While the world of Narnia is filled with many memorable and even iconic creatures, from
fauns, to rodents (several rodents, in fact), serpents and even marshwiggles, there is perhaps
no human more iconic, more beloved, and more admired than Narnia’s golden age monarch,
Queen Lucy the Valiant, or as she’s know in our world, Lucy Pevinse. Now, many of
you may think you already know everything there is to know about Lucy, but in today’s
episode, I think you’ll discover there’s more to the life of Lucy Pevensie than you
may have realized.
Now, many of you may think you already know everything there is to know about Lucy, but
in today's episode, I think you'll discover there's more to the life of Lucy Pevensie
than you may have realized before we go any further. I want to take a minute to thank
all those amazing Wardrobe Watchers out there who recently decided to support this channel
on Patreon.
You guys are the best. I can't wait to join you for a live Q & A in just a few weeks.
Stay tuned for more. Okay, this is an absolutely packed episode and there's no time to waste.
So let's get started. It's time to leave the Shadowlands behind and step into a world.
That's more real than our own it's time to follow me into the wardrobe.
Lucy Pevinse was born in 1932 as the youngest of 4 siblings. Her oldest brother was Peter,
who was 5 years older that she was. She looked up to Peter as a sort of protector–and
though she was small, Peter seemed to offer her more respect than she often got from
her other siblings . Lucy’s only Sister Susan, was 4 years older than her, and Lucy
often looked up to Susan as a role model. She admired susan’s beauty, and hoped one
day that she would grow to be like her sister.And then there’s her big brother Edmund–who
was just a little more than a year older than she was.--but wouldn’t let her forget it.
Being close in age, Lucy was often teased by Edmund, but they still loved each other
very much.
In the late summer of 1940, when Lucy was 8 years old, the German Luftwaffe began a
merciless bombing of London infamously known as the Blitz. In response to the threat posed
on the citizens of London, hundreds of thousands of children were eventually evacuated out
of the urban areas and into the British countryside. Now, I should note, that while the walden
film depicts the Pevensie children taking cover in the middle of what appears to be
the London blitz, it may be likely that The Pevensie children were actually evacuated
before the actual blitz began–probably during the early months of the summer. In any case,
Lucy and her siblings were evacuated to the countryside, where one Professor Digory Kirke
had volunteered to host these evacuees in his large countryside mansion.
It was during this time in the mansion that Lucy initially discovered the magical wardrobe
and stumbled through an inter-dimensional portal into the World of Narnia. Upon her
first trip she met a faun named Tumnus next to the iconic lone lamp post, which was located
on the Northern border of Narnian in the region of Lantern Waste. She narrowly avoided Tumnus’
aborted kidnapping attempt and instead Tumnus helped her return home safely back through
the wardrobe. Unbeknownst to Lucy, during this time her brother Edmund had also secretly
passed through the wardrobe into Narnia, and returned home before his absence was noticed.
Lucy and the other Pevensie siblings all unexpectedly came to Narnia a few days later while playing
a game of hide and seek in the Wardrobe. Very soon after entering Narnia, the children met
Mr. Beaver and were invited back to his lodge. There, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver explained that
Narnia was under the curse of the eternal winter cast by the White Witch, who falsely
claimed to be the queen of Narnia. They also told the children about the Golden Age
prophecy, that when 4 sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve sat on the throne of Cair Paravel,
the witch’s power would be broken and the curse would be lifted.
Now, after Edmund had snuck away to the White Witch to betray his siblings, Mr. Beaver led
Lucy, and the others on a journey to meet Aslan himself at the encampment beside the
Stone Table. Along the way, as the witch’s power began to show real signs of weakening,
Lucy and her siblings were visited by father Christmas who gave all the children gifts,
including Lucy who received a dagger and a magical healing cordial that was made from
the juice of fire flowers that were taken from the mountains of the sun. Lucy and the
others eventually arrived at the Stone Table, where they finally met the great Lion Aslan.
During her time at the stone table encampment, Lucy and susan snuck away one night and witnessed
Aslan’s death at the hands of the white witch. The next morning, they also witnessed
Aslan’s resurrection. Aslan invited the girls to climb on his back and Lucy and Susan
were carried away to the now abandoned courtyard of the white witch, where Aslan revived the
victims of the white witch's stone curse and led the entire party to the battlefield at
Beruna Lucy, along with the others fought valiantly at the first battle of Beruna.
And when the battle was over, Aslan and the Narnians were victorious, and the white witch
lay dead. Lucy saved the lives of many wounded that day with her magic cordial, including
her brother Edmund. Two days later, in the great hall of the Castle Cair Paravel, Lucy
and her siblings were crowned by Aslan and led to the four thrones among deafening cheers.
Thus marked the fulfillment of the golden age prophecy and the beginning of the golden
age of Narnia. All of this took place in the Narnian year 1000.
