# “The whole Narnian story” by C.S. Lewis

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2026/06/29/the-whole-narnian-story-by-c-s-lewis/
- Published: 2026-06-29T06:00:00-05:00
- Author: tollelege

**“TO ANNE JENKINS (QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST)**:

_Magdalene College,_
 _Cambridge._ _5 March 1961_

Dear Anne—

What Aslan meant when he said he had died is, in one sense, plain enough. Read the
earlier book in the series called _The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe_, and you
will find the full story of how he was killed by the White Witch and came to life
again. When you have read that, I think you will probably see that there is deeper
meaning behind it.

The whole Narnian story is about Christ.

That is to say, I asked myself ‘Supposing there really were a world like Narnia,
and supposing it had (like our world) gone wrong, and supposing Christ wanted to
go into that world and save it (as He did ours) what might have happened?’

The stories are my answer. Since [Narnia](https://amzn.to/3Ki51Rn) is a world of
Talking Beasts, I thought He would become a Talking Beast there, as he became a 
Man here.

I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a) The lion is supposed to be the 
King of beasts: (b) Christ is called ‘The Lion of Judah’ in the Bible (**Genesis
49:9-10**): (c) I’d been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing 
the books.

The whole series works out like this:

 * _The Magician’s Nephew_ tells the creation and how evil entered Narnia.
 * _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_… the Crucifixion and Resurrection
 * _Prince Caspian_… restoration of the true religion after a corruption
 * _The Horse and his Boy_… the calling and conversion of a heathen.
 * _The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_… the spiritual life (especially in Reepicheep)
 * _The Silver Chair_… the continued war against the powers of darkness
 * _The Last Battle_… the coming of Antichrist (the Ape). The end of the world, 
   and the Last Judgement

All clear?

Yours,

C.S. Lewis”

–C.S. Lewis, [_**The Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 1950–1963**_](https://amzn.to/2RjVgok),
ed. Walter Hooper, **[vol. 3](https://amzn.to/2RjVgok) **(New York: HarperCollins;
HarperSanFrancisco, 2004–2007), 3: 1244–1245.

[⌊The Collected Letters of CS Lewis Volume 3⌉⌊The Collected Letters of CS Lewis 
Volume 3⌉[

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