The Horse and His Boy
Encyclopedia
The Horse and His Boy is a novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 by C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...

. It was published in 1954, making it the fifth of seven books published in Lewis' series The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...

. The books in this series are sometimes ordered chronologically in relation to the events in the books as opposed to the dates of their original publication. In this alternate ordering, The Horse and His Boy is the third book, taking place during the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Published in 1950 and set circa 1940, it is the first-published book of The Chronicles of Narnia and is the best known book of the series. Although it was written and published first, it is second in the series'...

. Although it was published after The Silver Chair
The Silver Chair
The Silver Chair is part of The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of seven fantasy novels written by C. S. Lewis. It was the fourth book published and is the sixth book chronologically. It is the first book published in the series in which the Pevensie children do not appear. The main characters are...

(due to Lewis not wanting to break up the Caspian triad), it was written before it, so in written order it is fourth. The story is also referred to as a story-within-a-story in the fourth published book, The Silver Chair. The Horse and His Boy is the only Narnia book which does not feature children from our world as the story's main characters, although the adult Queen Lucy, Queen Susan, and King Edmund (all of whom first appear in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) do appear in the book, and the dynamics of the story develop from Susan's interactions. Peter, the High King, appears in the book unrecognized by Cor but is also mentioned frequently by the Narnians.

Plot summary

A boy by the name of Shasta
Shasta (Narnia)
Shasta, later known as Cor of Archenland, is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. He is the principal character in the fifth book published in the series, The Horse and His Boy, which is the third book chronologically...

 is found as a baby and raised by Arsheesh, a Calormen
Calormen
In C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series of novels, Calormen is a large country to the southeast of Narnia. Lewis derived its name from the Latin calor, meaning "heat". When used as an adjective Lewis spelled the name with an 'e' at the end . Narnia and Calormen are separated by a large desert...

e fisherman
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...

. As the story begins, Shasta overhears Arsheesh agreeing to sell him to a powerful Calormene feudal nobleman. Shasta is relieved to discover that he is not really Arsheesh's son, since there was little love between them. While Shasta awaits his new master in the stable, Bree
Bree (Narnia)
Bree is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. He is one of the title characters, and is featured prominently in the fifth book, The Horse and His Boy, Bree was born as a free talking beast in the Land of Narnia, but was captured as a colt by the Calormenes, and has lived...

, the nobleman's stallion, astounds Shasta by speaking to him. The horse suggests that they escape a life of servitude by riding north together to Narnia
Narnia (country)
In C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series of novels, Narnia is the country around which the books revolve. It is one of several lands in the Narnian world.-Geography:...

. They meet another pair of escaping travellers, Aravis
Aravis
Aravis is a fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. She is a main character in The Horse and His Boy.Aravis is a young Tarkheena, a female member of the ruling nobility of Calormen...

, a young Calormene aristocrat, and her talking horse, Hwin
Hwin
Hwin is a fictional character from C. S. Lewis's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. She is prominent in the book The Horse and His Boy...

. Aravis is fleeing to avoid a forced marriage with the Tisroc
Tisroc
In C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, a Tisroc is a ruler of Calormen. His position is most like that of a Pharaoh, in that he is an absolute monarch, and is believed to be descended from the Calormen god Tash. Whenever a Calormen citizen speaks of the Tisroc, he adds "may he live for ever," and...

's grand vizier
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, in Turkish Vezir-i Azam or Sadr-ı Azam , deriving from the Arabic word vizier , was the greatest minister of the Sultan, with absolute power of attorney and, in principle, dismissable only by the Sultan himself...

.

The four must travel through Tashbaan, the bustling capital of Calormen. There they encounter a procession of visiting Narnian royalty, who mistake Shasta for Corin, a prince of Archenland
Archenland
In C. S. Lewis's fantasy novels the Chronicles of Narnia, Archenland is a nation to the south of Narnia, and to the north of both nations' occasional enemy, Calormen. Its borders are formed by mountains to the north and by the River Winding Arrow to the south...

, who was separated from their group earlier that day. Unsure what to do, Shasta goes with the Narnians and overhears their plans to escape from Calormen to prevent a forced marriage of Queen Susan
Susan Pevensie
Susan Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series. Susan is the elder sister and the second eldest Pevensie child. She appears in three of the seven books—as a child in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...

 with the Tisroc's son, Rabadash
Prince Rabadash
Prince Rabadash is a human character and the main antagonist in C. S. Lewis's fantasy novel The Horse and His Boy. Rabadash is the heir to the throne of Calormen, being the eldest son of the Tisroc...

. Shasta escapes when the real Prince Corin returns.

Meanwhile, Aravis has been spotted by her friend Lasaraleen. She asks Lasaraleen not to betray her, and to help her escape from Tashbaan. Lasaraleen cannot understand why Aravis would want to abandon the life of a Calormene princess, but she helps Aravis escape through the palace. On the way, they hide when the Tisroc, Rabadash and the Grand Vizier approach. Unfortunately, they've hidden in the very room where the men are about to meet. Aravis overhears the Tisroc and Rabadash as they discuss the Narnians' escape. The Tisroc gives Rabadash permission to invade Archenland and Narnia while High King Peter
Peter Pevensie
Peter Pevensie is a major fictional character in the children's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. Peter appears in four of the seven books; as a child and a principal character in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, and as an adult in The Horse and His Boy...

 is preoccupied battling giants to the north.