Lucy and her siblings served Narnia well as Kings and Queens. Lucy herself became known
among her people as “Queen Lucy the Valiant”--no doubt due to her strong will and courageous
heart. During her reign, Lucy helped to return Narnia
to its former glory: fighting in the Narnian army as they rid the country of giants, and
sailing the eastern ocean on the great ship The Splendour Hyaline and visiting the long
neglected islands of the Narnian empire, and establishing an alliance with the neighboring
kingdom of Archenland, and opening diplomatic channels with the southern country of Calormen.
In the 1014 NT, while King Peter was leading a raid on the Northern Giants and Susan and
Edmund were away on a diplomatic mission to Calormen, Queen Lucy remained in Cair Paravel,
overseeing the domestic affairs of the country. However, word was sent by a messenger stag
that the Calormen Army was marching northward, heading towards a surprise attack on Archenland.
Lucy rallied the Narnian troops, which marched to the city of Annard where they fought to
defend Archenland, in the battle of Annard.
Queen Lucy fought bravely during the battle, taking her place among the archers who provided
vital support for the Narnia army. In the end, the Narnian army was victorious and Prince
Rabidash was captured and put on trial in the middle of the battlefield. While many
were eager to issue harsh judgment to Rabadash for his crimes, it was Queen Lucy who wisely
advised the tribunal to show Rabadash Mercy./, In the hopes of not only preserving diplomatic
relations with Calormen, but also and hopes of personal redemption for the Young Prince
himself. Of course the prince in his own pride would get in the way of receiving a
lighter sentence, on that day Queen Lucy the valiant demonstrated to three nations what
a wise, just, strong, and even handed ruler really looked like.
And less than a Year's time, King Peter had returned from battle with the Giants of the
North; Lucy and Edmund had returned from the battle at Archenland and for the first time
in a while all four kings and queens of Narnia were all together at their home at Cair Paravel.
Under their rule, Narnia had been brought to such a time of peace and prosperity that
the monarchs allowed themselves some free time. Following the rumor that a white stag
had been spotted in the Northern woods, which was exceedingly rare, the four royals decided
to go on an excursion to see if they could capture the stag. It had been said that one
who captured the stag could have a wish granted from the animal. As Lucy and the others
followed the animal through the forest of Lantern waste, they came across a strange
iron post planted in the ground that they vaguely remembered. They continued on through
the thick woods, slowly remembering more of their old life–the life before they came
to Narnia 15 years earlier. And as they drove further, the trees soften, eventually
becoming soft as fur coats, until they all spilled out of the wardrobe door, no longer
the grown adults they were in Narnia, they were now children once again and it was still
the earth year 1940. Lucy and her siblings had only been gone minutes in our world.
About a year later, in late august or early September of 1941, Lucy and her siblings found
themselves at a railway station waiting to board the trains that would take them to boarding
school. For Lucy, This was her first time to go away to school and the nervous sensation
in her gut began to be replaced by an odd tugging sensation, which the other siblings
also felt. Within an instant they were all transported back to Narnia–only it was now
many hundreds of years later. The children discovered the old ruins castle Cair Paravel,
where Lucy and the others found a trap door leading to the royal treasure chamber. There,
the children recovered their personal gifts they had received from Father Christmas, including
Lucy’s cordial. Interestingly enough, Lucy’s dagger was missing, as was Susan’s enchanted
horn. And while the horn would eventually be recovered, the legendary lost dagger has
presumably never been found. After rescuing a dwarf named Trumpkin from the hands of two
steel-capped soldiers, the children learned the full story of the present state of Narnia:
that it was now the Narnian year _______. the Telmarines had invaded Narnia generations
ago, and a usurper to the throne named Mraz had now taken control of the land. His nephew
and rightful heir to the throne, Prince Caspian, had in fact called the fabled Kings and Queens
of the golden age to Narnia using Susan’s enchanted horn.
Lucy and the others, along with their new dwarf friend Trumpkin set off on a journey
to Aslan’s Howe to rendezvous with Caspian at Aslan’s Howe, or what was once called
the Stone table. The plan had been to travel south to Glasswater creek and follow that
up to the backside of Stone Table hill. However, the landscape had changed and eroded
over the hundreds of years since the children had last been in Narnia, and After a particularly
close encounter with a dumb and bloodthirsty bear, the party realized they were in real
danger, and they were lost. Faced with the dilemma of traversing a deep
gorge in order to cross the river rush, Lucy suddenly spotted Aslan on a high hill
in the opposite direction. Though she tried to convince the party that Aslan wanted them
to follow that direction, the others did not believe her and instead they followed the
gorge down to the river. However, after a long days hike they eventually had to backtrack
after coming to a telmarine outpost and being attacked by archers. During the night, Aslan
woke Lucy from her sleep and instructed her to gather her siblings and follow him at once.
And while the other siblings were at first unable to see Aslan, this time they trusted
Lucy and followed blindly in the dark of night. As the dawn began to break, Eventually the
whole party was able to see Aslan, who warmly greeted them all. While the men were sent
to meet Caspian at once, Lucy and Susan remained behind with Aslan, where they joined in a
particularly odd yet joyful party with guests including Dryads, Silenus on a donkey, a
group of wild girls, and Bacchus, the lord of revelry himself.
