The Horse and His Boy

The Horse and His Boy is the fifth published book in The Chronicles of Narnia, but is the third in the series. This story takes place during Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy's reign in Narnia before they have returned home from their adventures in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The story features two children, who were both raised in the Narnian Universe, named Shasta and Arvais who are escaping from their home country in order to find Narnia with two talking (Narnian) horses named Bree and Hwin. What is particularly interesting about this story, is that it describes an alternate religious structure in the Narnian Universe.

Shasta and Arvais are from Carlomen, a land south of Narnia. In Carlomen, the people do not follow Aslan's guidance but conform to another religious structure. The people of Carlomen are ruled by Tisroc who is presented as a type of pharaoh figure who plays the role as an absolute monarch. Whenever Tisroc is mentioned by the people of Carlomen they always add "(may he live for ever)" after his name. The people of Carlomen also believe in multiple gods and appear to worship idols (pg 52). Their belief system is also coupled with arguably unethical actions such as arranged marriages and slavery that are forbidden in Narnia. Another interesting aspect of this alternate culture that Lewis describes is that he presents them as wearing turbans, flowing clothing and pointed shoes. The way these people are illustrated both by Lewis' description as well as the chapter illustrations done by Pauline Baynes (shown above) is very reminiscent of Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures. Additionally, the people in Carolmen are described as being dark-skinned (Narnians are fair-skinned) and use a currency with the crescent symbol. The religion of the Carolmen people also includes rituals that include human sacrifice and is reminiscent of older religious practices such as early Canaanite practices. These religious practices and the way Lewis presents them (very negatively) will come into play again in The Last Battle, which is the final book, both published and in the series, of The Chronicles of Narnia.