Prince Caspian | Chapter 3: The Dwarf

Chapter Summary:

The chapter begins with Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy waking up the next morning in the ruins of Cair Paravel. Edmund reasons out that while they were gone for one year in England, Narnia actually aged several hundred years at least. 

Suddenly, a boat comes into view on the water, and the children hide along the tree line. In the boat are two men and a dwarf, who is bound in ropes. The two men begin arguing about how to best drown the dwarf, and Susan reacts by shooting an arrow at one of the men. Both of the men immediately flee, leaving the boat and the dwarf.

The children go untie the dwarf, who says that they don't look like the ghosts rumored to be near the coast. The dwarf finds some fish for dinner, which they cook and then eat at the ruins of Cair Paravel.

Peter requests to hear the dwarf's story. The dwarf says that he is a messenger of Prince Caspian the Tenth, King of Old Narnians, and that Prince Caspian is a Telmarine (a New Narnian). When the children appear confused, the dwarf says that he will tell them the whole story of Prince Caspian, but that it is a long story.

The narrator concludes the chapter by telling us that the next chapter is the summarized story of Prince Caspian, as the children heard it.

Reflection:

Time travel strikes again! We all remember that when Lucy has her great adventure in the beginning of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that she only seemed to be gone for a few moments. Thus, it makes perfect sense that after having spent an entire year in England, the children would return to Narnia hundreds (or is it even thousands?) of years after they last departed.

But the foreshadowing in this chapter is both excellent and daunting. All is not well in Narnia--that much is clear. If Narnia's golden age involved the four children on their thrones at Cair Paravel, it speaks volumes that Cair Paravel is not only completely in ruins, but also completely abandoned--overgrown in a forest. We get even more nervous when we hear the drawf refer to Old Narnians and New Narnians. The dwarf says that the Old Narnians are a rebellion of sorts--and I would suspect that Old Narnia might have something to do with the very utopia-esque Narnia that the four children were a part of during their time in Narnia. And if that is the case, something has gone very much awry in Narnia.

Now, I have just a little memory of this story to help me along, but I also think that the foreshadowing here is just outstanding. To the adult reader, much of it is fairly obvious, but I think it is perfect for a young reader, trying to figure out the mystery surrounding the beginning of this novel. And many questions remain, including:

- Who is the dwarf?
- What is his story?
- Why does he call himself a dangerous criminal?
- How were the children brought back to Narnia?
- Why were the children brought back to Narnia?
- Who exactly are the Old and New Narnians?
- How much time exactly has passed? (And what has occurred in Narnia since then?)
- How long will the children remain silent about their Narnian identity around the dwarf?

There are more questions, but of course the joy to a story is getting the answers to those questions, or at least most of them. Some remain unanswered, but I'm sure we will know the answers to some of them very shortly... I don't have anything else to say about this chapter, clearly.