Shasta (Narnia)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Narnia character | |
| Shasta | |
|---|---|
| Race/Nation | Human / Archenland |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | King of Archenland |
| Birthplace | Archenland |
| Family | |
| Spouse | Aravis |
| Parents | King Lune |
| Children | Ram the Great |
| Sibling(s) | Corin (twin) |
| Major character in | |
| The Horse and His Boy | |
Shasta, later known as Cor of Archenland, is a fictional character in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. He is the principal character in the fifth book published in the series, The Horse and his Boy, which is the third book chronologically. He also appears briefly at the end of The Last Battle, the seventh and final book in the series.
Born as the eldest son and heir of King Lune of Archenland, and elder twin of Prince Corin, Cor was kidnapped as an infant and raised as a fisherman's son in the country of Calormen. In The Horse and his Boy, (the events of which all occur during the reign of the four Pevensie children in Narnia, an era which begins and ends in the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Shasta escapes to freedom, saves Archenland and Narnia from invasion, learns his true identity, and is restored to his heritage. Shasta's companions on his journey are the talking horses, Bree, and Hwin, and the Calormene Tarkheena, Aravis. Shasta grows up to become King of Archenland, marries Aravis, and fathers the next (and "most famous") king of Archenland, Ram the Great.
[edit] Biographical Summary
Shasta is raised by a fisherman named Arsheesh, who lives on the coast of Calormen which is a desert land to the south of Narnia, beyond Archenland and the Great Desert. Shasta believes that Arsheesh is his father until he overhears Arsheesh negotiating to sell him to a Tarkaan (a Calormene nobleman) as a slave. He goes to the stable and starts talking to the Tarkaan's horse there. To his surprise, the horse talks back, warns him that his new master is cruel, and suggests that they escape together to Narnia, a land of freedom, where nearly all the animals talk.
Shasta agrees to escape with the horse, nicknamed Bree, and they start off that night. Through further adventures, Shasta encounters another fugitive, a Tarkheena named Aravis, who is also fleeing from Calormen with a talking horse, Hwin. During his travels, Shasta meets an exact look-alike, named Prince Corin of Archenland, for whom he is briefly mistaken.
Shasta learns that Calormen is planning to attack Archenland as a step to conquering Narnia, and sets off on a race to warn Archenland to prepare for war. Upon arrival, he successfully warns the Archenlanders. Riding with the Archenlanders, Shasta becomes lost in dense fog, but is guided by the great lion Aslan through a mountain pass into Narnia, where his warning musters a force of Narnians to come to the aid of their allies. He participates in the battle against the Calormenes (in which Archenland reigns victorious), convinced to do so by Prince Corin.
He then discovers who he really is: Prince Cor of Archenland, elder son of King Lune and twin brother to Prince Corin. He learns that there was a prophecy made about him when he was only an infant, that he would save Archenland from a great evil. This prophecy led the enemies of Archenland to kidnap him, and eventually brought him into the care of Arsheesh while still an infant. Shasta is welcomed into the royal family and eventually marries Aravis, who comes and lives with them in Anvard (King Lune's castle). Their son, Ram the Great, becomes (we are told) the greatest king of Archenland.
Shasta and Aravis are both mentioned as being in the second Narnia at the end of The Last Battle.
[edit] References
- Ford, Paul (2005), written at SanFrancisco, Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition, Harper, ISBN 0-06-079127-6
- Lewis, C.S. (1954), written at London, The Horse and His Boy, Geoffrey Bles
- Lewis, C.S. (1956), written at London, The Last Battle, Geoffrey Bles
- Markos, Louis (2000), written at Chantilly, VA, The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis (audio course), Lecture 10: Journeys of Faith-The Chronicles of Narnia II, The Teaching Company, ISBN 1-56585-316-4
- Schakel, Peter J. (1979), written at Grand Rapids, Reading With the Heart: The Way into Narnia, William B. Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-1814-5
|
|||||||||||||||||
This article related to the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
