My Version of The Narnian World
I have made a few deeper histories and images of Narnia because I like detail and C.S. Lewis bothered more on giving us a memorable, important story than the little details. I have nothing against this; I only know that when writing Fanfiction, I need details of nitty-gritty sorts to aid in my writing. Therefore, I gave Narnia a historical timeline for my AU worlds [Narnia in general also]. It goes something like this:
The "Gilt Age"
The age before Jadis overthrew the last human monarchs in Narnia; this period lasted roughly several hundred years. (900, to be precise in my AU) Things were gay and merry, war was practically unheard of until 756 when mysterious persons came to the far shores of Lumea and named it Telmar, then trying (unsuccessfully) to gain Narnia. The first war between humans and the mythical beings of Narnia was started to drive the invaders out; called, literally "The First War." Roughly two hundred years after this war, and a few nameless skirmishes on the borders, Jadis came forth and vanquished the monarchy of Narnia in the "White War," killing any humans that might threaten her rule. She went to Cair Paravel and crowned herself "Queen" of Narnia before returning to the North and her ice palace, which she ruled from until her defeat.
The "Golden Age"
An age we all know and love very much, so I don't have to go into it deeply. Jadis is defeated in the "Winter Revolution", which is led by the High King of Narnia and Aslan, King of kings. The Four ascend their rightful thrones and peace is brought to Narnia. The High King marries and has two children; Queen Susan nearly agrees to a disastrous betrothal with Prince Rabadash of Calormen; King Edmund and Queen Lucy go to Anvard to protect the King from the invading Calormene. Prince Cor is found. This age lasts until Narnia is defeated by Telmar in "The War of Kings." The various battles between King Lucian the Brave (the High King's oldest child) and King Marin of Telmar, (father of Caspian the First) spanning a total of about twenty years.
The "Dark Age"
The time referred to by Narnians as the period of tyrannical Telmarine rule. Narnians were driven from their homes, nobles under Narnian rule and laws were now stripped of all titles; their lands, homes, and sometimes even aforementioned titles (depending on said title) were given to the Telmarine wealthy. Also during this time [my AU] Seven Guardians rose; laying Narnia to rest and easing Telmarine injustices until such a time as The Four returned. Narnians were heavily persecuted for their beliefs in Aslan and that The Four were the "True" and "Only" rulers of Narnia [unless Aslan declared differently].
The "Renaissance Age"
The time lasting until The Last Battle. During this time-period Caspian the Tenth is aided by The Four to regain his rightful throne from his usurping uncle in a climatic battle that followed a fixed duel and a failed castle raid. The splendor and majesty of both the Gilt Age and the Golden Age is restored, Narnians regained their titles and landholdings, and Telmarines either learned to live peacefully alongside the Narnians or chose to go back to the island in our world where they came from [many Telmarines chose this path rather than stay in a new Narnia].
During this time period (if I follow my Star Cycle), Caspian X marries Queen Susan the Gentle of Narnia, and must face a plot against him from his countrymen and Calormen; a growing threat since Narnia's Revolution. (War of Deliverance) He and the Queen face Calormen and the traitors on the edge of the Calormene desert [The Great Desert]. Narnia is victorious and the threat of a civil war is put down. Calormen, soundly defeated, pays a small tribute to Narnia, to keep peace between the countries and as a reminder that Narnia is now a much stronger kingdom. Many adventures happen throughout this time, exploring the Eastern Ocean, and etc. But this age is brought to an end by the Calormene invasion and eventual end of Narnia in The Last Battle.
After The Four
King Lucian the Brave and Princess Lilianna the Fair, [later crowned Queen by her brother to keep a strong image of Narnia] ruled for around twenty-eight years after The Four left; keeping Narnia protected and defended until their deaths and the eventual Narnian defeat. They are the last rulers to sit on a Narnian throne with pure Narnian blood flowing through their veins. All rulers after them were either Telmarine [Dark Age] or half Narnian, half Telmarine [Renaissance].