Outside Tashbaan, Aravis rejoins Shasta and the horses. The four set out across the desert, and a lion (later revealed to be Aslan) frightens the travellers into fleeing swiftly enough to outrun Rabadash's army. Shasta arrives in Archenland in time to warn King Lune of the approaching Calormenes, and the army of Archenland prepares to defend their kingdom. When Rabadash and his army arrive at King Lune's castle, they are disappointed to find their prey on guard and waiting for them. A battle ensues, with no clear outcome until an army from Narnia, led by Edmund
Edmund Pevensie
Edmund "Ed" Pevensie is a major fictional character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. He is a principal character in three of the seven books , and a lesser character in two others .In the live-action films, The...

 and Lucy
Lucy Pevensie
Lucy Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. She is the youngest of the four Pevensie children, and the first to find the Wardrobe entrance to Narnia in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Of all the Pevensie children, Lucy is the closest to Aslan...

, reinforces the defenders. The Northern alliance of Archenland and Narnia wins a complete victory over the Calormenes, and Rabadash is captured.

Rabadash rebuffs King Lune's merciful offer of conditional release. Aslan appears and warns Rabadash to accept King Lune's mercy before his doom strikes. Rabadash rebuffs Aslan as well, so his doom strikes: he is turned into a donkey. His true form will be restored if he stands before the altar of Tash at the Autumn Feast. However, he will become a donkey again if he strays more than ten miles from the Temple of Tash, and there will be no return. For this reason Rabadash pursues peaceful policies when he becomes Tisroc as he dare not risk the ten mile limit by going to war. People call him "Rabadash the Peacemaker" but in reality they consider him "Rabadash the Ridiculous" as they never forget his donkey transformation. His name becomes a synonym for a stupid person over future generations in Calormen.

The victorious King Lune recognizes Shasta as Cor, the long-lost identical twin of Prince Corin and, as barely the elder of the two, the heir to the throne. Aravis and Cor live in Archenland thereafter and eventually marry years later, and their son becomes the most famous king of Archenland.

List of chapters

1. How Shasta Set Out on His Travels
2. A Wayside Adventure
3. At the Gates of Tashbaan
4. Shasta Falls in with the Narnians
5. Prince Corin
6. Shasta Among the Tombs
7. Aravis in Tashbaan
8. In the House of the Tisroc
9. Across the Desert
10. The Hermit of the Southern March
11. The Unwelcome Fellow Traveler
12. Shasta in Narnia
13. The Fight at Anvard
14. How Bree Became a Wiser Horse
15. Rabadash the Ridiculous

Series continuity

The adventures are mentioned twice in The Silver Chair. Corin, Cor (or Shasta), Aravis, Bree and Hwin all appear in the great reunion in The Last Battle
The Last Battle
The Last Battle is the seventh and final novel in The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis. It won the prestigious Carnegie Medal in Literature in 1956.-Plot summary:In The Last Battle, Lewis brings The Chronicles of Narnia to an end...

.
Lucy and Edmund still retain their memories of their time on Earth, as evidenced by Lucy's retelling of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

"Narnia and the North!"

Bree and Shasta use the phrase "Narnia and the North" as their "rallying cry" as they make their escape from their life in Calormen. They are both motivated by a deep longing to find their way to the place that is ultimately their true homeland. In the setting of The Horse and His Boy, the reader finds a departure from the landscapes, culture, and people of the Narnian realms which have become familiar in the other books. The placement of the action in the more alien realm of Calormen helps to convey a sense of "unbelonging" on the part of the characters and the reader, which reinforces the motif of longing for a true home.

In other works, Lewis uses the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 word Sehnsucht  to encapsulate the idea of an "inconsolable longing" in the human heart for "we know not what." C. S. Lewis identifies the objects of Sehnsucht-longing as God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

 and Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

.

Aravis

Through a series of "lessons" and encounters, Aravis's character is transformed. Always a strong character, confident and brave, her arrogance and self-centeredness are revealed to her, and she acquires humility and empathy.

Bree

Living as the only talking beast among "dumb and witless" horses, Bree has come to be both proud and vain. His belief in his own superiority leads him to speak as an authority regarding subjects of which he knows little. Until Bree meets Aslan, he believes that Aslan cannot possibly have a physical body and that the representation of him as a lion must be an abstraction or poetic symbolism, and no more. His experience of the physical reality of Aslan as an actual lion with real paws, tail, and whiskers, convinces Bree that he has been foolish. When Bree learns to face up to, and surrender, his pride and vanity, he can truly enter into a free life in Narnia.

Hwin

Hwin is the horse who speaks to Aravis as she is about to commit suicide and persuades her to escape to Narnia. She is a dignified and mild mannered horse. She has not become quite so spoiled and pompous as Bree during her time in captivity. She is therefore the most constant and stoical character, with no real personal epiphanies.

