Wayback Wednesday: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe 1950

Posted on October 16, 2019 Updated on October 17, 2019

Sixty-nine years ago, today, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, written by C. S. Lewis and illustrated by Pauline Baynes, was published by Geoffrey Bles. This is the first and best known of the books from The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956). Though this was the first book, the entire story’s chronology makes it second in reading order.

Most of the novel is set in Narnia, a land of talking animals and mythical creatures that is ruled by the evil White Witch. In the frame story, four English children are relocated to a large, old country house following a wartime evacuation. The youngest, Lucy, visits Narnia three times via the magic of a wardrobe in a spare room. Lucy’s three siblings are with her on her third visit to Narnia. In Narnia, the siblings seem fit to fulfill an old prophecy and find themselves adventuring to save Narnia and their own lives. The lion Aslan gives his life to save one of the children. He, later, rises from the dead, vanquishes the White Witch and crowns the children Kings and Queens of Narnia.

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The Lucy in the story was based on Lucy Barfield, C. S. Lewis’s goddaughter and daughter of Owen Barfield.

Main Characters
Plot Summary
Rewrites
1967 British TV Serial
1979 Animated TV Film
1988 British TV Serial
2005 British-American Theatrical Film