History Literature / TheChroniclesOfNarnia

Many recent printings number the books in chronological order. For many, however, reading in publication order is more satisfying, as ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' has many references that make sense only if you've read the earlier published books, and reading in chronological order can spoil certain elements of ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe''. As for Lewis himself, he said in a letter to a young reader that he had a slight preference for the chronological order, but he pointed out that the series was not planned out beforehand, and he ultimately did not think that the reading order mattered too much anyway.

Many recent printings number the books in chronological order. For many, however, reading in publication order is more satisfying, as ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' has many references that make sense only if you've read the earlier published books, and reading in chronological order can spoil certain elements of ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe''.

Lewis writes the novels with a [[LemonyNarrator rather casual, conversational tone]]. In a letter to a young reader, Lewis stated that a chronological reading seemed to make more logical sense but affirmed that he had no particular reading order in mind when he wrote. Furthermore, if he'd really intended for people to read the books in chronological order, he could have easily arranged for that in his lifetime.

* SequelNumberSnarl: The series started out in chronological order but the [[Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy fifth]] and [[Literature/TheMagiciansNephew sixth]] books were, respectively, a {{interquel}} and a {{prequel}}. Later editions of the series number the books in chronological order, but [[BrokenBase many fans maintain]] that reading them in publication order is more rewarding because the prequel contains [[CallForward references that only make sense if you've read the other books first]]. As for Creator/CSLewis himself, he had a slight preference for the chronological order, but even so, he never really cared too much about the order in which people read his books.

* SequelNumberSnarl: The series started out in chronological order but the [[Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy fifth]] and [[Literature/TheMagiciansNephew sixth]] books were, respectively, a {{interquel}} and a {{prequel}}. Later editions of the series number the books in chronological order, but [[BrokenBase many fans maintain]] that reading them in publication order is more rewarding because the prequel contains [[CallForward references that only make sense if you've read the other books first]]. As for Creator/CSLewis himself, he never really cared about the order in which people read his books.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Actually lots of characters, the Narnia wiki even has [[https://narnia.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Characters_who_go_barefoot a specific category for them]]. Namely, this includes the Hermit of the Southern March, Coriakin, Ramandu, possibly Ramandu's Daughter, Shasta, Queen Jadis and, at some point, the Pevensies themselves (especially Lucy). It's a bit subverted with Shasta several times when the burning desert sand or the freezing dew-covered grass makes him wish he had shoes like Aravis.

* MeaningfulName: Pevensey is the village in East Sussex where William the Conqueror landed in 1066, beginning the Norman Conquest. Like William, the Pevensies enter a foreign land and claim the throne, changing the course of its history, and the history of its world.

* MeaningfulName: Pevensey is the village in East Sussex where William the Conqueror landed in 1066, beginning the Norman Conquest. Like William, the Pevensies enter a foreign land and claim the throne, changing the course of its history (and the history of the world) for good.

* MeaningfulName: Pevensey is the village in East Sussex where William the Conqueror landed in 1066, beginning the Norman Conquest. Like William, the Pevensies enter a foreign land and claim the throne, changing its history (and the history of the world) for good.

* BilingualBonus: "Aslan" and "Tash" mean "lion" and "stone" respectively in Turkish. "Jadis" means "witch" in Persian.

C.S. Lewis reverted to Christianity from atheism and wrote many works of apologetics and theology; the ''Narnia'' series, his only work directly targeted at children, is at once a work of creative fiction and applied apologetics, even dealing with atheism. Narnia [[FantasyKitchenSink borrows creatures and myths from many different cultures and ages]], from the Edwardian adventure stories of Lewis's youth to the ''Literature/ArabianNights'', from [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespearean]] tragedies to the [[Creator/TheBrothersGrimm Grimms]]' fairy-tales, from the Classical and Germanic mythologies that were Lewis's avocation to the mediaeval literature that was his professional study, interwoven with creatures of Lewis's own imagination (namely, marshwiggles) -- a profusion of fantasy highly unorthodox in the prosaic, "realistic" Machine Age, post-[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII war]] '40s and '50s -- all undergirded with a solid structure of Christian doctrine. By the third (published) book, it is clear that Aslan is a [[CrystalDragonJesus fictional version of Jesus]] -- yet, as Lewis insisted, the works do not form an ''allegory'' of Christian life, as some have assumed, but rather an adventure-tale in which {{God}} is a [[PalsWithJesus fellow]]-[[JesusWasWayCool adventurer]]. He also said that he didn't set out to include any religious elements in the story, it just ended up that way.

* ArabianNightsDays: The culture of Calormen is clearly inspired by the ''Arabian Nights'' version of the Middle East; notably, Creator/CSLewis is on record as being a fan of the English translation and even borrowed the name "Aslan" from the footnotes to one edition. [[spoiler:It's Turkish for "Lion."]]

