Though The Chronicles of Narnia is a celebrated children’s series, it is not short of high-stakes action and violence depicted in epic battles, wars, sacrifices, and character death. Having served in both World Wars, C.S. Lewis does not shy away from the realities of war, but as a veteran, he avoids glorifying violence and instead relies on vague descriptions rather than graphic visuals. Fight scenes in the novels, such as the Battle of Beruna in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, are kept brief and tempered by the novel’s mythical context and central theme of good versus evil.
The Chronicles of Narnia feature several battles that are perfect for cinematic reenactments, as exemplified by the 2000s franchise, which are likely to be recreated in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated upcoming Netflix adaptations. Drawing heavily on Lewis’ background as a medieval scholar, his stories are traditional quests exploring chivalry and Christian allegories. Highlighting the series’ epic nature and reflecting the overarching spiritual and moral journey in which courage and strategy matter more than brute force, the novels exemplify portal and medieval fantasy, in which medieval-style weapons are used — ranging from standard military equipment to magically enhanced weapons gifted by supernatural beings.
Peter’s Sword Is Made From Divinely Blessed Steel
One of the most recognizable weapons in The Chronicles of Narnia is undoubtedly Rhindon, the longsword wielded by Peter, the eldest of the Pevensie siblings. Given to him, along with a shield, by Father Christmas in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he reminds Peter that they are “tools, not toys” — representing a sudden plunge into responsibility for Peter and the other Pevensie children, symbolizing their destinies as protectors of Narnia. While the novels describe the weapon as a long, balanced sword having a gold hilt, with a sheath and a sword belt, Peter receives in the 2005 film a majestic sword with a lion’s head pommel, golden crossguard, and a red leather hilt.
With a heavy narrative weight, Rhindon is a sacred tool of justice brought into existence by Aslan himself and gifted to Peter through the lion’s emissary. Used to champion good, Peter first wields it in a battle against the White Witch’s captain, Maugrim, when the wolf attacks his sisters. A crucial scene in which Peter is no longer a child but a knight of Narnia who is embracing his destiny. Committed to defending the innocent and restoring the natural order of the fantastical world, Peter kneels before Aslan, who pronounces him “Sir Peter Wolf’s-bane.”
Expanded for the first cinematic adaptation, the riveting Battle of Beruna sees Peter go head-to-head against the White Witch with Rhindon and holds his own until Aslan delivers the final blow. And in Prince Caspian, the siblings return to Narnia after 1,303 years have gone by, but the sword remains in perfect condition and shows no signs of rust or damage — with Peter even using it to win a duel against the Telmarine King Miraz. Though Peter bestows Rhindon upon Caspian as the new ruler of Narnia in the 2008 fantasy sequel, it is not depicted in the novel. Representing justice, bravery, and leadership, Rhindon is one of the most symbolic weapons in the series.
Susan’s Bow & Arrows Are Enchanted With Perfect Aim
Alongside an ivory horn — that summoned the Pevensie siblings back to Narnia in Prince Caspian — given by Father Christmas, Susan’s magical ivory bow and quiver of arrows are enhanced with an infallible trajectory enchantment to ensure they don’t “easily miss.” When released, the arrows fly straight and true, allowing Susan to always hit her target. With lethal precision, she can incapacitate enemies and pierce armor from a distance.
While Susan’s fighting experience in the books is limited in comparison to her brothers’ due to the belief that “battles are ugly when women fight,” the character learns to be a skilled archer and markswoman. Not just relying on the weapon’s magic, Susan regularly practices her craft and becomes a formidable “warrior-maiden”. Proving her natural skill, she wins a friendly shooting match against the Red Dwarf, Trumpkin, by hitting an apple squarely on a distant tree branch.
With character depth unexplored in the novels that must be addressed in Gerwig’s movies, Susan Pevensie proves in the original cinematic adaptation that her role, with her magical gear and steady hand, has been essential to the siblings’ success in battles. Against the White Witch and her army, Susan takes part in the Battle of Beruna after returning with Aslan and already proves she is proficient with her bow. In The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Susan takes part in the Night Raid on Miraz’s Castle and easily shoots down multiple soldiers — even from the air while being carried by a gryphon. Susan not only leads the archers in the final battle but also helps Lucy escape the Narnian camp so that she can find Aslan, killing any Telmarine soldiers in her way.
The Stone Knife Killed the Powerful Aslan
In the world of Narnia, Deep Magic is a set of absolute laws placed upon the land at the time of its creation by the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea and Aslan’s father. As inscribed on the Stone Table and other objects, the law stated that Jadis is entitled to kill every traitor and, if denied this right, all of Narnia would be “overturned and perish in fire and water.”
