I don’t know what the heck these Pre-Raphaelite women are doing, but they’re wearing the kind of flowing, early Medieval costumes Pauline Baynes loved to depict in her drawings of Narnia.
One of the weird things about the Narnia world (not just Narnia the country) is that very few Narnian-born human women are mentioned by name. Of them, the nation of Calormen has three: Aravis, Lasaraleen, and Zardeenah. (Perhaps Zardeenah doesn’t count, because she is a goddess.) The males of Calormen are mentioned a lot more — perhaps two dozen names are thrown around, admittedly much of them battle casualties from the Hermit’s scrying pool in The Horse and His Boy.
From all the other Narnian countries, there’s only a handful: Queen Swanwhite and Lady Liln, who are mentioned in passing as figures of legend; Queen Prunaprismia, who may not count because she’s a Telmarine; and Gwendoline, a town girl mentioned in Prince Caspian, who is also a Telmarine, or of Telmarine descent. Unlike the three Calormene names, the “European” women’s names are all over the place. (Note: I did conjecture about Prunaprismia and other Telmarine women’s names here.)
In fact, Lewis left out the names of even the important women characters of the books. Ramandu’s daughter, The Lady of the Green Kirtle, and Caspian’s deceased mother and old nurse don’t get names; neither did Cor and Corin’s deceased mother, or the squinty, freckled potential bride of Caspian mentioned in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, who he met in a Galman tourney. The White Witch barely got hers: her name is mentioned on a document, but not spoken. Perhaps the lack of female names is a Medieval European trope, one old storytellers were fond of using. But we don’t know for sure.
If Lewis had chosen to give endemic names to female Narnians, we need look no further than the British Victorian Age, the era of his birth and childhood, when odd-sounding names for baby girls were as much in vogue as they are today. There were plenty of Margarets and Catherines, of course, but also Alcedies, Dulcibelles, and Quillianas. These distinctive names have yet to come back into style and were likely made up by the parents. I’d think they’d work well for Narnia. From these, I randomgenned a few more.
Narnian Names for Human Females
| Abbavenna
Abolene Adeliza Adnah Alcedie Algitha Allida Almatina Alwina Amira Anesta Aquilisa Athelinda Avonnia Azena Azubah Balmena Barbarina Belina Beshuma Bethalina Blossie Casiphia Celestina Charmah Christabella Clelia Clytie Crissada Darlotte Damaris Delina |
Dinorah
Dorabeth Dulcibelle Edaine Edelga Edenelle Ederica Esterlie Ezela Favante Favella Favoretta Felette Flamicia Glenova Glenthora Hethecca Ianthe Imantha Ismena Itherica Jerusha Keturah Lauretta Leillette Lendella Lenidcy Liena Lissiana Lyra Maida Maskely |
Mathulda
Melita Merelina Mietje Morlena Nephelitta Ozelah Pathenia Pedora Pembula Querina Quillianna Regencia Remincy Salva Sanamirah Savilla Tamar Telidwen Theolinda Thirza Thyra Trianda Trintoffy Tryphena Ubertha Venua Vesina Wrenny Zelaide Zelmira Zerlina |