* RoyalCruiser: During the Golden Age of the Narnian kingdom, under High King Peter, the rulers would travel aboard a galleon carved to resemble a giant swan, named the ''Splendor Hyaline''.

* ReformationAcknowledgment: Edmund Pevensie betrayed his siblings to Jadis, the White Witch. When he reunites with his siblings, it is clear that he's repented, and had a long conversation in private with Aslan. Aslan tells the others that Edmund's transgressions need not be brought up, demonstrating that he considers the matter closed. Then Aslan offers to be sacrificed in Edmund's place, showing he considers Edmund to be redeemed.

* TheEmpire: Calormen. Charn was an even worse one.

* SmurfettePrinciple: Averted. Every single one of the seven books features at least one female in a prominent role. Most, if not all, feature more than one.

* GreaterScopeParagon: Aslan the lion plays the most prominent role in supernaturally aiding the heroes, while only brief influence is felt from his father, the Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea. As the books are Christian allegory, it is generally assumed that Aslan represents Jesus Christ (aka God the Son) while the Emperor is God the Father.

* CrystalDragonJesus: Averted. Aslan literally ''is'' Jesus according to C.S. Lewis' answer to a fan letter regarding a conversation near the end of ''Dawn Treader''. This in turn means that the so-called "Emperor Beyond the Sea," mentioned as Aslan's father, is God the Father.

* MadLibFantasyTitle: Most likely the TropeMaker for [[FollowTheLeader all the later fantasy series]] that include "Chronicles" in their title. The books themselves also count, with their titles' invocations of such stock fantasy elements as "Magician," "Prince," "Battle," "Dawn", and so on.

%%* NiceHat: Reepicheep's circlet counts.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces: Besides numerous species of talking birds and beasts, the world of Narnia is full of mythological creatures, monsters, and magical beasts. LWW Introduces fauns, dwarfs, dryads, naiads, centaurs, minotaurs, ghouls, werewolves, boggles, hags, ogres, spectres, wooses, cruels, sprites, people of the toadstools, orknies, ettins, efreets, jinn, giants, horrors, incubuses, unicorns, winged horses, and merpeople. PC introduces maenads, male tree and river spirits, half-dwarfs, and telmarines. VDT introduces people of the islands, star people, monopods/duffers/dufflepuds, sea people, dragons, sea serpents, and birds of the morning. SC introduces marshwiggles, gnomes/earthmen, and (sleeping) giant lizards.

* CrystalDragonJesus: Averted. Aslan literally ''is'' Jesus according to C.S. Lewis' answer to a fan letter regarding a conversation near the end of ''Dawn Treader''. This in turn means that the so-called "Emperor Beyond the Sea," mentioned as Aslan's father, is the Abrahamic God.

* AllMythsAreTrue: Aslan may be Jesus, but that doesn't stop river-gods existing, and Bacchus popping up in the second book.

* TalkingAnimal: Narnia is full of them and some like the Beavers act like [[CivilizedAnimal Civilized Animals]]. It's important to note however that there are ordinary "dumb" animals which can be used for labour and be butchered for meat; but killing and eat a talking beast is a grave offence, and so is mistreating them -- King Tirian ''kills'' a Calormene solider who dared to whip a talking horse. Aslan was one the who create the Talking Beasts; they were originally ordinary animals that he granted the gifts of speech and intelligence and he still does so centuries after Narnia's creation - Reepicheep and his followers are descended from the mice that freed Aslan from the White Witch's ropes, and were given the gift of speech in gratitude. However, Aslan can also take the gift of speech away; [[spoiler:In "The Last Battle" those talking animals that reject him or betrayed Narnia to Calormen become dumb beasts.]]

* FantasyKitchenSink: One of the first examples in literature. Narnia contains a generous mixture of every fantasy trope C.S. Lewis enjoyed: talking animals, underground gnomes, mer-folk, magicians, creatures from FairyTales (dwarfs, witches, kings and queens in castles, unicorns), Myth/ClassicalMythology (centaurs, dryads, naiads, fauns, even Bacchus and Silenus show up at one point), ArabianNightsDays (the Calormene empire), even [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]]!

The books display the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', not surprisingly since the authors were friends at the time -- indeed, Lewis's ''Literature/SpaceTrilogy'' was written as a result of a friendly wager with Tolkien. While ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has not had the colossal cultural impact of Tolkien's epic, the series has remained the best-known and most beloved of all of Lewis's works.

TelevisionSerial adaptations of the first four books have all been televised by the BBC and released on DVD (in some places as [[CompilationMovie Compilation Movies]]). ''Lion'' was also the subject of an earlier TV adaptation on ITV in 1967 (now largely lost) and an AnimatedAdaptation [[WesternAnimation/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe1979 in 1979]]. Unfortunately, the BBC master of ''Lion'' was apparently lost to unknown causes several years ago, so the best quality copies of that series left are the [=DVDs=][[note]]there were also VHS tapes[[/note]]. A radio adaptation by Creator/TheBBC also successfully adapted all seven books, originally broadcast between 1988 and 1997.

