Have Santa and the White Witch Considered a Sleigh-Share?

[steepholm]

To a school production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe tonight. My daughter was involved in make-up rather than acting, which made it far less nerve-wracking, though it also meant I spent some of last weekend as a practice canvas for the animals of Aslan's army ...





Anyway, as I watched I found myself wondering about the book's Turkish connections - of which there are of course precisely two (a mystical number): Edmund's Turkish Delight, and the name Aslan, which is Turkish for "lion". Might this counterpoint be uncoincidental? Might it even be that Aslan was being offered as the true Turkish Delight - as the Lord of/de Light? Perhaps, in fact, each of the seven books in the Narnia series plays subtly on the cuisine of a different nation of the eastern Mediterranean?

Unfortunately I was distracted from this train of thought before I was able to pad it out to book length, by Professor Kirke, who (though otherwise excellent) had forgotten his lines in the interview with Peter and Susan, and taken to responding to whatever they said with - "But that is precisely what makes your sister's story so likely to be true." Which pleased me much.

Comments

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

I think you're on to something here, but have missed the true complexity of the reference. The true name for what we call Turkish Delight is Lokum. This is clever pun on the word "locum," meaning a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of someone who is absent. The gift of lokum therefore reminds us that the Witch's power is just temporary, and that Aslan, the true "Turkish delight" will return soon.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Wonderful!

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I love it! Great photos. More Narnia deconstruction please?

Why is the portal to another world through a wardrobe? Is it because that is where we leave the trappings and baggage of ourselves behind?

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Actually, that may even be true! (I like to imagine that in an early draft it was The Lion, the Witch and the Abandoned Chest Freezer, but that this was vetoed by Health and Safety.)