Telmar

Coat of arms of Telmar

Telmar is a country in the fictional world of Narnia created by the British author C. S. Lewis for his series of books which compose The Chronicles of Narnia. The Telmarines are prominent in the book Prince Caspian, the second book published in the series. The name may have been inspired by the Greek tele-, meaning far, and the Latin mare, sea, since the Telmarines arrived from a distant sea. Another potential explanation suggests that the name Telmar is the product of Spanish del mar, meaning from/of the sea. This would coincide with the Telmarines' origin as pirates from a sea in our world. It is also possible that, as Lewis was a classicist, Telmar blends Tellus, Latin for Earth, and mare; the Telmarines were once comfortable with the sea and shore but fear the woods.^[1]

According to an independently circulated timeline conceived by Lewis, Calormen extended west into Telmar some three centuries after the world was first created. However, after only two years, the men in Telmar behaved so wickedly that Aslan turned them into dumb beasts. After this, the area was unpopulated by men until the arrival some centuries later of pirates from our own world through a rare gateway between the worlds. The descendants of these pirates, the Telmarines, would invade Narnia many generations later, suppressing the land's native inhabitants^[2] and leading up to the events of Prince Caspian.^[3]

The leaders of Telmar in Prince Caspian are Miraz, brother of Caspian IX, who eventually has himself crowned King of Telmar (and, by brutal extension, Narnia); Queen Prunaprismia; Lord Glozelle, and Lord Sopespian. In the film version of Prince Caspian, the principal Telmarine characters are portrayed by Spanish, Latin American and Italian actors.

In both the book and film versions of "Prince Caspian", the high-ranking Telmarines are generally portrayed as corrupt, scheming individuals. Miraz has his own brother killed in order to claim the throne, a fact even Prunaprismia is unaware of. He later attempts to have his nephew Caspian X killed to secure his position. Sopespian and Glozelle plot together to kill Miraz and blame it on the Narnians in order to declare all-out war on them. This plan ultimately succeeds, although the Telmarine army is defeated in the subsequent battle, ending more than a thousand years of oppression.

Family tree

It is from this line of Telmarines from which Prince Caspian (later King Caspian X) is descended:

References