The next morning, Lucy was once again awoken by Aslan, and this time the entire party paraded
into the town of Beruna, where Aslan destroyed the bridge and freed the river god, and called
many school children and even an old woman to leave their work and follow him.
When the party arrived at Aslan’s Howe, (contrary to the events in the Walden Media
film) they found that the battle known later as the War of Deliverance had already been
fought, and the Telmarine had surrendered to Caspian and his army of Old Narnians and
Mighty trees. Lucy made use of her magic cordial and saved many lives that day, including
the mortally wounded Reepicheep. After appointing Caspian king of Narnia, Aslan created a magical
door that was a portal back to Earth, in order to allow any telmarine who so chose the opportunity
to leave Narnia in peace. Aslan also sent Lucy and her siblings through the portal,
and their second trip to Narnia (and final trip for Peter and Susan) came to an end.
They found themselves back on the train platform in the earth year 1941.
A little less than a year later, Lucy was sent to spend her summer holiday at her Aunt
and Uncles house along with Edmund. It was during this time that the pair, along with
their cousin Eustace were once again teleported back to Narnia. This would be Lucy’s final
trip to this world.
The children were transported into the middle of the Eastern Ocean, and it appears that
Lucy spent her year at school learning to swim, because the year before, she could hardly
swim at all. Lucy, Eustace and Edmund were rescued by The great ship Dawn Treader,
which was sailed by King Caspian and his crew, including Lucy's dear friend Reepicheep.
Lucy and the other children joined Caspian for the entirety of the voyage, and explored
many new islands along the way. There were the Lone Islands, where Lucy was captured
as a slave and eventually rescued by Caspian; Then there was Dragon Island, where Lucy discovered
that the dragon Eustace was injured and used her magic cordial to help ease his pain;
After surviving an attack by the legendary Great Sea Serpent, Lucy and the others discovered
Deathwater Island, where she and the landing party were nearly killed by the waters of
the magical pool which turned everything in it to solid gold. Next came what would be
known as the Island of the Duffers, where invisible dwarves demanded that Lucy–as
the only girl in the party–recite a magic spell in the magician’s library in order
to make them visible once again. It was here that Lucy was tempted to recite a magical
spell which promised to make more beautiful than anyone in the world–even her sister
susan would be jealous. And while seeing Aslan’s face in the book helped her resist
the temptation, she did ultimately recite another spell that allowed her to eavesdrop
on her friends back on earth. Aslan appeared to Lucy and spoke words of admonishment and
encouragement to her, and left her to continue her journey.
Now, after this encounter, Lucy was reminded to trust Aslan look to him for help in times
of trouble, which is exactly.what she did on her next waypoint at Dark Island. When
the dawn treader seemed hopelessly lost in the islands utter darkness, Lucy called
out to Aslan for help, and he sent a white albatross to guide the ship to safety and
after speaking to only her, saying “courage, dear heart”, further he sent them along
on their journey.
After several more days, Lucy and the rest of the crew spotted the last Island they would
visit on their voyage, the island of the star known as Ramandu’s Island. There, Lucy
and the others found the remaining 3 lost lords, met the retired star Ramandu and his
daughter, who would one day become Caspian’s wife, and finally feasted from Aslan’s table.
The following day Lucy set out with Caspian, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep to the edge
of the world and the entrance to Aslan’s Country. They sailed across the kingdom
of the merpeople. Through the lily covered waters of the silver sea, and finally ran
aground at the edge of the world. Lucy bid farewell to her dear friend Reepicheep
and he sailed his tiny coracle over the great standing wave and into Aslan’s country.
After Reepicheep left them, the party left their boat and waded along the shore, where
they met a lamb who transformed into Aslan. And it was in these moments that Aslan told
Lucy her time in Narnia had come to an end: For the next 7 years,, Lucy lived a fairly
normal life, going to school and coming home for holidays. In 1949 she reunited with
the seven friends of Narnia, as they called themselves gathered to reminisce about their
days in Narnia. Not many days later, while traveling by train
with Eustace, Jill, Polly, and Digory, Lucy and the others were involved in a terrible
train crash which killed many people, both in the train and at the station. Lucy and
the other friends of Narnia were among the casualties. And so, in 1949, at the age
of 17 years old, Lucy Pevinse’s life on Earth came to an end.
But her story isn’t complete, for after Aslan called down the stars and closed up
Narnia, the Queen Lucy and the other 7 friends of Narnia were watching from beyond the stable
door–watching from Aslan’s country, the true and greater Narnia, where they would
never have to leave again. And that’s the beginning of the story of
Lucy the Valiant, once a Queen of Narnia, always a queen of Narnia.
Well, that's all the time we have for today, but one more time, a big thank you to the
king of Narnia will and the high Kings of Narnia, Matt and a gun. If you'd like to support
this channel, you can find the link to my Patrion and the description below. I look
forward to seeing you next time as we take another journey into the wardrobe.