The Chronicles of Narnia
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | The Chronicles of Narnia |
| Abbreviation(s): | Narnia |
| Creator: | C.S. Lewis |
| Date(s): | 1950-1956 |
| Medium: | Books, with later film adaptations. |
| Country of Origin: | United Kingdom |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Canon
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels written by C.S. Lewis. The first book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was published in 1950 and is set during World War II. It tells the story of four English children who discover a portal in a wardrobe to the magical land of Narnia. The subsequent novels continue the adventures of both the original cast and new characters in Narnia.
Many television and film adaptations of the novels have been made; the most recent is a big-budget series of films that began with the release in 2005 of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The second film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was released in 2008. The third film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader was released in 2010. No more films are currently planned.
Fandom
Narnia fandom is fairly small, with fans producing works based on both the novels and the recent film adaptations, with no obvious separation between the two fandoms. It is often counted as a rarelit fandom, though it is one of the largest.
Discussion often focuses on the works as Christian allegory, which many fans dislike but some embrace, and on Lewis's treatment of Susan, the second eldest Pevensie child, in The Final Battle, where she's excluded from Narnia because she's grown up.
Characters & Shipping
The Narnia fandom has a large number of genfics due to the wide lack of characters the same age as the protagonists who are not their relatives.
The main characters of the Narnia series are siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, their cousin Eustace Scrubb, his classmate Jill Pole, and Narnia's original visitors, Professor Diggory Kirke and Polly Plummer, as well as the Christ figure Aslan.
Much of the fandom's shipping centers around pairing Caspian with all four Pevensies:
The other major contingent of shipping centers around incestuous ships pairing the Pevensies with each other. All 6 possible combos exist, but the main ones are:
Crossovers
Crossovers are common; most notably with Doctor Who, drawing on the idea of the TARDIS and the Wardrobe as boxes that are larger on the inside than the outside, and with Harry Potter, drawing on common magical elements. Doctor Who even has a canon episode, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011), which while not actually a Narnia crossover uses numerous tropes from the Narnia books. Other crossovers include the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Lord of the Rings, Merlin, etc. Fanfiction.net lists crossovers with 183 fandoms.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfic
- Carpetbaggers [1] by Cofax -- novel set after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Growing Up by Sheldrake -- Susan & Lucy gen
- The Queen in Exile by LindaMarie -- a widely recommended early darkfic centering on Lucy
- The Queen's Return [2] by Honor H -- One of the many 'The Problem of Susan' fixes
- The Traitor, the Witch, and the Lovers by Katie Vieceli -- another widely recommended early darkfic, with incest & interspecies pairings
- No Longer a Friend of Narnia by abluestocking -- an unusual take on the problem of Susan
- The space between right now and back then by ayumi_nb, a Peter/Susan drabble written for the community 100foraslan.
- The Stone Gryphon Series [3] by rthstewart -- the Pevensie sibling in World War II, non-canon fix-it
- England under the White Witch by Theodora Goss -- It is always winter now. AU, Jadis found her way to Earth.
- Out of Season by Elizabeth Culmer. OC-centric novella exploring Calormene society & religion
- The Problem of Susan by Neil Gaiman
- P.E by Tonzura123 (2009)
Crossovers & Fusions
- National Service [4] by burntcopper -- the Pevensies as British agents in WW2 and later, non-canon fix it, crossovers including Torchwood and Good Omens.
- From a World More Full of Weeping by Azar -- Two people meet who have nothing in common except a world of loss. Post-series Doctor Who crossover.
- We Didn't Mean To Go To Hell and Back... by AJHall -- Susan wants revenge for the death of her family; Swallows and Amazons crossover short.
- Narnians Assemble! by rthstewart -- Susan and Peggy go shooting; Peter and Steve walk into a bar; Crow, Spider, and Hawk fight the Cold War; Hulk like Lucy. Avengers AU fusions.
Fanvids
- Hermione's Diary by SwarmOfBees -- Harry Potter crossover vid.
- Heartlines by starlady
Fannish Roleplay
See List of Narnia RPGs for fannish RPGs based on Narnia.
Meta
- The Problem of Susan by RJ Anderson -- one of many essays & other fanworks dealing with the issue
- "Is Susan A Problem?" by Jill Bearup -- a video response to the "Susan Problem"
- In the Shadow of Tash, the Inexorable: Darkness, Death, and Transformative Interpretation in The Chronicles of Narnia by Tomatobird
Communities
- narnia on Dreamwidth - for discussion and all fanworks related to both the books and films
- narnia slash on Livejournal - for discussion and FPF fanworks related to both the books and films with a slash focus
- narnia icons on Livejournal - icons related to the books and all adaptations
- narnia fiction on Livejournal - for all FPF fiction related to the books and films
- narnia fics on Livejournal - gen & het fanfiction for books & films
- narnia rpf on Livejournal - for all RPF fiction related to the films
- NarniaWeb - fansite for the movies with news, forums and links to fansites all over the world
- Narnia Fans - Christian fansite[1] for the movies with news, forums and a YouTube group for posting vids
- Narnia Fic Exchange - for Narnia fanfiction exchanges, including the Narnia Fic Exchange (2008–present) and the Narnia Big Bang Challenge (2012)
Archives
- Chronicles of Narnia on Skyehawke, no underage smut-fic allowed
- Narnia Fan Fiction Revolution, now offline
- Turkish Delights, now offline
The first three archives list all works as Book fandom. AO3 also has an "All media types" tag, linked above.
Other Websites
- F Yeah Casmund (Edmund/Caspian fansite)
- Narnia Caps Screen Caps from the Narnia Movies
Zines
- Libyrinth Suite, a yaoi doujinshi
- Inexorable by Tomatobird. Short comic about the Calormene god Tash.