Week 5: Knowing Aslan by Another Name
Posted: Nov 19, 2010 5:21 pm
Week 5: Knowing Aslan by Another Name:
What Happens to Edmund and Lucy After They Are Back in England?
Just before his transformation into a lion, the lamb tells Lucy, “For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world.” Now in his lion form, Aslan further explains, “I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river.” The river Aslan refers to is physical death, a requirement for all creatures except Reepicheep and those who are present at the end of time.
Next, as he did with Peter and Susan previously, Aslan explains to Edmund and Lucy that they are too old to return to Narnia. In response to Lucy’s sobs, Aslan promises that they will meet him in their world though under a different name. He concludes, “This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
In The Last Battle, Edmund, Lucy, and the others will be killed in a railway accident without even knowing it and will pass over the river of death to Aslan’s Country where they will be allowed to remain for good. For them the waiting will not be too long, for according to Lewis’s notes, around seven years of English time will pass between this scene when Edmund and Lucy are sent back to England and the episode in The Last Battle when they return to Aslan’s Country to stay.
Lewis never tells us directly how or to what extent Edmund and Lucy get to know Aslan better in England during this time. In The Last Battle Eustace will explain to Tirian that during those seven years. the friends of Narnia—Professor Kirk, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Jill—get together to “have a good jaw about Narnia,” but Lewis chooses not to say anything explicitly about the Pevensies’ Christian faith. Perhaps Aslan would tell the curious reader who wants to know to what extent they got to know Aslan by his other name the same thing he tells Lucy when she wants to know if Eustace will return: “Child, do you really need to know that?”
Having said this, Lewis may have provided us with a hint. It will be seven years before we see Lucy again. When she and her siblings arrive at the stable in The Last Battle, Lucy’s very first words will be the only direct reference to Christianity found the Chronicles. She will point out, “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” In Lucy’s statement which alludes to the story of Christ’s birth, we can see her belief that in the Bethlehem stable the truly divine truly came to dwell among us.
Following Lucy’s words about the stable the Bethlehem, Lewis reveals a bit about what led to them. The narrator states: “It was the first time she had spoken, and from the thrill in her voice, Tirian now knew why. She was drinking everything in even more deeply than the others. She had been too happy to speak.” Exactly what realization Lucy has had is left unspoken except for her words about the stable. Readers are left to ponder what put this thrill in her voice and made Lucy too happy to speak.
Questions for Discussion:
1. What, if anything, do you think Lewis implies about what happens to Edmund’s and Lucy’s relationship to Aslan after they return to our world?
2. Beyond the what Lewis may be suggesting, what do you think happens in regards to Edmund’s and Lucy’s coming to know Aslan in our world?
3. Aslan tells the children that he is present in their world as well and then adds, “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name.” Given the story of Emeth, does Lewis suggest what name this might be?
What Happens to Edmund and Lucy After They Are Back in England?
Just before his transformation into a lion, the lamb tells Lucy, “For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world.” Now in his lion form, Aslan further explains, “I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river.” The river Aslan refers to is physical death, a requirement for all creatures except Reepicheep and those who are present at the end of time.
Next, as he did with Peter and Susan previously, Aslan explains to Edmund and Lucy that they are too old to return to Narnia. In response to Lucy’s sobs, Aslan promises that they will meet him in their world though under a different name. He concludes, “This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
In The Last Battle, Edmund, Lucy, and the others will be killed in a railway accident without even knowing it and will pass over the river of death to Aslan’s Country where they will be allowed to remain for good. For them the waiting will not be too long, for according to Lewis’s notes, around seven years of English time will pass between this scene when Edmund and Lucy are sent back to England and the episode in The Last Battle when they return to Aslan’s Country to stay.
Lewis never tells us directly how or to what extent Edmund and Lucy get to know Aslan better in England during this time. In The Last Battle Eustace will explain to Tirian that during those seven years. the friends of Narnia—Professor Kirk, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace, and Jill—get together to “have a good jaw about Narnia,” but Lewis chooses not to say anything explicitly about the Pevensies’ Christian faith. Perhaps Aslan would tell the curious reader who wants to know to what extent they got to know Aslan by his other name the same thing he tells Lucy when she wants to know if Eustace will return: “Child, do you really need to know that?”
Having said this, Lewis may have provided us with a hint. It will be seven years before we see Lucy again. When she and her siblings arrive at the stable in The Last Battle, Lucy’s very first words will be the only direct reference to Christianity found the Chronicles. She will point out, “In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.” In Lucy’s statement which alludes to the story of Christ’s birth, we can see her belief that in the Bethlehem stable the truly divine truly came to dwell among us.
Following Lucy’s words about the stable the Bethlehem, Lewis reveals a bit about what led to them. The narrator states: “It was the first time she had spoken, and from the thrill in her voice, Tirian now knew why. She was drinking everything in even more deeply than the others. She had been too happy to speak.” Exactly what realization Lucy has had is left unspoken except for her words about the stable. Readers are left to ponder what put this thrill in her voice and made Lucy too happy to speak.
Questions for Discussion:
1. What, if anything, do you think Lewis implies about what happens to Edmund’s and Lucy’s relationship to Aslan after they return to our world?
2. Beyond the what Lewis may be suggesting, what do you think happens in regards to Edmund’s and Lucy’s coming to know Aslan in our world?
3. Aslan tells the children that he is present in their world as well and then adds, “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name.” Given the story of Emeth, does Lewis suggest what name this might be?