Special Sub-Topic: The Magic Rings Click Here To Play: The Magic Rings

How did Polly describe her special loft space?

smuggler's cave. This was in that part of the house where there was a walkway through to the other houses in the terrace; the children used this to go through to Uncle Andrew's study (they misjudged the distance as they wanted to get into the empty house next door).

When the children found Uncle Andrew's room, they saw the tray of rings, and also noticed something else - what was this?

a faint humming sound. The book says that Polly would have thought it was the sound of a hoover being worked a long way off - had hoovers been in general use in those days.

Into which pocket did Uncle Andrew suggest the green rings should be put?

right pocket. He explained to the children that the gReen rings would go in the Right pocket - the 'r' being the connecting factor. He did not understand the nature of the rings though. Polly and Digory would discover that the yellow one would draw the wearer into the Wood between the Worlds, and the green would take them away from it. Uncle Andrew tried to escape Narnia by using the green ring, thinking it would take him back to our world, but it would not work even if he succeeded.

Digory would say afterwards that the Wood between the Worlds was a rich place, and described it as rich as - what?

plum cake. Digory said that you could almost feel the trees growing, and drinking up the water with their roots, it was so rich and full of quiet magic.

The children jumped out of the Wood into another world, and the first thing they noticed was the light. What did they notice?

it was a dull red light. The sun over the city of Charn was an old one, and was dying. Jadis told the children that it had been like that for many years, and that the sun in our world was still young. The brand new sun in the brand new Narnia was even younger and brighter.

What did the enchanted writing on the pillar challenge the reader to do?

strike the bell. Digory pretended to be enchanted by the verse, and confessed as much to Aslan much later in the story. He struck the bell because he wanted to.

When Digory did hit the bell, the children noticed that the result was very strange. Why was this?

the sound got steadily louder. It was, of course, a magic bell, so it was not surprising that the sound was so distinctive.

Jadis told the children about a relative who invited seven hundred nobles to a feast, and had them all killed because they had rebellious thoughts. Which of her relatives was this?

her great-grandfather. Jadis told the children this story as they were leaving the Hall of Images for the outside, where they were not likely to be buried by falling rubble.

Jadis destroyed every living creature in the world by uttering the Deplorable Word. How long had the battle been raging in the city of Charn before she resorted to this tactic?

three days. At the end of the three days, when her army was totally defeated, Jadis destroyed every living creature but herself, then she put herself to sleep to await someone who would wake her up.

When the children used their rings to escape Charn, Jadis came with them because she was holding on to Polly at the time. Which part of Polly was she holding?

her hair. Jadis clung to Digory's ear when they jumped back to earth from the Wood between the Worlds, and Digory grabbed Jadis' ankle when they jumped from earth to the as-yet-unborn Narnia.

What was the first thing Uncle Andrew did when Jadis sent him to 'procure a chariot or a flying carpet or a well-trained dragon, or whatever is usual for royal and noble persons in your land'?

he had a drink of brandy. The brandy was hidden in his wardrobe, where his sister Letty could not find it!

What was Aunt Letty's given name?

Letitia. Uncle Andrew uses her real name when he asks her for some money that he might escort Jadis about London.

Who suggested that Jadis should go home and have a cup of tea and a lie down?

the cabby. What he actually said was, 'Now, Missie, let me get at 'is 'ead, and just you get off. You're a Lidy, and you don't want all these roughs going for you, do you? You want to go 'ome and 'ave a nice cup of tea and a lay down quiet like; then you'll feel ever so much better.'

When the crowd cheered Jadis, she realised they were making fun of her. Knowing she could not turn them to dust, she did something else. What did she do?

tore an arm off a lamp post. She was standing on top of the hansom cab at the time, and just reached over and tore off the arm of the lamp post - she may have lost her magic powers, but she was still very strong.

What did Jadis do when the Lion was just twelve yards away from them?

she threw an iron bar at him. The Lion did not stop in his walk, even though it hit him square between the eyes. Where it landed, it grew into a full sized lamp post, complete with lit wick. It was this lamp post that Lucy found when she came into Narnia in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

The Lion did not deviate from his course, which was a zig-zag pattern - but in which direction?

west to east. He passed them so close that they could almost touch him, but it was as if he did not see them. As he walked, he sang, and the children could identify what was happening with the sound of his song.

How did Digory describe the growing lamp post?

'It's alive.'. Uncle Andrew was delighted with the growing lamp post and planned to bring scrap metal to this new world in order to grow battleships and so forth, to become rich - providing, of course, the 'brute of a Lion' was disposed of.

When Aslan called the animals to a circle around him, they went in male and female pairs - except for one - which was the odd one out?

a horse. Aslan chose certain animals to form a circle around him, and these animals either shrunk or grew to be of a fairly uniform size. These were the animals who could talk, and thereafter their names would have capital letters - ie, Hedgehog, Elephant etc. - rather than the small letters (hedgehog, elephant etc.) of the non-talking variety.

What were the first words the Lion spoke?

'Narnia, Narnia, Narnia.'. He actually said, 'Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.'

How do we learn that the Lion is called Aslan?

all the animals refer to him as Aslan. The animals responded to Aslan by agreeing with him, mentioning him by name. At this time only Aslan had a name - the next to be named individually was the horse, Strawberry, who became the Flying Horse, Fledge.

What was the first joke?

the Jackdaw. The Jackdaw cried 'No fear', in agreement to a general instruction and was embarrassed. When everyone laughed, he asked if he had made the first joke. Aslan laughed and said that he had not *made* the first joke - he *was* the first joke.

The animals had a long debate about what Uncle Andrew was. What decision did they initially reach?

he was a tree. It was fortunate that the debate regarding which end was the branches and which end was the roots resulted in the decision that his legs should be the part buried and liberally watered! When he came to, they realised he was some sort of animal, and put their pet in a thorn bush cage, where they fed him the things they would like to eat. They named him 'Brandy' because that was the sound he made most often.

The cabby and his wife became the first King and Queen in Narnia, but what were their names?

Frank and Helen. King Frank and Queen Helen were the first sovereigns of Narnia. After this book, we next see them in 'The Last Battle', when we have a glimpse of the Real Narnia.

Aslan turned Strawberry into a Winged Horse and renamed him. What was his new name?

Fledge. Fledge took Digory and Polly north to the walled garden to collect an apple. This apple was planted in Narnia at Aslan's bidding, and served to protect that land from Jadis for many generations. An apple taken from this second tree was given to Digory and this cured his mother back in London. The core was buried in the garden and many years later when the tree blew down Digory had the wood made into a wardrobe. It was through this wardrobe that Lucy was to visit Narnia in 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'.

The children and the Flying Horse that had been called Strawberry journeyed to the garden Aslan told them about. When they stopped for the night they shared some sweets and planted one. This grew into a plant over night and so provided breakfast. What was the sweet that was planted? ('sweet' is the UK English word for the US English word 'candy'.)

toffee. It was a small dark-wooded tree, loaded with little brown fruits that looked like dates. They were not real toffees, but were very nice.