It looked just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The first creature Lucy Pevensie meets when she enters the world of Narnia through the wardrobe is the faun Tumnus. Tumnus is described in great detail: his appearance, what he is wearing, and what he is holding. Curiously, the faun is holding something very unusual for fauns, known in Narnia for music and dance: several brown-paper parcels. In fact, describes Lewis, “it looked just as if he had been doing his Christmas shopping.”
This description is rather odd as, presumably, Tumnus was not doing his Christmas shopping. He later tells Lucy that the White Witch has cast a spell over Narnia making it, “Always winter, and never Christmas.” We never actually learn what is in the parcels Tumnus is holding. If so, why the gratuitous mention of Christmas? Why does Lewis describe Tumnus as shopping for a Holiday which Tumnus himself understands will never come?
Two biblical vignettes, interpreted by the Jewish Sages, may shed light on this description.
1) Two men (understood to be angels), having recently been guests at the home of Abraham, enter the evil city of Sodom with orders from God to utterly destroy it and its environs. They are met by Lot, the nephew of Abraham. Lot invites them to his home and serves them matza, the bread of affliction of which Jews are commanded to eat on the night of Passover. Our Sages teach that this was appropriate because that evening was actually (on the calendar) the night of Passover. In fact, our Sages insist that Abraham also served the men matza for the same reason. Of course, the Israelite redemption from Egypt for which Passover is celebrated would not happen for several centuries. So, why eat matza?
2) As Isaac prepares to bless his eldest son Esau before death, Rebecca insists that her younger son Jacob disguise himself as his brother in order to receive Isaac’s blessing. She commands Jacob to bring two goats so that she can prepare food for Isaac. Could Isaac really eat two goats? Why is one not enough?
Our Sages give two explanations: (1) the two goats symbolize the two goats that would eventually play a central role in the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) ritual, (2) one goat was for the Passover sacrifice and one was for the meal. Again, the events which Passover commemorates were yet to happen. The concept of Yom Kippur as a day of repentance had not yet come to the world. How can there be symbolism or celebration of events and ideas that have yet to occur?
Certain concepts and ideas are inherent in Creation. Man must be given the opportunity to repent his sins. Redemption and the triumph of good over evil must have its time. The fact that these ideals, repentance and redemption, had not at the times of Abraham and Isaac, yet been manifest in their fullest form chronologically, is irrelevant to their celebration and commemoration. Abraham, Lot, and Rebecca, did not know of the future events which would lead to Passover and Yom Kippur, but their actions were anyway guided towards commemoration of those events because the ideals behind them are timeless.
The same is true with Tumnus the faun. Tumnus had no inkling that on that particular evening he would initiate the events that would lead to long hoped-for triumph of good over evil in Narnia. Nonetheless, the concept of redemption was already promised and was integral to the being of Narnia. Tumnus, due to his sterling character and ultimate destiny, reflects this timeless truth. Why he went shopping that particular evening is irrelevant. His actions were guided by his internal compass that told him that redemption would occur and he must prepare. In this way Tumnus could commemorate Christmas, symbolizing the Narnian redemptive process, even before it happens.
(Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash)
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