JRRT and C.S. Lewis

[The Silver-shod Muse]

I didn't know that Aslan was Turkish for lion! Thanks for sharing that, Daniel.

Something that many people miss is that the Chronicles of Narnia are for children, and that the accuracy and consistency of the mythology is not important at all. They are not meant to be flawless portraits of a fantasy world, they are designed to reach children with God's word in a way that is easy to understand and to love.

I first became interested in the idea of Jesus and the Holy Spirit after reading the Chronicles. In fact, for a long time I imagined Jesus as Aslan because Lewis had made him so real and applicable to me. Though I was very young and just learning to read, the warm, gentle language and inviting descriptions captured me. I still think on the cool forest glades of Narnia and the golden smell of Aslan's mane when I'm lonely or bored. The very sweetest and saddest moment (it still moves me to tears) is when the children go through the door in the stable after losing the Last Battle and seeing all of Narnia torn and broken at the end of its time. They cry for what has been lost, but lo! they open their eyes and see that the land beyond the stable door really is Narnia, only greater, more vivid and full as an object is greater than its shadow.

The Chronicles are hardly even comparable to LotR. They were written for different purposes and excite different emotions and reactions entirely.

I love both of them equally, but in different ways, as a mother loves her children for different reasons. The Chronicles of Narnia were endowed by Lewis with the ability to move me as no other books that I have ever read, but the LotR books are beautiful in their complexity and truthfulness.