In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Edmund is considered a traitor to Narnia, and thus, his life is the White Witch’s to claim, but after a parlay, Aslan sacrifices himself and offers to take his place instead. In one of the saddest Disney deaths, Aslan is bound, tortured, and humiliated in a twisted ritual. With a heavy-handed religious allegory of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, the White Witch sacrifices the lion using a strange knife “of evil shape” that was “made of stone not steel.” However, unbeknownst to Jadis, a deeper magic dictates that if “a willing victim that has committed no treachery is killed in a traitor’s stead, the Stone Table will crack; and even death itself would turn backwards”, allowing for Aslan’s miraculous resurrection. While Jadis uses this knife during the Battle of Beruna to duel with Peter, it is now useless and does nothing to protect her from her fate at the hands of the revived Aslan.
Later taken and praised as a holy item, the Stone Knife appears again in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as part of Aslan’s Table on Ramandu’s Island. When three of the Seven Lost Lords, banished by King Miraz, arrive on the island, one lord dares to touch the relic with plans to use it against his companions, but all three are sent into a deep slumber. After being found by Prince Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy, they are told by the fallen star Ramandu that the Lords can only be woken if someone sails to the edge of the world, leaving Narnia forever. Proving to be a powerful weapon, only Reepicheep’s brave sacrifice undoes the knife’s unusual magic.
The White Witch’s Wand Turns Foes to Stone
Considered one of the greatest villains in fantasy history, Jadis the White Witch is the primary antagonist of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Magician’s Nephew. During her exile in the Wild Lands of the North after the events of the prequel novel, Jadis somehow obtained or created a wand with which she could use magic. Condemning Narnia to an eternal winter, she led the Winter Revolution and took control of the kingdom. Ruling for a hundred years, she oppressed the kingdom’s citizens with threats from her secret police and magic.
Used on disobedient subjects during her reign, the wand has powers of petrification, with several statues in her courtyard as a testament to its ability and frequent use. While the extent of the wand’s abilities remains unknown, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Jadis uses it to perform lesser acts of magic, including tricking others into thinking she was a boulder and her dwarf was a tree stump. With its signature power of turning organic matter into stone, the only known way to undo the curse was the breath of Aslan. After his resurrection, the lion revives the statues in the Witch’s courtyard with his warm breath that immediately cancels Jadis’ magic and brings the petrified creatures — including the beloved Mr Tumnus — back to flesh and blood.
Described as long, straight, and golden, its appearance and power in adaptations have varied. In the 2005 Disney adaptation, the wand was a crystal-like spear with much more sinister powers. During the Battle of Beruna, Jadis casts an icy aura that extinguishes the phoenix’s wall of fire protecting Aslan’s army. However, it is soon shattered by Edmund’s sword before the Witch can use it to kill his brother Peter. Reappearing in the 2008 cinematic sequel, the wand is used during an attempt to resurrect the White Witch. Repaired but visibly damaged, a group of rogue Narnians practices black magic to summon the Witch. Interrupting the ritual, Edmund seeks justice and destroys her once and for all — with the fate of the now-repaired wand left unknown.
The Deplorable Word Is the Ultimate Apocalyptic Curse
A weapon only known by readers of the Narnia prequel, The Magician’s Nephew, the Deplorable Word is a fictional curse that ends all life on a world except for the one who speaks it. This reality-deleting sorcery was used on the World of Charn — a fantasy land similar to Narnia that is accessible from the Wood Between the Worlds that is visited by a young Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer in the 1955 novel. Considered the ultimate weapon, the Deplorable Word was only used once in The Chronicles of Narnia by Jadis the White Witch, when she lost a war against her sister, the last Queen of Charn. The existence of this word was a closely guarded secret of Charn’s royal family, who swore oaths to never find out what it was — until the power-hungry Jadis “learned it in a secret place and paid a terrible price” for it.
Having waited until she met with her sister after her defeat, Jadis offered her the chance to surrender if she acknowledged her as Charn’s true ruler. Despite knowing Jadis had found the curse, she refused to give up her title, and when Jadis spoke the Deplorable Word, in moments, she was the only living thing left in a sterile wasteland. As Jadis never uses this weapon to destroy Narnia, it is believed that the White Witch’s original powers only worked in Charn — given that she was also unable to use her magic during her brief visit to Earth. Since Narnia has an entirely separate system of magic, it took Jadis years to become a true threat to Narnia after having eaten an apple that gave her immortality, and most likely her magic, but also, due to the evil in her heart, eternal misery.
Though Lewis doesn’t explicitly link the Deplorable Word to any human-made weapons of mass destruction, it is believed to be a metaphor for the atom bomb. Towards the end of The Magician’s Nephew, he alludes to the human capability to kill when Aslan cautions Digory and the others that “some wicked” humans might find “a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and use it to destroy all living things.” With the novel set in 1900 — even though Gerwig’s adaptation will shift to the 1950s — Aslan forewarns them of the coming wars brought on by “tyrants who care no more for joy…justice and mercy” than the White Witch. As a veteran of both wars, Lewis uses the word to warn the readers about the arrogance of power by tyrants who would rather assure mutual destruction than accept defeat, and the morals of personal responsibility and the dangers of unchecked curiosity.