First Battle of Beruna
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| Battle of Beruna | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Narnian army | White Witch's army | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Peter Pevensie Aslan |
White Witch | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000 | 15,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The First Battle of Beruna is a fictional battle in C. S. Lewis' fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. It is fought in Narnia at the edges of the Great River near the Fords of Beruna,[1][2] in the year 1000 according to Lewis' Narnian timeline.[3] It is the climactic battle of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.[4]
The Battle is not named in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. It is first called the "Battle of Beruna" in Prince Caspian.[5] The word "first" has been added by Narnia scholars to distinguish from a later battle fought at Beruna in Prince Caspian, first called the Second Battle of Beruna in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.[6][7]
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[edit] Depiction in the book
The battle is 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.[8] The White Witch's army includes monstrous creatures such as minotaurs, werewolves, and hags.[9] Peter's force is comparatively minor,[10] and prominently represents the races of dwarf, talking animal, faun, unicorn and centaur.[11]
It seemed to Lucy as if the Witch held the upper edge in the battle, petrifying many of Aslan's army with her wand, until the arrival of Aslan's reinforcements. However, at Lewis' first description of the battle scene, the Witch is no longer using her wand, instead, her Stone Knife, with which she had also killed Aslan the night before. At this point, the White Witch is engaged in a fight with Peter. Suddenly, the newly arisen Aslan, along with Peter's sisters Susan and Lucy, arrives with auxiliaries from amongst those formerly petrified by the White Witch's wand, now restored by Aslan.[12]
At once they invade the battleground and begin to wipe out the remainder of the Witch's forces. The new troops use 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. Then, Aslan kills the White Witch. When she 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.[13]
At the conclusion of the battle, Lucy uses her Christmas gift, a potion that can heal any wound, on Edmund, who was found under the care of Mrs. Beaver covered in blood, his mouth open, and his face a "nasty green color". Aslan urges her to repair all the injured soldiers on the field to good health, which she does, while he restores all those petrified. The next day, Aslan crowns the four children Kings and Queens of Narnia and Peter the High King.[14][15]
[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, and creature designs from KNB Effects Group, Inc.[16] Because the action of the book from the murder of Aslan through the end of the battle is 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.[17] Therefore, the film's battle enhances Lewis' vision by adding these 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 is Edmund, who heads the archers and birds (presumably eagles and gryphons). A gryphon tells Peter that the White Witch's army is coming with "numbers and weapons far greater than our 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 gryphon who spied on the White Witch also joins the winged animals. They fly out and-- in a shot strongly reminiscient of the Nazi air raid from the movie's opening scene-- drop boulders 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. The Witch signals her harpies to fly up and attack the gryphons, in order to minamize losses. After this, Peter and Oreius lead their army out with a mass charge in a flying wedge formation, 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 is attacked by a harpie which Peter kills by throwing a javlin into it's heart. After being freed from the harpie, the phoenix 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 yells 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 two handed sword, and jumps over her. She ducks and engages Oreius. Because of the sword's bulk, he is too slow to block a lunge from her wand, petrifying him.
At the next shot of the battle, the White Witch has exited her chariot and is walking. She wounds one gryphon and kills another by turning it in to stone in mid-flight, sending it to crash into the ground. At the sight of this Peter warns Edmund to stop fighting, "get the girls, and get them 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 and the White Witch gains a massive upper hand, tripping Peter to the ground with her sword, pierces his arm to the ground, and knocks his shield out of his hand. Right before she lunges her sword at him, Aslan charges at the White Witch, all paws immobilizing her arms and legs, keeping her sword out of her reach, and in a peaceful moment, kills her.
The battle ends when Susan shoots Ginarrbrik with an arrow as he is about to kill Edmund with a battle axe. Lucy uses her Christmas gift, the healing potion, to cure Edmund and the rest of the injured soldiers 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 namely gorillas, bears, cheetahs, gryphons, lionesses, a phoenix, and rhinoceroses.
Such soldiers in the White Witch's army are General Otmin, ankle slicers, black dwarfs, cyclopes, harpies, minoboars, polar bears (pulling the White Witch's chariot), and white tigers.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lewis [1950], 145.
- ^ Lewis, C. S. [1951] (July 1994). Prince Caspian. New York: HarperTrophy, 139. ISBN 0-06-447105-5.
- ^ Hooper, Walter (1979). Past Watchful Dragons: The Narnian Chronicles of C. S. Lewis. New York: Macmillan Pub Co. ISBN 0-02-051970-2.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 176-178.
- ^ Lewis [1951], 139.
- ^ Lewis, C. S. [1952] (July 1994). The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: HarperTrophy, 15. ISBN 0-06-447107-1.
- ^ Ford, Paul F. (2005). Companion to Narnia, rev. and expanded edition, San Francisco: HarperCollins, 114. ISBN ISBN 0-06-079127-6.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 156.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 135-136.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 176.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 174-177.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 168, 176.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 177-178.
- ^ Lewis [1950], 179.
- ^ Lewis [1954], 3.
- ^ Berger, Howard (Special Makeup and Creatures Supervisor) and Richard Taylor (Visual Conceptual Designer). (2005). The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [DVD].
- ^ Lewis [1950], 175-176.
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