A MESSAGE FROM ASLAN (Written and Read by Dearheart) 9 October 2008
Posted by Renette in By Terb's Friends.add a comment
The first time I heard about podcasts was in One Tree Hill, where there’s a character named Peyton Sawyer who would do regular podcasts. She’d talk about what was happening in her life and would share waaay too much personal information, as it would later turn out. Some psycho used the information she was sharing to pretend to be her long-lost brother, and nearly killed her and her friends. But that’s off topic.
Anyway, I just found out from the forum at The Lion’s Call (http://www.thelionscall.com/) that they actually have a couple of podcasts up. I listened to each one and enjoyed the fact that I now have a voice to match the username. I also loved their stories on how they got into TLC in the first place.
There’s this one podcast that I loved in particular, and I encourage all Narnia fans to listen to it. It’s called “A Message,” and it’s written and read by Dearheart. In this short piece, Dearheart masterfully combines Bible verses and direct quotes from The Chronicles of Narnia.
You may listen to the TLC podcasts at this site: http://thelionscall.podbean.com/.
BYRON ON WELLS… THE NICEST BIT O’ NARNIA 11 September 2008
Posted by Renette in 2 The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, By Terb's Friends.1 comment so far
This is the first time I’m posting an entry both in my Narnia blog – since this is a story that happened in Narnia – and my non-Narnia blog – since this is a story that can be understood and enjoyed even by people who have never read of Narnia. I just read “Byron on Wells,” a book written by someone I met in the TLC (The Lion’s Call) forum, EveningStar aka John Burkitt.
Byron on Wells is a town in Narnia, located far from Cair Paravel and all the other places familiar to Narnia fans. The narrator is Mountebank Beaverlee (Mountie for short), a young beaver with great dreams, who tells vignettes about life for Wellanites. To me, it’s like a funny, poignant coming-of-age, like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (by Mark Twain) and Little Women (by Louisa May Alcott).
Mountie is close friends with Buck (a badger kit) and Bramble (a fox pup), who are always full of mischief but have hearts of gold. Along the way, we meet their family and friends too, and learn their tragedies and dreams, which make the stories even more heartwarming and homey.
Here are my favorite stories from Byron on Wells in order of preference:
# 1 – Good News (Chapter 4)
I cried a bit after reading this story. Don’t read it if you haven’t read the previous 2 chapters (The Regatta and Making Repairs), because they provide the background of the story, and if you don’t have an idea of Aslan’s sacrifice in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Truly, He is risen!
# 2 – Brotherly Love (Chapter 21)
This is perhaps one of the most heart-wrenching stories in the book dealing with the loss of a child. If you only had to read one story from this book, I suggest you read this one, since it is pretty much a “stand-alone” story that you can understand even without reading the previous ones. I won’t give it away by telling you what happened, but here’s a short quote that would give you an idea:
Of all the gifts I’ve ever seen given, none ever compared with that selfless gesture of pure love. He gave back to my mother the most precious gift of all, the joy of living.
# 3 – The Succession (Chapter 26)
Again, I cried a bit after reading this one. If you’ve ever felt a tinge of guilt for disappointing your parents by not going after their dreams for you and instead, chasing your own dreams, then you have to read this story. Here’s how Mountie described the moment:
And then I saw something I wish I had not. It was Dad sitting on the bench with his face buried in his paws. It was only the second time in my life I saw Dad cry.
The depth of his pain cut me like a knife as he surrendered his cherished dreams for me. And though I’ve always loved my father, in that one moment I believe I loved him more than ever before and more than I ever could again.
# 4 – The Written Word (Chapter 8)
EveningStar (the author) actually shared the plot for this story in the TLC forum, so I knew what was going to happen before I even read it. But it was quite a different experience to read the story knowing the characters already – Mountie and his Dad, Horace, and his Mom, Crystal, and the Vicar, Faun Chios. I was moved when I read the plot, but I was even more moved when I read the entire story.
# 5 – Relatively Speaking (Chapter 13)
This is a story everyone can understand, about the typical snooty, well-to-do family who turned their back on their daughter because she chose to marry a poor guy. The only difference is that they are actually all foxes. It is a very painfully, poignant story that made me fall in love with the crusty old Nickaby, who said, “… family is not something you are, it’s something you do.”
# 6 – The Prize (Chapter 24)
This is a wonderful story about the things that really matter in life. Here’s what Horace had to say to his son, Mountie:
“It’s like that with us – I hope for the best, but I prepare for the worst. I want to go easy on you because I love you, but I stand firm in the end because I love you.”
# 7 – The Christmas (Chapter 19)
One of my favorite characters is Thorny (Bramble’s dad), whose young wife Clara died a few years before. On Christmas day, during the party at the inn where he worked, his sister-in-law Holly dropped by and asked him to dance. He hesitated at first, until his employer and dear friend Nickaby gave him permission and said:
“Remember lad, this can be the happiest day of the year… or the loneliest. Use your chances wisely.”
I understand exactly how it feels. For someone grieving the loss of a loved one, Christmas is always one of the most difficult days to go through. Anyway, here is what happened:
She rested her head on his shoulder. “You dance divinely,” she said. He was lost in a dream of happiness. The order of nature had been upset and time began to work backwards. Two lonely years had rolled back and for a moment all was as it should have been. Holly understood that it was Clara he was dancing with, but she did not mind.
# 8 – The Club With No Name (Chapter 1)
Of course this has to be in my list because it introduces us to all the main characters of Byron-on-Wells. To set up my favorite part (which is one of the most poignant), Mountie has a twin brother Sam who died years ago, but who “lived on in [his] imagination. Since Mountie didn’t have any friends, he got into the habit of going to the river to talk to “Sam” – who was actually his reflection. Towards the end of the story, after Mountie met and became friends with Buck the badger and Bramble the fox, he went back to “Sam” to say goodbye:
That evening I went to where the water was still. The sun was sinking low in the sky but I could still get a clear reflection. “Hello, Sam. It’s me again.”
