Aslan's Country is a fictional location from

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...

' ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...

'' series. It is the home of

Aslan Aslan () is a major character in C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Unlike any other character, he appears in all seven chronicles of the series. Aslan is depicted as a talking lion, and is described as the King of Beasts, the ...

, the great lion. It is described as a series of mountains, tens of thousands of feet high, but without snow or ice. Instead, Aslan's Country has a clear blue sky, lush green grass, colourful birds, and beautiful trees. There are entrances to Aslan's Country from all worlds, including

Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been Adaptations of The Chron ...

and

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

. It is located beyond Narnia's rising sun at the eastern edge of the world, and indeed rings around the whole Narnian world.

References in the books

''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader''

In ''

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' is a high fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1952. It was the third published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Macmillan US published an ...

'', the third published book of the series, King

Caspian X Prince Caspian (also known as Caspian X, King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel and Emperor of The Lone Islands, and as Caspian the Seafarer or Caspian the Navigator) is a fictional character in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' by C. S. Lewis. He is f ...

of Narnia sets out to the eastern edge of the world to find the fate of the seven lost lords of Narnia. At the end of the voyage,

Reepicheep Reepicheep the Mouse is a fictional character in the children's fantasy series ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' by C. S. Lewis. He appears as a minor character in '' Prince Caspian'' and as a major character in ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', and ...

, a talking mouse, goes directly to Aslan's Country. ( VDT Ch. 16)

''The Silver Chair''

At the beginning of ''

The Silver Chair ''The Silver Chair'' is a children's fantasy novel by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1953. It was the fourth published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956); it is volume six in recent editions, which are seq ...

'',

Eustace Scrubb Eustace Clarence Scrubb is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis's ''Chronicles of Narnia''. He appears in ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', ''The Silver Chair'', and '' The Last Battle''. In ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', he is accompani ...

and

Jill Pole Jill Pole is a major character from C. S. Lewis' ''Chronicles of Narnia'' series. She appears in ''The Silver Chair'' and '' The Last Battle.'' Appearances in the Narnia Book Series ''The Silver Chair'' Jill Pole first appears in ''The Silver ...

escape from bullies at a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and find themselves in Aslan's Country, where they meet Aslan. They are then blown to Narnia by Aslan's breath. At the end of the adventure they find themselves back in Aslan's Country. There they witness the resurrection of King Caspian and, after Aslan promises them that they will one day return to stay, they are sent back to England. ( SC Ch. 1,16)

''The Last Battle''

At the end of '' The Last Battle'', there is a stable door that leads to Aslan's country. Initially, it only led to a stable used by Shift and the Calormenes as means to control Narnians by claiming it to hold the false god "Tashlan". But after the final battle before Narnia's end, the stable door becomes a site of

final judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

for all Narnians, living and dead. For those who have faith in Aslan—including the deceased Pevensie children (excluding

Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...

, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer—the door leads to Aslan's country. However, Narnians who abandoned their belief in Aslan and acted in evil are sent to an unmentioned place whose identity even the author claims not to know. The animals in that category lose their ability to speak. Once the final judgment is complete, Narnia's end comes full circle when the country is then reduced to a tundra wasteland after its plant life is eaten away by the Dragons and Salamanders, the Sun is crushed by Father Time, and the land flooded while the heavens are undone. From there, Aslan's country is explained to be where the "Real Narnia" begins, identical to the old one yet without any imperfections. It is also discovered that England and all other countries and worlds are promontories of the Great Mountains of Aslan's Country. All worlds in Creation have their perfect nature in Aslan's Country. So, it is also home to creatures from other worlds who came to live there after their

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

or the end of their world.

Commentary

Because, as Lewis wrote, "He slanis an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, 'What might

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?'" it is natural to associate Aslan's Country with the Christian heaven. It is where Narnians who love Aslan go at death and where all Narnians who "looked in the face of Aslan and loved him" arrive at the end of the world . The representation of Heaven as a mountain is Biblical: "Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord?" Aslan's Country also represents

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's World of Ideas, of which the physical world and the ideas in our minds are alike copies. In '' The Last Battle'' it is explained that all worlds, including the Narnia world and our own, are spurs from Aslan's Mountain, and Professor Kirke comments "All in Plato, all in Plato".

Film adaptation

In the 2010 film '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', the film involves a seafaring quest by

King Caspian Prince Caspian (also known as Caspian X, King of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel and Emperor of The Lone Islands, and as Caspian the Seafarer or Caspian the Navigator) is a fictional character in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' by C. S. Lewis. He is fe ...

to find the country. At the end of the film,

is shown the way to Aslan's country.

References

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