Ginger turns into a plain old scaredy cat from the sight of Tash in the stable (AI art)
Cats get short shrift in The Chronicles of Narnia. Oh, sure, Aslan is a lion, and leopards and panthers are also mentioned. But domestic cats, unlike dogs, do not get to be heroes. In fact, a domestic cat is one of the notable villains of the series, the creatively named Ginger of The Last Battle. In that book the slick-as-ice, self-serving puss agrees with the Calormene invading forces that there is no real Aslan, or Tashlan as the case is, but it’s useful to let the other animals believe that there is for purposes of the invasion. To prove this he volunteers to enter the stable where “Tashlan” is hiding, speak to him, and walk out again, all the while knowing nothing is there. However, the real Tash has since entered, and it’s a shock to the first-time reader when Ginger runs out, frightened to death, the shock of the experience turning him from a Talking Cat into an ordinary cat.
On the lighter side, the owners of this male cat named him Narnia because magic seems to have given him a split face.
Since Ginger proves there are Talking Cats in Narnia, they surely have a way of naming themselves.
Cats being the predators they are, they would have many names for the speed, quality, and direction of motion. They might combine this with names of body parts, play objects, natural tendencies, and elements of nature.
Narnian Cat Names
| Baldbrow
Blackrunner Brindlechat Brindletuff Brookpatch Bugbatter Bushpad Curlyweed Daymarcher Digs-Alone Dirtbelly Fastpounce Fatfur Fat-Surprise Fernstripes Fleetflip Flowerbreast Fourth-Sun Frostwhisker Goodclick Goodmew |
Graypatches
Hazelpaws Luckystretch Meerhiss Proudgaze Roughpaw Satinback Scratchleg Shywrestle Sixth-Shadow Slowstretch Slybiter Snagwhisker Softbelly Stonegazer Stripeteacher Twigleg Whiteribs Wintertouch Wisehear Yellowhaunches |
