Battle of Beruna Ford

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Battle of Beruna Ford
The Battle of Beruna Ford as depicted in the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Date 1000 Narnian time Location Beruna, Narnia Result Victory for Aslan's Army
Combatants
Aslan's Army	White Witch's Army
Commanders
Aslan, Peter Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie	Jadis the White Witch
Strength
At least one giant named Rumblebuffin, and an unspecified number of Beavers, Birds, Boars, Cattle, Centaurs, Deer, Dogs, Dryads, Eagles, Fauns, Foxes, Giants, Hamadryads, Hedgehogs, Horses, Leopards, Lions, Mice, Naiads, Pelicans, Rabbits, Red Dwarves, Satyrs, Silvans, Unicorns, Winged Horses, Wolves	One unnamed Dwarf, and an unspecified number of Apes, Black Dwarves Boggles, Cruels, Efreets, Ettins, Ghouls, Giants, Hags, Horrors, Incubuses, Minotaurs, Ogres, Orknies, People of the Toadstools, Spectres, Sprites, Vultures, Werewolves, Wolves, Wraiths, Wooses
Casualties
None, presumably, or very few, after Aslan restores the combatants petrified by the Witch and Lucy heals Edmund and all other troops on the field with her magical potion.	Nearly the entire army, including the White Witch and Ginarrbrik; those remaining flee Narnia at their Queen's death
At the White Witch's death, her reign ends and the beginning of the Golden Age of Narnia, in which the Pevensie children rule as Kings and Queens of Narnia, commences.

The Battle of Beruna Ford is a fictional battle in C. S. Lewis' fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. It was fought in Narnia at the edges of the Great River near Beruna, in the year 1000 according to Lewis' Narnian timeline. It is the climactic battle of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

[edit] Depiction in the book

The battle was fought between the Narnians (led by Peter Pevensie) and the army of the White Witch, following the apparent demise of the great Narnian leader, Aslan. The White Witch's army included monstrous creatures such as minotaurs, werewolves, and goblins. Peter's force was comparitatively minor, and prominently represented the races of faun, talking animal, satyrs and centaurs.

For a long while during the battle, it seems as if the Witch had most of the upper edge, petrifying many of Aslan's army with her wand. Most who approach her in an attempt to kill her lunge for her head or feet, but are turned to stone. Edmund Pevensie greatly redeems himself by demonstrating the virtues of courage and wisdom to disable this wand by chopping off its end. This leaves the Witch to use her Stone Knife. She gravely wounds Edmund, who is left in this state until the battle's end.

After her encounter with Edmund, the White Witch approaches Peter, and the two begin to fight one-on-one. Suddenly, the newly arisen Aslan, along with Peter's sisters Susan and Lucy, arrive with reinforcements from amongst those formerly petrified by the power of the White Witch. At once they invade the battleground and begin to wipe out the remainder of the Witch's forces. The reinforcements used their own tools to fight: dogs use their teeth, dwarves use their axes, Rumblebuffin the giant uses his club (and steps on some of the enemy), centaurs use their swords, and unicorns use their horns. Aslan kills her. When the White Witch is discovered dead, one half of the surviving part of the White Witch's army surrenders and the other surviving half flees for about one thousand years.

At the conclusion of the battle, Lucy uses her Christmas gift, a potion that heals any wound, on Edmund. Aslan urges her to repair all the injured soldiers on the field to good health, which she does.

[edit] Depiction in film

The 2005 cinematic adaptation features a vivid rendering of this battle, with visual effects provided by Rhythm and Hues Studios using Weta Digital's "Massive" animation program. Because the action of the book from the murder of Aslan through the end of the battle is all told from Susan and Lucy's perspective, Lewis does not have the chance to describe the course that Peter and Edmund take prior to their sisters' and Aslan's arrival. Therefore, the film's battle enhances Lewis' vision by adding new elements to the warfare.

When Peter is alerted by a Dryad sent by Susan and Lucy that Aslan is dead, he is urged on by his brother to lead the army into war and not back away. In the next shot, Peter, riding a unicorn, and Oreius, a centaur who appears to be the general of Aslan's army, stand at the head of their troops on the battlefield. They are stationed beneath a high cliff, at the top of which his Edmund, who heads the archers and birds (presumably eagles and griffins). A griffin tells Peter that the the White Witch's army is coming with numbers and weapons far greater than their own. On the other side of the battleground, General Otmin, a minotaur and the general of the White Witch's army, leads his own troops. The White Witch is at his side in her chariot, pulled by two ferocious polar bears. She is wearing the mane of Aslan, shaved from his head at his murder.

At the signal of the commanders to begin the battle, Otmin and about half of his soldiers advance across the field. The White Witch, and the other half of combatants, stay back. None of Peter's troops move until he signals his winged animals to attack as the griffin who spied on the White Witch also joins the winged animals. They fly out and drop stones onto the enemy to soften them up before the main force engages them. Though Otmin warns them, some of his army is killed in this bombardment. After this, Peter and Oreius lead their army out with a mass charge, and they engage in battle with the Witch's troops.

When the shot returns to the battle (it is interspersed with Susan and Lucy finding Aslan alive), the White Witch makes her move. A phoenix is sent out from Peter's side; because of its magical abilities, it self-combusts and spreads its fire across the field, temporarily blocking advancement from either side. When the Witch breaks this barrier using her wand, Peter signals to "fall back and draw them to the rocks." As they are riding back, the Witch's dwarf Ginarrbrik shoots Peter's unicorn with an arrow. Peter is thrown from the creature. Oreius sees the situation, and, with a rhinoceros, gallops to attack the approaching Witch. Ankle Slicers kill the rhinoceros, but Oreius kills Otmin. Oreius goes after the Witch with his swords, and jumps over her. She ducks and touches him with her wand, petrifying him.

At the next shot of the battle, the White Witch has exited her chariot and is walking. She wounds one and kills another griffin; at the sight of this Peter warns Edmund to stop fighting, "get the girls, and get home." Mr. Beaver pulls Edmund away, but he escapes and jumps down to face the Witch himself. He manages to slice her wand in half, making it useless as a means of petrification; however, she plunges the sharp end into his stomach and he falls to the ground, unconscious. Peter sees this, and runs to fight the Witch face-to-face. As they battle, a roar is heard from above and they both turn to see Aslan and his army of reinforcements arrive to join the battle. They both continue to fight as Aslan hurries down, tramples the White Witch, and, in a peaceful moment, devours her.

The battle ends when Susan shoots Ginarrbrik with an arrow, when Lucy uses her Christmas gift, the healing potion, to cure Edmund and the rest of the injured soldiers, and as Aslan restores those petrified on the field to life.

Both armies feature characters or types of creatures that are not mentioned in the book. Such soldiers in Aslan's army are Oreius, apes, bears, gryphons, pumas, a pheonix, and rhinoceroses.

Such soldiers in the White Witch's army are General Otmin, ankle slicers, bats, black dwarfs, cyclopes, harpies, minoboars, polar bears (pulling the White Witch's chariot), and white tigers.