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Literatur
. Erfurt: Sutton, 2000, p. 138; as well as Clute; Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 1010. 
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Kümmerling-Meibauer, Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, p. 1151. 
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Ibd.
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Clute; Grant, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 1011. 
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If Cervantes’ Don Quixote de la Mancha was still an exception, parody nowadays has almost become a 
convention, especially in children’s fantasy. Overcome conventions are parodied or ridiculous fantastic worlds 
designed. Intertextuality plays an important role here, as the knowledge of the original is taken for granted with 
parody. As we will see later on with parasitical literature, the high level
of the original work is no obstacle for 
parody. Social criticism has also become a central issue of children’s fantasy. 

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quest are targets for the author’s sideswipes. Disillusionment is one of the results of his 
parody: Merlyn’s and the narrator’s anachronisms
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obstruct any consistent portrayal of 
medieval society. Past, present and future become blurred, producing a comical effect. Once 
Arthur has completed his education, drawing the magic sword from the stone becomes a test 
of his newly acquired abilities. This proves to be the crucial moment in Arthur’s life, since it 
is irrevocable. Neither can childhood be re-entered nor the sword be returned. This symbolic 
act of taking on a deadly weapon entails power and responsibility; for example conscious, 
moral decisions about sparing or forfeiting the lives of others. As we will see, the question of 
power is one of the central issues in children’s fantasy. In his novel, the convinced pacifist 
White consequently discusses advantages and disadvantages of power and how to use it best. 
The later parts of the tetralogy The Once and Future King elaborate even more on this aspect. 
Interestingly, White’s manifesto for a peaceful world without war is far from being 
antiquated, since the author’s concerns about the implications of power have lost neither their 
volatile nature nor their topicality.
Whereas White wrote with the threat of the Second World War looming over Europe, 
Lewis’ Narnia novels were published in its aftermath. As we have seen earlier with Milne, 
traumatic impressions of a war favour the genre of fantasy; first and foremost of the nostalgic 
kind. The latter turns its mind back to traditional values, to religion and spirituality. At the 
same time, nostalgia can express itself in utopias, too. 
With The Chronicles of Narnia, the Oxford scholar Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) 
published a fantasy series for children whose seven volumes have long since attained the 
status of children’s classics. Despite their name, the Chronicles were neither written nor 
published in the linear order of events. It was only after the completion of the seventh tome 
that the author puzzled them together to establish a chronology. The recommended reading 
thus starts with The Magician’s Nephew (1955), via The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe 
(1950), The Horse and His Boy (1954), Prince Caspian (1951), The Voyage of The Dawn 
Treader
(1952) and The Silver Chair (1953) to The Last Battle (1956). All seven volumes 
work on the same principle. Children protagonists in need of spiritual help, i.e. siblings and 
friends in various combinations and points in time, cross the magical border into the fantastic 
realm of Narnia, ruled by the majestic lion Aslan. There, the children have to prove 
themselves in several adventures, gaining experience and knowledge. Some of them even 
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Compare Kümmerling-Meibauer, Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, p. 1153. 

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grow up in Narnia and become kings and queens. Yet on returning home they are children 
again. Here, Lewis uses Nesbit’s concept of suspending time to allow for fantastic adventures. 
No matter how long the duration of their stay in the magical country, the children always 
return to their present.
Like his close friend and co-Inkling Tolkien
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Lewis was a believing Christian. With 
the Chronicles he adapted the Christian doctrine of salvation into an allegorical adventure 
series recapitulating key episodes from the Bible. Amongst others, Lewis reworked 
Temptation, Sin, the Fall, Jesus’ Stations of the Cross, apocalypse and eternal life after death. 
Central character of the series is the charismatic lion Aslan, who embodies purely positive 
qualities. In the course of events we encounter him as Creator of Narnia, friend of the 
children, mentor, protector, magic helper, father figure and saviour.
Despite its cast of fantastic beasts and wondrous characters sprung from fairy tale and 
myth combined with a touch of medieval romance, the series boils down to a very traditional 
core: The eternal struggle between good and evil. Almost naively, right and wrong, darkness 
and light are clearly set apart. Such transparent structures are intended to guide the reader’s 
empathies towards the good characters. Judgement is passed on the bad and, as Lewis 
emphasises, only the good ones are rewarded with eternal life. Imbued with Christian faith, 
values and symbolism as the novels are, their allegorical character is paradoxically not easily 
detected by children. It is even possible to leave the Christian implications aside and to 
concentrate on the mere “action”. Above all, great importance is attached to The Lion, The 
Witch and the Wardrobe
and The Last Battle. The first novel re-enacts Jesus’ Stations of the 
Cross. Aslan sacrifices himself to keep evil at bay and rises from the dead. The second novel 
suggests the possible magnitude and course of events of the apocalypse. Lewis’ rendering of 
the Judgement Day classically leads to salvation. The Last Battle ends with the death and 
entry of the children’s and their relatives’ souls into eternal paradise. In accordance with the 
Christian doctrine of salvation, the author casts his eyes on the hereafter. Consequently, 
Narnia can be regarded as a kind of preparatory antechamber to eternal life.
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As MacDonald 
or Kingsley before him, Lewis does not shrink back from taboos in traditional children’s 
fantasy.
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On the contrary: He consciously discusses topics such as violence, suffering, pain 
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The Inkling-Society is described by Coren as one of the “produktivsten und interessantesten Literaturzirkel 
unseres Jahrhunderts“. Michael Coren, C.S. Lewis. Der Mann, der Narnia schuf. Eine Biographie. Wuppertal: 
R. Brockhaus Verlag, 1998, p. 45. 
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Compare Coren, Der Mann, der Narnia schuf, p. 55. 
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See Kümmerling-Meibauer, Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur, p. 623. 

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and death. The collective death scene at the end of the last battle is very unusual for a 
children’s fantasy, even today. After his roundhouse blow, Lewis clumsily tries to limit the 
damage done. Nevertheless, instant harmony, peace and hope, intended to outweigh the 
violent deaths, fail to appease. 
Like many other authors of children’s fantasy, Lewis believed that good stories for 
children should appeal to the parents as well. Even when grown up, the ex-children should 
still be able to read the Narnia novels and gain something from them: Good literature 
addresses people on various levels.
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