The White Witch
Growing up I was a big fan of the classic fairy tale stores and the classic novels. The strong female bad characters always intrigued me – The Evil Stepmother in Cinderella, The Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz and The White Witch in Narnia were just some of the scariest fictional women around.
One of the scariest probably being the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia. Travelling around in her sleigh in the frozen country of Narnia, brandishing her wand wherever she went. Her only form of magic seeming to be turning people and animals into statues, and not like the ones made by Corten Metal Garden Sculptures. One look on their website http://www.afsculpture.uk/portfolio_page/corten-metal-sculptures/ shows they create much more beautiful pieces than the witch.
One of the most memorable moments in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe saw the White Witch chasing after the beaver family with Edmund by her side in her sleigh. The beaver family have with them Peter, Susan and Lucy (the siblings of Edmund) who are trying to help rescue both Edmund and Mr Tumnus (the faun who reluctantly worked for the Witch). Rescuing the Faun Tumnus is a bit of an issue as he is at that point a stone statue in the Queens place. Edmund is just plain annoying, a typical middle child who needs to carve his own niche in the family. Its very clear that he is in awe of Peter and Susan and decides to take it out on his younger sister Lucy by generally humiliating her whenever he can. He actually gets to the land of Narnia only to deny it in front of everyone. The real clincher is when the Snow Queen offers him whatever reward he wants. He opts for a room of Turkish delight. What kid actually likes Turkish Delight? If this doesn’t single him out as a “wrong un” then I don’t know what does. Even the Snow Queen, an extremely objectionable person herself, gets tired of him. And on that point the Snow Queen is obviously a bit thick. The prophecy states that 2 Sons of Adam and 2 Daughters of Eve shall inherit the throne at Caer Paravel. She’s got one of them right there in the sleigh! If she knocks him off the prophecy can’t come true.
Still that would spoil it wouldn’t it? Then we wouldn’t have the charming scene of Aslan sacrificing his flowing mane and getting stabbed so that a now suddenly reformed Edmund, can live. I wonder if that went through Aslan’s mind as the scissors came out. “He was going to sell us out for a room of a disgusting “sweet meat”. I bet he likes the Rose flavoured one, weirdo”.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is, along with the Lord of the Rings one of the greatest pieces of literature in our time and has laid the bedrock for all fantasy that has come after it. A stunning achievement.
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