“In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.”
“Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of…”
(The Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Throughout the Chronicles we learn much about the Narnian stars. The stars of Narnia were grouped into constellations such as the Leopard and the Ship. They sing the music of the spheres which, at the dawn of creation, was audible to man and beast. The dance of the Stars as they traverse the upper sky also indicates coming events, and their message could be divined by centaurs and other creatures wise in astrology. Perhaps most importantly we learn that Narnian stars are sentient beings who can take on human form.
In “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” the crew and passengers on the Dawn Treader meet two stars in their human form. Due to what he perceives as a sharp contrast between our world and the Narnian one, Eustace demonstrates particular surprise upon realizing that what he perceived as a human was actually a star. “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” Stars in our world are not alive, they do not think, and they do not sing to their Creator as the star Ramandu (now in human form) certainly does.
However, Ramandu, speaking for Lewis, disagrees. “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of…” A star is made of flaming gas, but that does not speak to its essence. This assertion raises the obvious question: if, in Lewis’ view, a star is only composed of flaming gas but that does not actually define its nature, what is a star?
We will return to this question in the next post.
In “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” the crew and passengers on the Dawn Treader meet two stars in their human form. Due to what he perceives as a sharp contrast between our world and the Narnian one, Eustace demonstrates particular surprise upon realizing that what he perceived as a human was actually a star. “In our world,” said Eustace, “a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.” Stars in our world are not alive, they do not think, and they do not sing to their Creator as the star Ramandu (now in human form) certainly does.
However, Ramandu, speaking for Lewis, disagrees. “Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what it is made of…” A star is made of flaming gas, but that does not speak to its essence. This assertion raises the obvious question: if, in Lewis’ view, a star is only composed of flaming gas but that does not actually define its nature, what is a star?
We will return to this question in the next post.
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