Edmund Pevensie

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Narnia character
Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie in the 2005 film, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Edmund Pevensie
Race/Nation	Human / England
Gender	Male
Title	King of Narnia
Birthplace	England, Earth
Family
Parents	Mr. & Mrs. Pevensie
Sibling(s)	Peter, Susan and Lucy
Other	Eustace Scrubb (cousin)
Major character in
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Portrayals in Adaptations
1988 BBC miniseries: Jonathan R. Scott (younger), Charles Ponting (older) 2005 Disney film: Skandar Keynes (younger), Mark Wells (older)

Edmund Pevensie is a major character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. He is a principal character in three of the seven books (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader), and a lesser character in two others (The Horse and His Boy, and The Last Battle).

Although he betrays his siblings to the White Witch while under her influence, as the story goes on he accepts the error of his ways. He is redeemed with the intervention of Aslan and joins the fight against the witch. Fulfilling an ancient prophecy, he became King Edmund the Just, King of Narnia and co-ruler with the other Pevensies.

Contents 1 Name 2 Biographical summary 2.1 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2.2 Prince Caspian 2.3 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 2.4 The Horse and His Boy 2.5 The Last Battle 3 Christian elements 4 Portrayals 5 Commentary 6 Quotations 7 References

[edit] Name

Edmund (from Anglo-Saxon, Eadmund, derived from words meaning "wealth" and "protection") is a male given name.

Pevensey, on the southeast coast of England, is the site of a medieval castle that figures importantly in British history at several points. In Rudyard Kipling's Puck of Pook's Hill (1907) at least one of the characters refers to Pevensey as "England's Gate", which the celebrated wardrobe in Lewis's books quite literally becomes. The surname "Pevensie" does not actually appear in the Chronicles until the third published book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

[edit] Biographical summary

[edit] The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmund is one of the main characters, and the character who develops the most over the course of story.

Edmund, who began to act meanly after attending a new school, was cruelly dismissive to Lucy when she first finds the entrance to Narnia through the wardrobe, and is the second of the Pevensie children to go to Narnia, after following Lucy to tease her. While there, he meets the White Witch and eats some enchanted Turkish Delight, which causes an addiction in the person who eats it. As a result, he promises the Witch that he will bring his siblings to her house, not knowing that she intends to kill them all to prevent the fulfilment of a Narnian prophecy.

Upon returning, he denies having been in Narnia, even though Lucy has seen him there. Later, when all four of the Pevensie children go through the wardrobe, he sneaks away to the White Witch's castle, where he expects to be made a prince and later a king. Once he informs the Witch, Edmund joins her in the search for his siblings. However, his opinion of her changes dramatically when she encounters a group of creatures enjoying a feast provided by Father Christmas. When the creatures refuse to deny to the Witch that the benefactor has entered the land, a clear sign of her waning power; she turns them to stone over the protests of Edmund. In the 2005 film after Maugrim catches the fox which helped the beavers and the other three Pevensies elude him, the witch turns the fox to stone and hits Edmund for witholding information about Aslan and his army. Now realizing to his horror the evil with which he has allied himself, he is quickly relegated as the Witch's prisoner. The Witch prepares to put him to death, as is her right and duty to do to traitors, but a rescue party sent by Aslan frees him and brings him to his siblings and the rest of Aslan's army. Edmund becomes fully reformed after a long conversation with Aslan. The next day, the Witch reiterates her claim to Edmund's life. She and Aslan work out an agreement that Aslan will die in Edmund's place, but unknown to her, the magical nature of this contract allows Aslan to be brought back to life.

While Aslan and Edmund's sisters race to free the cursed prisoners in the Witch's castle, Edmund joins Peter in battle, where he plays a critical role in neutralizing the White Witch's most dangerous advantage, her wand, and is gravely wounded in the attempt. However, he is saved from death by the timely arrival of reinforcements led by Aslan (who defeats the Queen), and by Lucy, who gives Edmund a dose of a magic cordial which can quickly heal any injury. Eventually Edmund Pevensie, completely reformed, becomes King Edmund the Just, co-ruler of Narnia with Queen Lucy, Queen Susan and High King Peter, and is knighted as Duke of Lantern Waste, Count of the Western March, and Knight of the Noble Order of the Table.

[edit] Prince Caspian

He and his siblings returned to Narnia to aid Caspian against King Miraz the Usurper. He convinced Trumpkin the dwarf, that they were the Kings and Queens from the legend by defeating him in a sparring practice. He later helped Peter and Trumpkin fight against Nikabrik from harming Caspian in Aslan's How. And he was there to witness Peter's duel against Miraz.

He was also the first person who believed Lucy when she said she saw Aslan clearly, when the rest of them could not. Edmund is shown in a more positive light in this book than in the last. His demeanor is more cooperative and loyal, even under the guidance of Peter.'''''''

[edit] The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Edmund, Lucy and their cousin Eustace ended up in the ocean of Narnia and were reunited with King Caspian in his ship, the Dawn Treader, in a quest to search for the missing Lords that his uncle banished years before. This book was to be Edmund and Lucy's last adventure in Narnia.

[edit] The Horse and His Boy

Has a minor role. King Edmund, Queen Susan and Tumnus the Faun were unwilling visitors in the country of Calormene, where the prince Rabadash wants to force Susan to marry him. Mistaking Shasta for Prince Corin of Archenland, Narnia's ally, Edmund scolded the young boy for running off and making everyone worry. The Narnians managed to escape by Tumnus' clever idea, which led Rabadash to convince his father that they should take Narnia by invading Archenland.

Shasta managed to warn Archenland in time, and met King Edmund once again, this time with his sister Queen Lucy, in Anvard (Peter was in the North fighting off the giants from the border, Susan was left in charge in Cair Paravel). He led the fight against the Calormene army and defeated them.

[edit] The Last Battle

Accompanies everyone, except Susan, in Aslan's country.

[edit] Christian elements

In a Christian sense, Edmund represents the sinful nature of man as redeemed by the vicarious atonement of Christ.

[edit] Portrayals

In the 2005 film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, young Edmund is portrayed by Skandar Keynes while Mark Wells plays Edmund as an adult. Keynes will return for the sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, scheduled for a 2008 release.^[1]

[edit] Commentary

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In The Horse and His Boy, Edmund assures Shasta he is not a traitor for overhearing their plans (he knows what being a traitor really means). He goes on to lead the defense of Anvard in the absence of Peter. In Prince Caspian, Edmund is portrayed as loyal and humble. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader again with Peter absent, Edmund takes on the role of the mature leader, and is a foil to his cousin Eustace Scrubb.

[edit] Quotations

"Girls...They never carry a map in their heads." -- Prince Caspian

[edit] References