Narnia

## **Background Information**

   Narnia is a fictional land which was created by author Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) in his series of novels, *The Chronicles Of Narnia,* which were published between the years 1950 and 1956.

Narnia was written as a a fantasy world of magic, mythical beasts, and talking animals. The series narrated the adventures of various children (mostly the Pevensie children, consisting of siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy) who played central roles in the unfolding history of Narnia.

Most of the protagonists were children from Earth, magically transported to Narnia. There they were called upon by the lion, Aslan, to protect Narnia from evil and restore the throne to its rightful line.

The books spanned the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in *The Magician's Nephew,* to its eventual destruction in *The Last Battle*.

## **Rex and Hannah in Narnia**

In 2011, Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster found themselves in Narnia, with no memory as to how they got there. This baffled Rex, as he knew that Narnia was totally fictional. He had no idea how he and Hannah ended up in a place that did not really exist.

Soon after, Rex and Hannah encountered Aslan, the lion, who had created Narnia. For this meeting, Rex and Hannah assumed the identities of Peter and Susan Pevensie, the oldest of the four Pevensie children from the novels. Aslan informed the two former Warlocks that Jadis, the White Witch (another character from the novels) was hatching a new evil plan. Rex and Hannah then decided to travel to Jadis's palace to investigate.

En route, the two former Warlocks are captured by Jadis's minions and taken to her palace. Once there, Jadis informed Rex and Hannah that she was protecting the Revered One. Rex was confused at this revelation, since none of the novels mentioned such a character.

After escaping from Jadis's dungeon, Rex and Hannah set out to discover the identity of the Revered One. When they reached the chamber where the Revered One was being kept, Rex and Hannah discovered a young British solider from the First World War.

As it tuned out, the Revered One was none other than Clive Staples Lewis, the future author of the Narnia books. On April 15th, 1918, while serving on the Western Front in the First World War, Lewis was wounded when a shell landed near him and exploded. Lewis ended up in a coma, where his unleashed imagination trapped him in a dream. This dream had Lewis in the land of Narnia, which his subconscious mind had created and populated with beings such as Aslan the Lion, and Jadis, the White Witch. However, part of Lewis’s mind wanted him to wake up, and this part had reached nearly a century into the future and drew Rex and Hannah, who were asleep and dreaming, into into Lewis's dream.

One Rex and Hannah realized the truth, that this whole thing was a shared dream between themselves and Lewis, the two former Warlocks begin to try to get Lewis to wake up. Despite some interference from Jadis, who knew that if Lewis woke up, her existence would be ended, Lewis did wake up. This ended the the dream and Rex, Hannah, and Lewis all woke up in their respective times (2011 for Rex and Hannah, 1918 for Lewis).

## **First novel published**

 In 1950, C.S. Lewis published his first book in the *Chronicles Of Narnia* series. This book was called *The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe*. This novel was based on the dream he had while in a coma, from his First World War injury, more than thirty years before. Two characters in the novel were named Peter and Susan Pevensie, after Rex and Hannah, who had assumed those identities in the shared dream they had with Lewis. Lewis, however, made the two characters younger and added the two youngest siblings, Edmund and Lucy.

Lewis would go on to write several more novels in the Narnia series.

## **Inspiration**

These events make it likely that Rex Buckland and Hannah Webster indirectly played a role in inspiring C.S. Lewis to create the *Chronicles Of Narnia* books.

## **References**

*Rex and Hannah Chronicles Story No. 23: Convergence*