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Technology in Narnia

The cultures, creatures, geography — anything about the books!

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Technology in Narnia

Postby cipher » Jun 12, 2011 2:38 pm

I was wondering something. Do you Narnia fans think that airships would fit into Narnia universe? When I'm saying airships, I'm not mean those Zeppelin airships that we had during the beginnings of 1900. But more like those seen in Final Fantasy IX and XI, if any of you have played it? It has perfect design that fits the world perfectly in my opinion. Anyhow, here are some pictures of airships from Final Fantasy IX and XI:

http://world-of-games.co.uk/PSONE/album ... lpaper.jpg

http://daily-steampunk.com/steampunk-bl ... ip1280.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/im ... Garde3.jpg
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Aravis Narnia » Jun 12, 2011 4:58 pm

Narnia seems to be in Medieval European stasis- perhaps Renaissance at most. A LOT of fantasy works seem to have Medieval European settings.

Airships are so steampunk. And steampunk is so Victorian. Not to say that it could not work. And they could get to places faster- which may alter some plots, but would not alter the main message.
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby cipher » Jun 13, 2011 4:09 am

I'm not saying to squeeze an airship into any of Lewis' book, what I'm trying to say is what if, the time have passed and Narnians actually moved into some kind of era where they have enough technological knowledge to build airships? By the way, Narnia is a place of magic, who said the airship must be steam-powered? Crystal/magic powered airships can work just fine. :) :) :)
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Ithilwen » Jun 19, 2011 4:35 pm

Well, we saw Narnia in its last days, and there still wasn't much technology then. So I'd say no, if you're going by canon.

However, if you're asking about fan-fiction, then really, you don't even have to ask. Fan fiction is fan fiction. In a fan written story, the person writing it is calling the shots. You can do pretty much anything you want in that case.


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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby DiGoRyKiRkE » Jun 20, 2011 6:49 am

Ithilwen wrote:Fan fiction is fan fiction. In a fan written story, the person writing it is calling the shots. You can do pretty much anything you want in that case.


So long as it's not on NarniaWeb ;)). Remember; fan-fiction is banned here.
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Lilygloves » Aug 31, 2011 7:07 am

Just to show how spoiled Americans are with technology, I didn't understand how they made coffee (I THINK it was in HHB) without electricity and a coffee machine. :D
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Boy Scout » Sep 02, 2011 4:27 pm

Tech is appiled science (I only know that becuase I just took a test on it). So this really raises the question of how far along we think that Narnian science could be.

Sure hover ships could fit in. So could macs, laser guns, and whatever you could think of that they don't already have. But I'm not sure that they should fit. Narnia is, as cipher said, a land of magic. Although a sci-fi Narnia could be cool.... :p
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby JohnBrownsage » Sep 03, 2011 10:06 am

If there were airships in Narnia, they would have to be the invention of Dwarfs. Dwarfs have all kinds of lore and skills and crafts that the humans and talking beasts don't really understand, which is part of why they were vulnerable to corruption by the White Witch. So I could see an airship working in the milieu, but it would have to be rare. Think if the Dawn Treader could fly . . .
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Valiant » Sep 06, 2011 6:51 pm

It seems Narnia advances little in terms of technology throughout its history. Narnia in its last days is not so different/advanced from its early days- at least in terms of techonolgy. I think Lewis was aiming for a very romantic setting, sort of like a "Golden Age." A lot of the time, Lewis wrote the world of Narnia to seem higher in some way to "our world" and part of that is actually from the lack of techonolgy.
The Dawn Treader flying might be cool, but I don't think that sort of thing fits in with Narnia's setting/atmosphere/themes.
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Louloudi the Centaur » Sep 23, 2011 1:56 pm

Since this is a thread about Technology in Narnia, here's something I found interesting in one of the books. The thing that I thought was interesting is in LWW is that Mrs. Beaver has a sewing machine. Isn't that kind of interesting since sewing machines kind of need some source of power? Unless this was like a sewing machine Mrs. Beaver would crank or something? /:)