Cor/Shasta

Shasta is an uneducated young boy, adopted and raised by a Calormene fisherman. He is described not as having bad manners, but as never having learned any good manners. When his adoptive father decides to sell him into slavery, he decides to run away. His escape with Bree is a fresh start for him and during his journey he is gradually revealed as a brave and enduring character. He has the hardest part in the mission to warn Archenland of the attack, it being his sole responsibility to run on foot from the Archenland border to find King Lune. This occurs immediately after he has thrown himself off the back of a large horse and faced a lion. Once there, King Lune recognises him as his son and the rightful heir. He is then told of his true name, Cor. His fortitude throughout the story makes him a believable future king.

Rabadash

Prince Rabadash is the first son of the ruler of Calorman, the Tisroc
Tisroc
In C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, a Tisroc is a ruler of Calormen. His position is most like that of a Pharaoh, in that he is an absolute monarch, and is believed to be descended from the Calormen god Tash. Whenever a Calormen citizen speaks of the Tisroc, he adds "may he live for ever," and...

. His passion for Queen Susan makes him desperate to possess her, to the point of wishing to enslave her if she will not marry him willingly. He is an arrogant and aggressive young man and after learning of the Narnians escape from Calormen, hatches a plan to almost singlehandedly take down two countries using only the element of surprise. His father is quite happy to send him off to probable death, having reasoned that this worst case scenario will keep Rabadash from usurping his own throne. In the end, Prince Rabadash receives a humiliating punishment from Aslan which forces him to change his impetuous and cruel behaviour.

Divine providence revealed

After meeting up with King Lune of Archenland and his hunting party, and warning them of the impending Calormene invasion, Shasta becomes lost in the fog and separated from the King's procession. After continuing blindly for some way, he senses that he has been joined in the darkness by a mysterious presence. Engaging in conversation with the unknown being, Shasta confides what he sees as his many misfortunes, including being chased by lions on two separate occasions, and concluding with "If nothing else, it was bad luck to meet so many lions." His companion then proclaims himself as the single lion that Shasta has encountered in his travels:

"I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the tombs. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at night, to receive you."

Thus it is revealed to Shasta, that, in the incidents which he perceived as misfortunes, Aslan, in his Divine Providence
Divine Providence
In Christian theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's activity in the world. " Providence" is also used as a title of God exercising His providence, and then the word are usually capitalized...

, has been orchestrating events for his greater purposes.

Created proverbs

In two conversations, both between adults and not involving children, Lewis has speakers use a number of proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...

s that he created, one way to convey the flavor of Calormene culture (Unseth 2011). The proverbs are found at the very beginning (as Shasta's father and a Calormene nobleman haggle on a price for Shasta) and later in a scene where the Tisroc, the Vizier, and Prince Rabadash have a secret counsel. Proverbs in Calormene culture (as in so many real cultures) are the domain of adults, especially older, wiser adults. As a result, Prince Rabadash is the recipient of many proverbs, but is only able to use one, the only proverb in this exchange which is originally drawn from English, "Women are as changeable as weathercocks."

The Vizier delights in the use of proverbs, boasting that Calormene culture is "full of choice apophthegms and useful maxims." Rabadash, on the other hand, has no such appreciation and complains, "I have had maxims and verses flung at me all day." When the Vizier begins yet another proverb, "Gifted was the poet who said...", Rabadash stifles him with a threatened kick.

Lewis also uses the proverbs to subtly make fun of the Calormenes. For example, the fisherman cites a proverb, "Natural affection is stronger than soup and offspring more precious than carbuncles" (p. 4). Myers wryly notes “Soup, of course, varies greatly in its strength; 'carbuncle' means 'a red jewel' in medieval romances, but its modern meaning is 'a red sore'” (1998:162). Later, as the Vizier addresses the Tisroc, he refers to part of the same proverb, saying “sons are in the eyes of their fathers more precious than carbuncles” (p. 112), (but he rephrases it into a longer, wordier form -- being verbose being one of the hallmarks of Calormene speech (Myers 1998:162)). The relationship between the Tisroc and Prince Rabadash is nicely paralleled by the "red sore" meaning of "carbuncle".

Future adaptations

Walden Media
Walden Media
Walden Media is a children's film production and publishing company best known as the producers of The Chronicles of Narnia series. Its films are based on notable classic or award-winning children's literature, compelling biographies or historical events, documentaries and some original...

, having already made movie adaptions of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a 2005 epic fantasy adventure film directed by Andrew Adamson and based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first published and second chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's children's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of...

, Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 epic fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published, fourth chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the second in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media, following The...

and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a 2010 3D fantasy-adventure film based on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia . It is the third installment in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walden Media...

, also retains the option to make The Chronicles of Narnia: The Horse and His Boy in the future.

Allusions and references

The association of Cor with horses, and his twin brother Corin with boxing, recalls the traditional associations of the Spartan twins Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...

of Greek mythology.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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