King Lucian obtained his title from his fearlessness in warfare and brave leadership of his military into battle, even when injured. He is also referred to as "Lucian the Lionhearted" much like King Richard of England. He had the battle tactics of his uncle and father, suggesting unusual plans, which worked with a military brilliance that was unique to the Narnian monarchy in King Rilian's reign and long after.
Lilianna obtained her title not from her beauty, it was said she was the radiant opposite of Queen Susan's raven locks and fair complexion, but from her sense of equality. She gave every man, Narnian and human alike, what they justly deserved. She fought with archery skills nearly like those of the Queen Susan, though she preferred doing it mounted.
Crown Prince Lucian was nineteen when his mother, Queen Amalia, crowned him at Cair Paravel as King over Narnia. There is a four year age gap between Prince Lucian and his sister Princess Lilianna.
Lilianna was sixteen when her brother, then king of Narnia, crowned her seven months after their mother's death and nineteen months after his own crowning. Narnian lore is that Queen Amalia died of a broken heart, but in truth, she fell prey of an illness much like tuberculosis in the years after her husband's disappearance, which, in Narnia, would be untreatable and mean a slow and painful decline.
Throughout the queen's rule, and shortly after her death, Telmar and Narnia had several border skirmishes; the final skirmish ended in the burning of a Narnian residence and the death of several Narnians. Narnia formally declared war on Telmar after three weeks of trying to find some way to settle the matter. This was the beginning of The War of Kings [also called the 'Battle of the Crown' by Telmarines because of the fight for the crown of Narnia].
Called 'The War of Kings' mainly because of the battle in Lantern Waste where King Lucian and King Marin fought face to face but also because this was a "formal war" mostly held on one battleground centered between the two countries. Though, as the Telmarine military weakened the Narnian opposition, the battle eventually moved further eastward, closer to the heart of Narnia and Cair Paravel.
King Lucian and his sister, Lilianna, fell in a small battle referred to as 'The Victor's Defeat' by many Narnians; this title was given because, though many Narnians had fallen – and the King, Queen, and famed Centaur General Oreius, had perished – Narnia was free yet of Telmarine rule. King Marian died of ill-tended battle wounds nearly eight months later, leaving his only son and heir apparent, Caspian the First, as King of Telmar. Twelve years later, after a period of uneasy peace between the two countries, Caspian the First invaded Narnia, avenging his father's death. As Cair Paravel fell, thus ends the Golden Age and the Dark Age moves to take its place.
Freidon Narnians
Freidons [or Freidians, a name combination of Narnian and Freidon] are descended from Freida the Fierce, one of the first generals Narnia was to ever see. The daughter of a Dryad and a mortal, [the first of many such unions] she was tall, pale, with unruly red hair that fell to her waist in two thick braids.
She had a cunning mind and brilliant stratagem. Though she was female, she was respected. The first woman in battle, she was to become an icon for future Narnians, and many more women would follow her lead. She first led troops into battle against invaders who Narnians referred to at that time as 'barbarians' but would soon come to be called 'Telmarines' that tried to invade Narnia.
She won and the barbarians failed. It was she and three other Narnians; Kloudhunter a black Centaur, Xanderin a Dryad, and Eleeme a Talking Eagle, who founded the first Narnian military. They laid a foundation that would last until the end of Narnian time. A day of the week, Freida, is named after her. She had eight siblings, and they make up the Freidon line, but she was the eldest, and it is only from her direct line that a Lord over Freidmer can be taken.
Freidmer or "Freida's Manor" was a gift to her from King Eldra, king of Narnia in 766. A village is nearby, within walking distance, and it is there that most Freidons live. There or in the surrounding land that comes with the estate. The fief and her lords are never in opposition because of their family ties; however weak they become over the years.
