen is better, but that too needs some work as well. Actually I think my best Narnia fanfiction is probably my poems.

How do you feel about The Chronicles of Narnia?