I could see the melancholy look on his face, a reflection of my own mood. “I bet you can tell something is happening. Well it is. Today I made me some new friends. You’d like Buck and Bramble. They’re fun to be with. Someday you’ll get to meet them.”
I sighed… so did Sam… “It’s not that you weren’t fun to be with, but you have friends now in Aslan’s Country that you can touch, and now I do too. Each of us ought to spend more time with them and less with each other. Don’t worry though. I’ll never forget you.”
(As fellow Narnia fans know, Aslan’s Country represents heaven, where my two brothers are, happy and serene and patiently waiting for our entire family to be reunited again.)
To read Byron on Wells and other stories and poems by John Burkitt, please visit http://www.royalmagi.org.
THE LAMB IN THE LAST BATTLE 16 August 2008
Posted by Renette in 7 The Last Battle, By Terb's Friends, Talking Beasts.add a comment
In The Last Battle, there is an important scene in Chapter 3 where the animals were gathered at the stable. They have just heard the frightening news from Shift (the Ape) who told them that “Aslan” had sold all the Talking Beasts of Narnia to slavery. Of course, if you know the entire story, the pretend “Aslan” was actually a stupid donkey named Puzzle dressed up in lion’s skin, but it was effective in cowing the animals to obedience.
“And now here’s another thing,” the Ape went on, fitting a fresh nut into its cheek, “I hear some of the horses are saying, Let’s hurry up and get this job of carting timber over as quickly as we can, and then we’ll be free again. Well, you can get that idea out of your heads at once. And not only the Horses either. Everybody who can work is going to be made to work in future. Aslan has it all settled with the King of Calormen – The Tisroc, as our dark faced friends the Calormenes call him. All you Horses and Bulls and Donkeys are to be sent down into Calormen to work for your living – pulling and carrying the way horses and such-like do in other countries. And all you digging animals like Moles and Rabbits and Dwarfs are going down to work in The Tisroc’s mines. And -”
“No, no, no,” howled the Beasts. “It can’t be true. Aslan would never sell us into slavery to the King of Calormen.”
“None of that! Hold your noise!” said the Ape with a snarl. “Who said anything about slavery? You won’t be slaves. You’ll be paid – very good wages too. That is to say, your pay will be paid into Aslan’s treasury and he will use it all for everybody’s good.” Then he glanced, and almost winked, at the chief Calormene. The Calormene bowed and replied, in the pompous Calormene way:
“Most sapient Mouthpiece of Aslan, The Tisroc (may he-live-forever) is wholly of one mind with your lordship in this judicious plan.”
“There! You see!” said the Ape. “It’s all arranged. And all for your own good. We’ll be able, with the money you earn, to make Narnia a country worth living in. There’ll be oranges and bananas pouring in – and roads and big cities and schools and offices and whips and muzzles and saddles and cages and kennels and prisons – Oh, everything.”
“But we don’t want all those things,” said an old Bear. “We want to be free. And we want to hear Aslan speak himself.”
“Now don’t you start arguing,” said the Ape, “for it’s a thing I won’t stand. I’m a Man: you’re only a fat, stupid old Bear. What do you know about freedom? You think freedom means doing what you like. Well, you’re wrong. That isn’t true freedom. True freedom means doing what I tell you.”
“H-n-n-h,” grunted the Bear and scratched its head; it found this sort of thing hard to understand.
“Please, please,” said the high voice of a woolly lamb, who was so young that everyone was surprised he dared to speak at all.
“What is it now?” said the Ape. “Be quick.”
“Please,” said the Lamb, “I can’t understand. What have we to do with the Calormenes? We belong to Aslan. They belong to Tash. They have a god called Tash. They say he has four arms and the head of a vulture. They kill Men on his altar. I don’t believe there’s any such person as Tash. But if there was, how could Aslan be friends with him?”
All the animals cocked their heads sideways and all their bright eyes flashed towards the Ape. They knew it was the best question anyone had asked yet.
The Ape jumped up and spat at the Lamb.
Knowing that Aslan had appeared once before in The Chronicles of Narnia as a lamb (towards the end of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), it is quite possible that this Lamb was also Aslan in another form. Siberian Christmas, a friend I met from The Lion’s Call forum, wrote a very beautiful poem about the Lamb which I’m posting here with her permission:
The Lamb Who Spoke the Truth
by Siberian Christmas
Where did you go, you precious?
What happened to you?
Did they hurt you?
When you spoke, oh! I felt your words touch us!
I lie here, dreaming in my bed
Of your innocence,
Of your courage,
And the truth that with valiant words you said.
Where did you come from, darling?
Did Aslan send you here?
Did he whisper his words to you?
Maybe I’ll know in the morning…
Lamb, little Lamb, I know now.
I dreamt of you.
I saw you.
You were laid out as a Lion on Aslan’s How.
WHERE IS ASLAN? (A Poem) 10 July 2008
Posted by Renette in By Terb's Friends.add a comment
Here’s a Narnian poem by Mike R which he wrote for me for my birthday. Thanks Mike R!
Where Is Aslan?
Where is Aslan? The untamed Lion gone.
The girl child has read the book, Gloriously
dreams of dancing fauns and talking horses.
Where is Aslan? Who sung the world Narnia
She has entered that world to become Queen
Ruling wisely and justly till she dreams.
Where is Aslan? Conqueror of Jadis
The child has grown and Narnia is lost.
Invitations and lace has replaced the song.
Where is Aslan? The Sleeper awakes!
Time has awoken, the stars have broken.
No longer a child, The Holiday has begun.