All Freidons are warriors, some of the best. It is from them that "The Elite" are formed. The Elite is a group of fifty-five soldiers that are the best in war and tournament combat. They are mainly guards for the kings and queens of Narnia; they will come when summoned, if there are any to be called. Above all, they hold to four oaths:
"Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword."
"First the king, second the queen, save the poor, protect the weak. Seek mercy, bind in love; honor bound to serve but one - Aslan - the Great Emperor's Son."
"For Truth, Justice, Hope, Freedom and Faith, fight for these and none other; for these, they bind us; father, son, daughter, brother."
"Life is not well-spent if you have lived selfishly, for you have wasted a great gift: the gift of love and assistance, of kindness and aid; which you could have used for those in need and not your own gain."
Dates And Times (for Narnia & Telmar)
I do not own the Narnian Calendar, this beautiful piece of work belongs to Elecktrum, a fellow writer on FFN; I merely use it with her permission. But, long before I discovered her Calendar for Narnia, I was trying to make my own. I had several ideas, one of which was the days of the week. I knew that to get as far from our world as possible, I'd have to create new names for the days of the week. So, here is what I came up with:
Sove: Sunday {"Sove" in my self-created language, means "Sun"
Mul: Monday {"Mul" means "Beginning"
Tervea: Tuesday {"Tervea" means "Thankful"
Weirkal: Wednesday {"Weirkal" means "Wonderful" or "Wonderful Bounty"
Thindon: Thursday {"Thindon" means "Thrive"
Freida: Friday {"Frieda" is named after a woman in Narnian mythology
Salmere: Saturday {"Salmere" means "Sleep" or "Dawning Rest"
My Twist on the Calormene World
These are my personal ideals on Calormen and her traditions, custom's, politics, world views, etc. I agree with everything you can find on Wikipedia and everything that C.S. Lewis wrote, but I wish to add some things because, as I said, I have a love for detail.
I believe that they have several expanding cities and things far past the small map given at the back of most Narnia series books. I believe that there are ten provinces past Tashbaan, ruled much like the ancient Medes and Persian empires of biblical times. Each province is ruled by a prince or "Shathraparan" [meaning: 'protector of the province'] related to the Tisroc but without the ability to assume the throne.
The plot from the book that backs this theory up is where C.S. Lewis writes that Calormen is described as being many times the size of its northern neighbours, and it is implied that its army is always either conquering more land or keeping down rebellions. Hence the provinces.
Now, moving back to those provinces I have created and given names because I wish to mention them in FFN works I have written or will write.
Names as follows: Nireem, Ramosh, Pilloth-Myul, Pathmon, Eshlaann, Endor, Dibar, Maalzoar, Heshbon, and Baashaan- a port on the Eastern Ocean.
Now, to get a little deeper into my theory, I have an OC, Tobias, captain of the Narnian cavalry. He is not like most Narnians who are fair in skin and hair tones, (though there are some Narnian exceptions to this rule, they are few), he has black hair, brown eyes, features that give him a 'fine' quality, and a dark tan, giving him an exotic appearance somewhere between Calormene and Telmarine.
He reveals to High King Peter in a chapter from a yet-to-be-published work of mine, (a prequel to the Star quintet, set in the Golden Age, titled 'A Country Without A King'), that he is the son of the Shathraparan Tobias-Zer-Ozem-Ben-Naaran, prince of Nireem, a province on the mountainous territory of Calormen, though the province is more nomadic than most, preferring the desert to the fertile lands of Calormen. He also reveals that his name is indeed, not Tobias, but Anon (the same title as his father's you may add after that, if you must).
His tribe and family was murdered by Jadis, when they mistakenly roamed too far into Archenlandish territory, which Jadis had also taken over, after the monarchy fled to the protection of Galma. Tobias lived because his father put him on his desert stallion and told him to ride the animal until it couldn't go any farther. This coincides directly after Lucy's second visit with Tumnus, in which Edmund also comes into Narnia, telling the Witch vital information and also alerting her to the fact that her reign was at an end.
