#narnia theories and spitballing

[supernovasilence]

"I have heard of such things"

“Please, your Majesty, I came in through a wardrobe.” “A wardrobe? What do you mean?” “I—I opened a door and just found myself here, your Majesty,” said Edmund. “Ha!” said the Queen, speaking more to herself than to him. “A door. A door from the world of men! I have heard of such things."

Thinking about this line from LWW (chapter 4). Jadis reacts to hearing Edmund came from another world by musing about rumors, even though she's from another world herself, and has in fact been to London (albeit briefly). Obviously the reason is because C. S. Lewis wrote LWW before MN and didn't care about super tight continuity, but that's no fun, so here are some in-universe possibilities:

it's been centuries since Jadis came to Narnia, and she's the type who ignores anything that isn't useful to her (e.g. ignoring Polly because Digory was the one that woke her, and then acting like neither child exists once they've brought her to Uncle Andrew). Charn is dead and she can't get back to Earth so she just…didn't bother to think about them ever again. By the time of LWW she can barely remember other worlds exist

Jadis barely knows other worlds exist, not because she didn't bother to remember, but because of some magical/physical reaction. Jadis has no memory of the Wood Between the Worlds once she's out of it, even though Polly and Digory do. Maybe Charnians just react that way to interdimensional travel, or maybe it's something specific to Jadis herself due to magic she's done. But whyever, Jadis forgets any world but the one she's in. The Wood fades almost instantly because she was there so briefly and has no personal connection to it. Earth would last a little longer, and Charn longer still, long enough that she can remember them during the end of MN. But by the time of LWW, she doesn't remember how she came to Narnia.

or she doesn't remember due to eating the silver apple? immortality comes with a price, and for better or worse Jadis is now bound to Narnia; she cannot go back

Telmar was founded by humans who stumbled through from Earth, and perhaps other places were as well (we don't know the histories of Galma etc). Or maybe solitary travelers find their way in sometimes, not enough to found nations or influence history but enough to leave rumors, rumors that Jadis is listening for very carefully because she knows four humans are prophesized to destroy her

Jadis doesn't mean a door as in "portal to another world" but door as in "hole in the magical barrier I've put up around Narnia", and thinks Edmund slipped in from another country. This would mean she doesn't understand the word "wardrobe" though. Then again Mr. Tumnus didn't know it either, so maybe they just don't have wardrobes in Narnia. (There's no absolutely no evidence in the books that Jadis made a barrier around Narnia, but there must be some sort of outer limit to her powers, or Archenland, Calormen, etc would also have been under her control, and they don't seem to have been. She was "Queen of Narnia", not "Queen of the World", and the countries mentioned in HHB all seem to be running normally without the sort of chaos caused by setting up governments again after a dictator's death. I can imagine Jadis making a magical line around Narnia's borders (with plans to expand, ofc) so her magic has a set space to focus on; maybe she can even sense when someone crosses it, which is why Edmund's arrival surprised her—he didn't trip any alarms.)

my favorite: Narnia herself is doing her best to fight Jadis. While the Pevensies are ruling Narnia, their lives on Earth become like a dream, and there are hints the reverse happens when they go back. But when they return to Narnia, "the air of Narnia [works] on" them to make them who Narnia needs them to be: the Kings and Queens of Old. Maybe it's working on Jadis, as best it can. It smoothes away her memories of other worlds, making her content to stay here, like it did the Pevensies. But for the Pevensies, it was a way to ease the pain of suddenly losing their old lives, whereas for Jadis, it's trying to keep her complacent. Because if she remembers there are other worlds, she'll try to find doors to them, and conquer kingdoms, and find more magic, and raise armies, and be that much harder to free Narnia from. Narnia is in pain and fighting Jadis the only way it can till Aslan and the Pevensies come to save it

#feel free to add on; i wanna hear everyone else's theories #the chronicles of narnia #jadis (narnia) #narnia headcanons #well more like #narnia theories and spitballing #nova actually posts stuff #the higher the queuer

[supernovasilence]

Speculating Wildly About Liliandil's Parentage

In the VDT movie, Liliandil is a star and comes down from the sky. However, in the books, Liliandil is described as the daughter of Ramandu, a star, and that "the blood of the stars flowed in her veins", but she's never called a star herself. In fact, when she first appears (walking very normally out of a door), she's described as carrying a candle for light; when Ramandu comes out, he's not carrying a candle, because he's glowing himself. All this implies Lili isn't a star, only the daughter of one. Which raises the question: who is Liliandil's mother? Some random theories:

Liliandil's mother is one of the Sea People

Liliandil's mother is a sailor or shipwrecked traveler who found her way to Ramandu's island and fell in love

Liliandil's mother is another star. Lili was born in the skies but chose to accompany her father down to earth when he retired

Liliandil's mother is another star, and assumes human form to visit her husband in the world below sometimes. Lili was conceived and born during one of these visits, and because of this the form most natural to her is human, not whatever a star's normal form is. She has to live with her father until she's older and more skilled at transforming

We shouldn't make assumptions about Ramandu's gender or star biology. Maybe he was pregnant when he retired and didn't realize until he'd already come down to land

Stars don't need a partner to reproduce. Ramandu is Liliandil's only parent

Ramandu is Lili's father in that he gave her life and raised her and loves her but she wasn't "born" per se. He created her magically somehow

Coriakin is Liliandil's mom

#the chronicles of narnia #liliandil #ramandu's daughter #ramandu #coriakin #narnia theories and spitballing #nova actually posts stuff #may make another post another day expanding on that lili's mom is another star in human form one #(lili's other parent? no solid headcanons there but i am rotating thoughts about Star Genders) #because i am having some interesting ideas about it #but i have to develop them further and also see if they end up in a fic i am writing first #anyway for now take these all equally serious theories (✿◡‿◡) #the higher the queuer #edit: for the record i stuck this in my queue before i saw that other post about how does ramandu reproduce someone posted a few days ago #i did not mean to copy #but if you like this go check out that bc the notes are full of great speculation about ramandu splittin like an amoeba