Or maybe it runs on the power supplied by the Beaver's dam? :p
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby daughter of the King » Sep 23, 2011 5:07 pm

Louloudi the Centaur wrote:Unless this was like a sewing machine Mrs. Beaver would crank or something? /:)

Actually, that is entirely possible. Most of the earliest models of sewing machines were operated by a crank or a pedal. Also, I highly doubt that sewing machines were common. After all, she wants to bring it along while they're running from the White Witch! I suppose the Dwarfs could have built it. Or it could be a family heirloom that was given to her great-great-great-great Grandmother Beaver by Father Christmas. ;))
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Graymouser » Sep 24, 2011 8:38 am

daughter of the King wrote:
Louloudi the Centaur wrote:Unless this was like a sewing machine Mrs. Beaver would crank or something? /:)

Actually, that is entirely possible. Most of the earliest models of sewing machines were operated by a crank or a pedal. Also, I highly doubt that sewing machines were common. After all, she wants to bring it along while they're running from the White Witch! I suppose the Dwarfs could have built it. Or it could be a family heirloom that was given to her great-great-great-great Grandmother Beaver by Father Christmas. ;))


Yeah, I'm older than most but I can clearly remember my grandmother using a pedal machine that she refused to trade in for a powered one.

Though, like the alarm clock in the Hobbit, it does seem a little too advanced- maybe she should be using a shuttle and loom

And, Lilygloves, nothing like a pot of fresh-perked coffee over a campfire in the morning- though it helps the taste if you're freezing cold and had to get the fire going in the first place. ;)
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby wolfloversk » Sep 29, 2011 3:17 pm

Is it possible that there were technological advancements that were made after Narnia's creation and then lost in the Hundred Year Winter? Much like the dark ages of Narnia... perhaps in between technology like sewing machines was more common...
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby Louloudi the Centaur » Oct 01, 2011 7:11 am

I did some thinking on how a sewing machine would get into Narnia. I wonder if King Frank and Queen Helen, the first king and queen of Narnia, could have somehow brought the idea of sewing machines into Narnia, and the dwarfs or one of the other advanced humanoid-like species could have made them? Since dwarfs were good with making things our of metal and such, and that what many sewing machines were made of, I wonder if they could have created something like the machine on Earth?

Just a thought.
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby narnian_at_heart » Oct 02, 2011 10:07 am

Graymouser wrote:
daughter of the King wrote:
Louloudi the Centaur wrote:Unless this was like a sewing machine Mrs. Beaver would crank or something? /:)

Actually, that is entirely possible. Most of the earliest models of sewing machines were operated by a crank or a pedal. Also, I highly doubt that sewing machines were common. After all, she wants to bring it along while they're running from the White Witch! I suppose the Dwarfs could have built it. Or it could be a family heirloom that was given to her great-great-great-great Grandmother Beaver by Father Christmas. ;))


Yeah, I'm older than most but I can clearly remember my grandmother using a pedal machine that she refused to trade in for a powered one.


My grandmother has a pedal powered sewing machine. She still uses it on occasion although rarely. There's a large rocking pedal and you rock it back it and forth with your feet to power the needle.
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Re: Technology in Narnia

Postby waggawerewolf27 » Oct 02, 2011 6:33 pm

It is called a treadle machine, my grandmother had one, and it was made by Singer, a well-known maker of sewing machines until comparatively recently. And yes, since Uncle Andrew, the technology freak, was in Narnia, and Frank and Helen were his contemporaries, of course Narnia would have limited technology. I expect they had those mangles for washing laundry with. Helen obviously knew about those. ;)

Thus I don't see any problem with the Narnians making tea or coffee, both of which were around well before the Victorian age, as noted by the famous Boston tea party and Lewis Carroll, an Oxford predecessor of C.S.Lewis.

The airship is possible of course, but improbable. It fits much better into something like Golden Compass with a similar Victorian connexion in Oxford. Despite the Splendour Hyaline, the Dawn Treader and other ships, on the whole, the Narnians didn't seem all that interested much in travel for travel's sake. The later Telmarines certainly weren't very interested when governed by Miraz.
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