Nothing is mentioned of his mother, though he does hint at a perhaps Telmarine descent on her side. He is not recognized by the Tisroc or Calormen as a Calormene, though he could easily fit in without being noticeable. Tobias preferred the freethinking Narnians to his countrymen. He died fighting for Narnia's freedom, and believed that The Four would someday, sometime, return to liberate Narnia, no matter who she fell to.
Calormen does not have calendars like Narnia and Telmar [Telmar's calendar greatly differs from Narnia's, which I'll go into later] but much like the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs, they go by ages. An age typically lasts around a hundred years. There are twenty ages that cycle every 2,000 years.
The Age of the Dragon
The Age of the Serpent
The Age of the Sun
The Age of the Lion
The Age of the Jackal
The Age of Tash
The Age of Elam
The Age of Tarf
The Age of Sheratan
The Age of Saiph
The Age of Risha
The Age of the Horse
The Age of Alnasl
The Age of Murphid
The Age of Matar
The Age of Homam
The Age of Hamal
The Age of Gienah
The Age of Furud
The Age of Arrakis
The Age of Alphecca
The Age of Wasat
My Version of the Telmarine World
There is little about this country and its people that was written by C.S. Lewis, save that their ancestors were pirates and they became deathly afraid of sailing the ocean by the time Caspian X's days were reached. I wish, for my writings, to shed some light on this little-known country. I have, I'm afraid, changed the geographical location of the land of Telmar because in my head I always thought Telmar would be somewhere to the northwest and not to the southwest.
Telmar is near the Northern Ocean, ['Marea de Nord' or 'The Northern Sea' in Merchant's Tongue*] which was much used in the Golden Age by Telmarines and merchants because the capital of Telmar – Javona [pronounced 'Havona'] – is located on the point of a peninsula jutting out into the ocean; only reachable by crossing a bridge. Javona was a profitable seaport, much like ancient Tyre in our world.
As their ancestors were said to be pirates, I believe that the Telmarine culture is largely influenced by Spain, as in the 1700's, 1600's and etc. in our world Spanish pirates were a frequent on the high seas, hence Javona's pronunciation. I know it is not book-verse, but I do support the film's image of Telmarines. There is a large metropolis called 'Marnor' not far from Javona [about a six day journey]. It is next largest to Javona in size and population. Another village or rather a large town is Inndesmond, not far from the Narnian border. Few villages exist because the feudal system is strong in Telmar [traditions from our world being adhered to even if the world they came from was forgotten].
The towns that make up the trade route between Marnor and Inndesmond are Xmede and Gishron. Between Marnor and Javona there is one town called Berveiv. These towns all have a well-traveled road that connects them, making them stopping points and landmarks on a map.
In between the years 747 and 756, Telmar became established, building their cities and forming armies; similar in style to armies from 14th century Europe. Outside Telmar, however, this young country was referred to as barbaric, and the name of 'Telmarine' was not given them for seventy years [the name is surprisingly mocking in origin, meaning generally "foreign mariners" only because they came from an unknown country across the sea].
From the beginning the relationship both politically and economically between Narnia and Telmar was stressful. Telmar continually saw Narnia as land they could possibly expand into, and Narnia did not like these newcomers bringing slavery and severely different ideals so close to their borders. During the Golden Age, High King Peter and his brother, King Edmund the Just, travelled between Cair Paravel and Javona trying to agree on peace treaties or prevent unnecessary war from breaking out.
King Isshiah was the ruling Telmarine king in High King Peter's time; he died at the age of sixty-seven, [in the fourth year of Queen Amalia's rule] and his son Prince Marin, thirty-three at the time, ascended the throne. Marin was a shrewd ruler, but he was not cruel; at least, not at first. He had wanted to mend the rifts his father had torn between the two countries, but his mind was poisoned by greedy advisors who wanted Narnian land for themselves, and he soon began calculated attacks on certain villages near the borderline shared with Telmar and Narnia.
