Sep 03
The second Summer of Narnia is drawing to a close, so I’d like to share some more images of my fave magic-using evil Queen, Jadis. First is a B&W rendition by comic artist Sebastian Ericson. Long black hair, grasping, claw-like hands, evil sneer, spiky crown… yum. A section of a video art project about The …
Aug 28
Now that we’ve examined and dissected both Charn and Jadis, I’d like to backtrack a bit. [ You can read previous parts of this essay here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV ] In this post, I speculated, as some Lewis scholars did, that Charn’s name is derived from the word …
Aug 25
Jadis’s sister and her rival for the throne of Charn was never given a name by Lewis. Some fanfic writers have given her one: Jerza, Jade, Cynara, Emeralas, Katilu. In the same spirit, here are are some randomgenned ones, sticking mostly to the Js, and those reminiscent of gems like Emeralas and Jade are. …
Aug 24
Now we get to what is, for me, one of the most compelling features about Jadis and Charn: The war with her sister. [ You can read previous parts of this essay here: Part I, Part II, Part III ] Lewis doesn’t say if the sister is older or younger, a twin, a half-sister …
Aug 19
He was standing by the edge of a small pool—not more than ten feet from side to side—in a wood. The trees grew close together and were so leafy that he could get no glimpse of the sky. All the light was green light that came through the leaves: but there must have been a …
Oct 17
Previous parts of this essay: Part I Part II Since it’s pretty certain that Charn had biblical origins, can we say the same of Jadis? Is she the same as the infamous Whore of Babylon, or is she something more? One thing Jadis is not, is European. In her own element she wore no tight …
Sep 03
Charn is my favorite Lewisian creation … more than Aslan, more than Narnia itself. No other place in fantasy embodies such grandeur, sinisterness, and decadence … which is quite the accomplishment, as Lewis only gives hints of it. Jadis herself says, in a reflective moment: I have stood here when the whole air was full …
Aug 19
The Magician’s Nephew ranks third (tied with The Horse and His Boy) as my Chronicles favorite for the Weird Tales awesomeness that is Charn. As I wrote in The Wild Lands of the North, Lewis was more than a little influenced by the pulps (and the pulps influenced by Lord Dunsany and E. R. Eddison, …