Narnian Ba'alei Teshuva: the Lapsed Bear of Stormness

I am preparing to write a post or two about Aslan's warning to the Talking Beasts of Narnia not to return to the ways of the Dumb Beasts from which they were chosen. Hopefully that will happen soon, but it returned my thoughts to the Lapsed Bear of Stormness. So, let's take some time to talk about him.  

We know very little about the Lapsed Bear of Stornmness as he is mentioned at the end of "The Horse and His Boy" by way of demonstrating the boxing prowess of Prince Corin. The story is as follows:

That was how he got his name of Corin Thunder-Fist; and how he performed his great exploit against the Lapsed Bear of Stormness, which was really a Talking Bear but had gone back to Wild Bear habits. Corin climbed up to its lair on the Narnian side of Stormness one winter day when the snow was on the hills and boxed it without a time-keeper for thirty-three rounds. And at the end it couldn't see out of its eyes and became a reformed character.

Clearly the Lapsed Bear is one of Lewis' ba'alei teshuva (repentants) though, a priori, there's not much to glean from his story. However, bears are mentioned one other time in the Horse and His Boy when the Raven quotes an old saying, "See the bear in his own den before you judge of his conditions." And, indeed, this is exactly what Corin did. Rather than taking rumors at face value he went right up to the bear's lair and saw him for what he was. Not only did this allow him to see the truth about the bears behavior, but perhaps it demonstrated a way forward. 

What exactly did Corin see? Well, we don't really know, but Corin apparently perceived that the only way to get through to the bear was to box him. Now, this may sound rather barbaric and it's highly unlikely that this would be proper operating procedure for the sinners of our day, but perhaps surprisingly it worked for Corin. 

Why did boxing help reform the bears character? Because Corin took the time to look. Perhaps, the bear himself understood that Corin took the time to come to his lair to see his condition. Corin didn't make a public stand for Aslan and the ways of Narnia, but instead fought with no time-keeper. No one had to know what had happened and, perhaps, the bear himself realized Corin's sincerity in this. 

Bears. of course, have a quite a history in Narnia, including the Bulgy Bears later to be confirmed in his hereditary office of Marshal of the Lists, and we can continue to explore the Lapsed Bear of Stormness in light of these noble figures.