Telmar have several gods they believe in, I would assume, though Lewis did not find value in mentioning them as other writers might. I'll list a few that I created; they will become important in many of my AU or canon stories.
Siandra: Similar to a goddess of love, though much more related to animals and earth.
Cirique: goddess of fates and misfortunes; she was given the task of showing men what they wanted most and cursing them with it.
Xmedan: god of war; the town Xmede is named after him.
Windon: god of wind and water; the bringer of rain and favorable sailing weather.
Elonna: goddess of good fortune and lucky fates; she is the rival of Cirique.
The Telmarines, like Calormenes, are puzzled by the Archenlandean and Narnian worship of only one god, and cannot understand how the countries rely on this one god to protect them in war and at peacetimes. They also believe that this Aslan is a weak god, and has to work mostly through humans [Winter Revolution as an example] to become powerful enough to take form on Lumea.
The line of kings from 740 to 756 was uncertain, though the first king was supposedly King Hadrian. Few records were kept during this time, as the people were more concerned with building fortifiable cities and creating decent laws to ensure order. After this, about one hundred years later, meticulous records were kept.
[Days of the weeks and months of the year will soon be added.]
Other Miscellaneous Things Pertaining to Narnia and Beyond
I have made up a series of cities, villages, histories etc., for Narnia. One of the first things I want to point out is that I have found that calling the world that Narnia is in "Narnia" just doesn't cut it for me, especially when they're not in the country of Narnia. Therefore I am taking a liberty and creating a universal name. We don't call England "Brighton" just because there is a county with that name, and we don't call America "Washington" just because a state has that name.
"Lumea" is what I have decided to call the world that contains Narnia, surrounding countries, The Lone Islands, The Seven Isles and everything else in the fantasy world, as that is much more correct than calling it "Narnia" all the time. I cannot call it Narnia when the characters [C.S. Lewis's, my OCs] are not on actual Narnian soil.
"Lumea" is pronounced "Loom" "Ayah" and it does mean "world" in a version of Romanian.
Also, English is not spoken in all the countries, nations, and etcetera. Narnians have Narnian; Calormene have Calormenian; Lone Islanders have Islandese; Sevenish (Seven Islanders) have Sevandian; Archenlanders have Archish, and the Telmarines have Marish [to be altered]
A form of communication has been developed between everyone, and I call it "Trader's Talk" or "Merchant's Tongue" or "Merchant's Voice"; whatever you like, however you like. My backing for this is:
It would make no bloody sense to be speaking English just by chance. It even says in Prince Caspian; "Peter leant back with half closed eyes and recalled the language he used to write such things in." I think that Lewis wanted there to be different languages, but felt that to go into that would take from the valuable story he was trying to tell. So, my theory stands firm. This communication between them though, is exactly like English, which is why the Pevensies were able to communicate, as every good Narnian [and other beings that inhabit Lumea] knows this language.
It would be far too taxing for any person to undertake learning every single language, so, this is easier.
A/N:
Hello all. Well, as today is a memorable day, and I wish to remember the man who gave us Narnia, I decided to edit my profile because of a kindly guest review suggesting it and because I was meaning to do this for some time.
I do not expect reviews on this. But I do think that it is better in a single-chaptered one-shot than on my profile. As a disclaimer, I make no profit from this, and only wish to show how much C.S. Lewis's brilliant world has put my mind to thinking.
The world is wonderful, and we could not have found it without him. He is in a way Lucy, for he led us here and we could not have entered the wardrobe and the world beyond without his writing it first. He made us search for bits of Narnia in this world, and put many of us on the track to finding Aslan by his other name here as well.
Turned us from traitors into the most faithful of followers; over-protective, uncertain oldest siblings into brave and leading rulers; and logical thinkers into believing that things are not always as they seem. Where would we be without him and Lucy to lead the way?
Thank you, Jack; you gave me quite an adventure!
In Memory of C.S. "Jack" Lewis, November 29, 1898 - November 22, 1963
WH
