Ramandu is a fictional character in
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
's ''
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', part of the series ''
The Chronicles of Narnia
''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...
''.
About
He appears as an old man with a silver beard that comes down to his
bare feet, dressed in a robe that appears to be made "from the fleece of silver sheep". Once a star, he grew too old and descended to the island at the beginning of the end of the world where he lived for some time with his unnamed
daughter
A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state, condition or quality of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show r ...
(of uncertain parentage, but later the wife of
Caspian X and Queen of
Narnia). Each morning they would emerge from their home to sing a song during the length of dawn, perhaps causing the sun to rise. Then, a mass of white birds would fly out from "the valleys of the sun" and settle all over the island. One bird would carry a fire-berry, which it would place in Ramandu's mouth. Each time Ramandu ate a fire-berry he would grow younger, until he was an infant, when he was to become a star again.
Ramandu's Island
Ramandu's Island was the last
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
before the end of the world. The geography of the island was one of gentle hills, not with steep slopes, but instead "with slopes like pillows" (Lewis 1952). A pleasant "purple" smell came forth from the island. The island had many capes and points. The bay in which the ''
Dawn Treader
''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' is a portal fantasy novel written by British author 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 p ...
'' anchored was wide and shallow; at the head of that bay was a level valley, which had a heather-like ground covering. In the valley, there was a wide oblong ruin with columns and no roof.
[Lewis, ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', Chap. 13.]
References
* Lewis, C.S. (1952). The Voyage of the ''Dawn Treader'', New York: HarperCollins Children's Books.
{{Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia characters
Literary characters introduced in 1952
Fictional characters who use magic