What Happened...

Defender of Aslan

Defender of Aslan

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What happened to the line of the original king and queen from TMN by the time the White Witch took over? Perhaps I missed it but seeing I read the whole Chronicle and in chronological I don't see how I did.

I remember this being a huge sticking point at the very time and instance I read it. So much so I had to stop reading at that point and ponder it. I pondered it and pondered it and went back wondering how I missed something so significant. Upon not coming up with or finding the answer I began reading once more, figuring that I would find out later in the Chronicle.

I never did find it, so can someone tell me what I missed or perhaps point me in the right direction as this is still bothering and vexing me.
 
I personally thought they had died out. By not producing an heir or death. It's fully possible that they would have let down their guard and Jadis came in and murdered them.
 
The books don't say, so it is a question open to speculation. I have my own theories, which I will post sometime... :)
 
I have always thought as SoA has, that the line had died out, although never fully explained.

Welcome to the forums Defender of Aslan. Good to have you here.
 
Well, we can assume that the line still exists in Archenlnd. Of course how they stayed human is not known.

Jadis and her army either killed the Narnian line of Frank and Helen or they went south to Archenland. Of course, why they would not take over after the Pevensies left is not known. Or maybe they tried, but were beaten back by the Telmarine army under Caspian I. Doctor Cornelius told young Casian there were "very few men in Narnia when Caspian I first came into Narnia.

MrBob
 
In doing further research I came across this:

Aslan asked him whether he, Frank, would enjoy living in Narnia for life, and Frank hesitated, only because he was married and his wife was not present. So Aslan, by singing a single pure note, brought Frank's wife to stand by his side. Aslan then dumbfounded Frank by announcing that he and Helen would become the first King and Queen of Narnia. Frank protested that he lacked sufficient education for such a job--but Aslan helped him to realize that he had every qualification that a King of Narnia would require--facility with the practices of agriculture, a basic sense of justice, and a willingness to try his courage in war, when war would inevitably come. Frank accepted, and he and Helen celebrated their coronation after Digory brought back an apple and used it to plant the Tree of Protection.

Their descendants became the original Kings and Queens of Narnia.

Jadis, the White Witch, took over Narnia 900 years after their reign began and ruled a reign of tyranny for 100 years, but illegitimately (as she was a Daughter of Lilith, not Eve), before finally being defeated by Aslan and the Pevensie children, who were then themselves proclaimed Kings and Queens of Narnia.

So I guess the best conclusion we can come to is as some of you had thought was that Jadis killed off the rightful King and Queen (whomever they were as we don't know we were never told) and their heirs to the throne.

Thus assuming this conclusion this then correct it brings up another point that then has been overlooked. On page 99 of the MN under the chapter The Planting of the Tree we read this:

"Son of Adam," said Aslan, "you have sown well. And you, Narnians, let it your first care to guard this Tree, for it is your Shield. The witch of whom I told you has fled far away into the North of the world; she will live on there, growing stronger in dark Magic. But while the Tree flourishes she will never come down into Narnia. She dare not come within a hundred miles of the Tree, for its smell, which is joy and life and health to you, is death and horror and despair to her."

It would then seem that all Narnians failed to heed Aslan's "commandment" thus bringing to them their own demise and basically slavery for the next 100 years.

Any thoughts on how this might have happened?
 
tirian_son_of_erlian said:
Well, obviously the Tree of Protection got uprooted, but I can't come up with one particularly superior theory on how this may have happened.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response. While I myself do not know for certain how it came about I don't think it is obvious it was uprooted. I have a few ideas but again they are only ideas and nothing concrete.

One idea is perhaps the Black Dwarfs got had something to do with the trees demise. It may have been chopped down, or the one I lean towards is this.

The tree had been planted nine hundred years before Jadis conquered Narnia. Aslan warned that it was their shield and they should care for it. I wonder if eventually the care of the tree was forgotten. Nine hundred years is a long time. If this had happened I could see the neglect of the tree causing it to just die off. Again I have no concrete evidence that this is what happened but it makes it an interesting theory to ponder and adding many more questions at least in my mind.

Again thank you for your response.
 
The clear implication is that the Tree was gone by the time of LWW, but how it went is not discussed. For what it's worth, I've always assumed that the point at which the Pevensies entered Narnia in Lantern Waste was the same place where the Tree once stood.

For the kinds of questions you are asking, about what happened between TMN and LWW, you may find the following threads of interest:
Cair Paravel
The Stone Table
Did the Winter last 100 years?

Edit: And my new thread, Jadis's rise to power.

Peeps
 
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I can easily picture how the tree could be neglected and forgotten over those many years. The Narnians were living in a very happy and comfortable time, with Jadis long gone and their land prospering, they did what most of us would probably do: get comfortable- become lazy- neglect the commandments- and forget all about it.

The Silver Chair gives us a great example of just how it might have gone down, as Eustace, Jill, and even Puddleglum over time begin to get lazy and drop their guard. Compound that with the fact that this witch was also actively seeking to cloud, confuse, and put off course their mission, and very nearly succeeded, except for Aslan's help.

This is also symbolic in our own lives, with many warnings and exhortations in the Bible about being watchful, taking heed to the commandments, and abiding in them. Be sober and vigilant, etc.

One more reason why I love these stories so much :)
 
Going back to the original question, that of Frank and Helen's line. The books do say that the Archenlanders are from Frank and Helen. They also say that Narnia was not a country for men, but one meant to be ruled by one. A lot can happen over the centuries, great forests can grow up around big old apples trees that shade out and eventually kill off the tree. Men can decide that they would prefer to live in a country meant for them rather than one meant for beasts. Lines can become heir-less or overthrown (how many times did England's monarchy change hands?). After a very few generations, the men in Narnia would cease to be fully human if they were marrying driads and nymphs.
 
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