The ride to Narnia

The ride to Narnia or The ride to Narnia or: The horse and his boy ( English original title The Horse and His Boy ) is a novel by the British writer C. S. Lewis and appeared in 1954 as part of the Chronicles of Narnia . The volume is the continuation of the last chapter of The King of Narnia .

Content (overview)

The third novel in the series, based on CS Lewis' reading, is about the boy Shasta, who flees from his captivity in Kalormen with the talking horse Bree to travel to Narnia . On their journey, the two meet the girl Aravis and her also speaking horse Hwin. Together they uncover the plans of the bellicose prince of Kalormen, the country they come from, against the more peaceful lands in the north, Arkland and Narnia, and move on to thwart these plans.

Content (details)

The action begins in Kalormen, a land far south of Narnia below Arkland. In contrast to Narnia, the animals cannot talk there, and many people are kept as slaves and treated accordingly. Shasta, a poor fisher boy who is mistreated by his supposed father Arashin, dreams of traveling north over the grassy hills at whose foot he lives. One day a Kalormian nobleman comes and tells Arashin to sell him Shasta. Arashin and the nobleman begin to haggle over the price of Shasta, which Shasta secretly overhears. In the process he learns that Arashin is not his real father, that he himself perhaps comes from "the north".

Suddenly Shasta hears a voice speaking to him. It's Bree, the nobleman's horse. It warns Shasta that as a slave to Kalormena he will have a terrible life. As it turns out, Bree was originally from Narnia. The horse persuades Shasta to flee with him to Narnia.

On their journey they meet Aravis, a Kalormian girl who disguised herself as a warrior and is also on the run. After a short time it turns out that her horse, Hwin, comes from Narnia and can speak.

Aravis comes from a wealthy family and tells how she ran away from home when her father tried to marry her against her will. Although Shasta doesn't trust her, the four travel on together.

In the city of Tashbaan, Shasta is separated from the others and mistaken for Prince Corin of Arkland, who is visiting the city at the same time as a delegation from Narnia, but has run away from his guardians. There Shasta learns that Prince Rabadash of Kalormen has fallen in love with Queen Susan of Narnia and plans to forcibly detain her and her entourage should she decide against him. The Narnians plan their escape, but before it is put into practice, Shasta and Prince Corin can swap places again without either of the adults noticing the error.

Meanwhile, Aravis is recognized by one of her friends and is temporarily staying with her. Although the friend doesn't understand why Aravis doesn't want to be married, she agrees to help her. During their escape, the two eavesdrop on Prince Rabadash and his father, the so-called "Tisroc". Since Queen Susan has successfully escaped him, the angry prince now plans to invade Arkland and then Narnia to kidnap Queen Susan.

As fast as they can, the two children flee with their horses through the desert that lies between Kalormen and Archenland - a journey that almost costs them their lives - to warn King Lune of Archenland. Shortly before their destination, they are attacked by a lion. Aravis and the horses can get to safety, Shasta hurries on and can finally reach King Lune and then get more help from Narnia.

In the end, it turns out that Arashin wasn't Shasta's father. In reality, Shasta is Prince Cor, kidnapped as a baby, twin brother of Prince Corin and son of King Lunes.

Reviews

• The reviewer of a page about fantasy literature writes, among other things: The third part of the Narnia series is without a doubt a children's book without too great demands and without innovations ...... Conclusion: Not too demanding reading for in between - and a good children's book, not just for those who want to run away.
• The review of the audio book of the same title says: “The Ride to Narnia” brings us closer to the world in which the land of Narnia is located. We learn a lot about the direct neighbors like Anvard or the countries in the far south, about their relations both political and commercial, about the customs and traditions of these countries, and so we get to know another face of Narnia. This extends and rounds off the overall picture that CS Lewis has drawn to date.
• Bernd Perplies concludes his review: ... is a fantastic travel adventure from the world of Narnia, which can also be read independently from the other novels. Protagonist Shasta is a lively, likeable boy, Aravis a courageous and argumentative girl and the horse duo Bree and Hwin make a strange couple with him as a self-loving “patriarch” and you as a quiet “good soul”. A travel group that you enjoy traveling with!

Sources / literature

• The Chronicles of Narnia Volume 3 - The Ride to Narnia ISBN 978-3-8000-5265-3
• The Chronicles of Narnia (hardcover) ISBN 3-8000-5186-9

Web links

• Summary of the plot

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Graz City Library : The ride to Narnia or: The horse and his boy ( Memento from June 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Nico Zorn: The ride to Narnia - content and review. In: Grimoires. April 21, 2006, accessed November 27, 2014 . 
3. ↑ Narnia - The Ride to Narnia (Volume 3) - Our review. EchtHoerbuch, May 5, 2009, accessed November 27, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Bernd Perplies: The Chronicles of Narnia 3: The ride to Narnia. (No longer available online.) In: Ringbote. November 16, 2005, archived from the original on December 17, 2014 ; Retrieved November 27, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.