“Prince Caspian” Introduction

Narnia Read-Along Vol. 2, Issue 1

As we explore “The Chronicles of Narnia,” I want to give you inspiration and application of each book (and each chapter). What was going on in C.S. Lewis’ life as he wrote? What works and events contributed to the series? What ideas were Lewis trying to “sneak past the watchful dragons” of the reader? What can we draw from the books for our own lives? With that as our roadmap, let’s begin our exploration of Prince Caspian.

If you need help understanding why Prince Caspian is numbered as the fourth Narnia book by the publishers but we’re reading it second, you can see the two articles I’ve written on the right reading order for “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

• In What Order Should You Read “The Chronicles of Narnia”?

• The One Time You Can Ignore C.S. Lewis

If you’re a free subscriber, you have access to the first half of the article. For paid subscribers, you get the full piece. And if you missed our read-along of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, you can catch up with the wrap-up article containing links to all the related articles. To become a paid subscriber, click here:

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Inspiration of Prince Caspian

C.S. Lewis published one Narnia book every year between 1950 and 1956. That could make the process seem smooth, but there were many twists and turns along the way, including with Prince Caspian.

Lewis shared his first attempt at a Narnia story with friends in the late 1930s. The negative response from his fellow Inklings like J.R.R. Tolkien, however, caused Lewis to burn the manuscript. As a result, he didn’t return to his fantasy world for almost 10 years. Around that time, however, Lewis began rethinking his own childhood as part of writing his spiritual autobiography Surprised by Joy. He also began having dreams about lions, which led him to the creation of the iconic lion of Narnia.

With the arrival of Aslan, Lewis found the Lion pulling all the stories together with him. Between 1949 and 1954, he completed the other six books in The Chronicles of Narnia. Most only took him a handful of months from start to finish, including Prince Caspian. While Caspian was the second Narnia book to be completed and published, it wasn’t the second one started.

In May 1949, after finishing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but before it was published, Lewis set about to write another book set in Narnia. Initially, he wanted to answer the question of how a lamppost was in the middle of a forest, so he started on a prequel.

In June 1949, Lewis read two chapters of a story to his friend Roger Lancelyn Green. Shortly after, he abandoned this story, which has become known as the Lefay Fragment. Walter Hooper discovered and published the story scrap in Past Watchful Dragons. Despite leaving the overall attempt behind, many details, including a boy named Digory and a girl named Polly, are fleshed out in what would become The Magician’s Nephew. Other pieces, a talking squirrel named Pattertwig and a half-dwarf mentor, flow into Prince Caspian.

Around the same time, Lewis wrote some additional story notes about a sequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, including a magic painting and a ship sailing to various islands. These pieces would become essential to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. But again, other elements from the notebook find their way into Prince Caspian—children pulled from our world and a dwarf telling a history of Narnia.

Not only did Lewis overcome creative obstacles during the brief Prince Caspian composition window but personal issues as well. He finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in May 1949, but collapsed a month later. Lewis stayed in the hospital for eleven days due to exhaustion and a strep infection requiring penicillin injections every three hours.

Despite being discharged, doctors told him he needed rest. Caring for the increasingly oppressive Mrs. Moore was literally running him to death. Lewis’ brother Warnie made her agree to give Lewis a much-needed break back in Ireland. Unfortunately, the idea of being in the Kilns with Mrs. Moore without his brother drove Warnie to another bout of binge drinking and he ended up spending six weeks in Ireland in facilities.

Still, by September, Lewis was already working on Prince Caspian. Despite his teaching load at Oxford, other academic requirements, and all of the personal and health issues impacting his free time, he sent a copy of the sequel to Green in December 1950 for feedback.¹ The second Narnia book would be published in October 1951.²

If The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the Christmas book of Narnia, the one focused on the incarnation, Prince Caspian is the first to paint a picture of what life looks like after that first Advent. In fact, Lewis told us exactly what the book was all about in his letters. His explanation gives us the framework to read and understand Prince Caspian.