* FantasyKitchenSink: One of the first examples in literature. Narnia contains a generous mixture of every fantasy trope C.S. Lewis enjoyed: talking animals, underground gnomes, mer-folk, magicians, creatures from FairyTales (dwarves, witches, kings and queens in castles, unicorns), Myth/ClassicalMythology (centaurs, dryads, naiads, fauns, even Bacchus and Silenus show up at one point), ArabianNightsDays (the Calormene empire), even [[SantaClaus Father Christmas]]!

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Grumpy and aggressive metalworkers and miners. Subverted in one detail: the weapon of choice for Narnian dwarves is not the axe or hammer, but the bow.

* TalkingAnimal: Narnia is full of them and some like the Beavers act like CivilizedAnimals. It's important to note however that there are ordinary "dumb" animals which can be used for labor and be butchered for meat; but killing and eat a talking beast is a grave offence, and so is mistreating them -- King Tirian ''kills'' a Calormene solider who dared to whip a talking horse. Aslan was one the who create the Talking Beasts; they were originally ordinary animals that he granted the gifts of speech and intelligence and he still does so centuries after Narnia's creation - Reepicheep and his followers are descended from the mice that freed Aslan from the White Witch's ropes, and were given the gift of speech in gratitude. However, Aslan can also take the gift of speech away; [[spoiler:In "The Last Battle" those talking animals that reject him or betrayed Narnia to Calormen become dumb beasts.]]

** Moreover, the entire series (or at least its earlier installments) may count as WishFulfilment: in his essay "On Three Ways of Writing for Children", Lewis says that he never set out to write a children's book on the principle of writing what one supposes children like, but that he simply wrote the sort of book he himself would have liked to read.

* RogerRabbitEffect: In the earlier installments of the BBC series, a lot of the magical creatures that couldn't be played by people in costumes are animated.

Has a [[http://narniatropes-blog.tumblr.com/ TV Tropes Tumblr]]. You can vote for your favorite installment [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/BestEpisode/TheChroniclesOfNarnia here]].

* FaunsAndSatyrs: Lewis describes both FaunsAndSatyrs as inhabitants of Narnia. Although he describes fauns as having the hindlegs of goats, long tails, curly hair, and small horns, the only description for the satyrs is that they are red as foxes or reddish-brown in color. The book illustrations depict fauns and satyrs as basically identical, with the exception of Mr. Tumnus, who is drawn with a long tail. The movies expand the difference by making fauns goat-legged and human bodied, with regular goat tails instead of long tails, and satyrs as basically human sized goats that walk on their hindlegs.

* GrowingUpSucks: A lot of people accuse Lewis of promoting this, partially because the kids can't go back to Narnia when they're older, and partly because of Susan's fate (''see'' MisBlamed, in YMMV). But we see other characters grow up without it being a bad thing, most notably Caspian, Cor, and Digory. The Pevensies, in fact, do all grow up for some time, and Aslan makes it clear that outgrowing the need to visit Narnia in favor of living in their own world is a good thing. It seems to be more "Growing up sucks if you forget your childhood in the process," which falls in line with opinions Lewis is known to have expressed about adults who think being "grown up" means looking down on childhood and "childish" enjoyments.

* TalkingAnimal: Narnia is full of them and some like the Beavers act like CivilizedAnimals. It's important to note however that there are ordinary "dumb" animals which can be used for labor and be butchered for meat; but killing and eat a talking beast is a grave offense, and so is mistreating them -- King Tirian ''kills'' a Calormene solider who dared to whip a talking horse. Aslan was one the who create the Talking Beasts; they were originally ordinary animals that he granted the gifts of speech and intelligence and he still does so centuries after Narnia's creation - Reepicheep and his followers are descended from the mice that freed Aslan from the White Witch's ropes, and were given the gift of speech in gratitude. However, Aslan can also take the gift of speech away; [[spoiler:In "The Last Battle" those talking animals that reject him or betrayed Narnia to Calormen become dumb beasts.]]
* TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: Aside from ''Dawn Treader'', all the books' antagonists' plans involve Narnia in one form or another. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], in that Narnia was the first country made in the other world, and therefore the one most special to Aslan.

* WishFulfillment: Arguably, the two instances in the entire series when Narnian magic intervenes directly in the real world: in ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'', when [[spoiler:Aslan gives Digory the means to save his mother]], and in ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', when [[spoiler:Aslan, Caspian, and the children teach the bullies at the boarding school a lesson]]. This becomes clear when one reads Lewis' autobiography, ''Surprised by Joy'', and sees that he lost his own mother at a young age, similarly to Digory, and that he had attended a realistic BoardingSchoolOfHorrors, where he experienced bullying.

* AssInALionSkin: In the Last Battle, Shift makes Puzzle, an ass, wear a lion's skin.