Story Synopsis: Into the Wardrobe

Story Synopsis: Into the Wardrobe...

Four children—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—are sent from London to the country house of an old professor because of the danger posed by German air raids during World War II. One day they decide to go exploring, but it is raining so they explore inside the old house. They find a room that is empty except for a large wardrobe. Everyone moves on except Lucy, the youngest, who looks into the wardrobe. She sees several long fur coats and climbs in among them. She expects to find the back of the wardrobe, but she walks until she feels trees instead of coats and snowy ground instead of the wood floor.

She sees a light ahead and discovers that it is a lamppost in a forest. A faun, named Tumnus, steps out from the trees and tells Lucy she is in the land of Narnia. He invites her to tea at his home which is a very nice dry, clean cave. After tea, Tumnus tells Lucy many stories of the forest and he plays a strange flute.

The tune has an odd effect on her. It makes her want to cry, laugh, dance, and sleep all at the same time. She eventually rouses herself and says she has to leave. Mr. Tumnus cries and tells Lucy about the White Witch who has ordered him to kidnap the first human he sees. He says he pretended to be her friend to lure her back to his cave, lull her to sleep with his flute, and turn her over to the White Witch.

He sees now that Lucy is a very nice human and he can’t kidnap her even though the tyrannical witch will be angry. He helps Lucy back through the forest to the lamppost and she finds her way to the wardrobe.

Lucy jumps out of the wardrobe and runs to her brothers and sister. Although it seems to her that she was occupied for hours, she finds out that she was only gone a moment. Her siblings have not missed her! She tells them about the faun and Narnia, but they think she is making up a story. This makes Lucy quite miserable. She is too truthful to say that it was only a story although that would settle it. Edmund, the next oldest, teases her and asks if she’s found any other countries in cupboards in the house.

The next rainy day the children play hide-and-seek inside, and Lucy goes to the room where wardrobe is. She climbs in when she hears Edmund approaching. He also climbs into the wardrobe expecting to find Lucy, but instead finds the snowy wood in Narnia. A reindeer-drawn sled driven by a dwarf appears. On a seat behind the dwarf is a very tall, beautiful woman dressed in white fur and holding a long, gold wand—the White Witch.

The White Witch discovers that Edmund is a human boy and tricks him into telling her all about Lucy, the faun, Peter, and Susan. After the witch leaves, Lucy and Edmund find each other. Lucy is happy because Edmund can tell the others that her stories of Narnia are true, but when they return Edmund lies and tells Peter and Susan that he and Lucy were pretending. Lucy rushes out of the room and Peter, the oldest, scolds Edmund for being so mean and indulging her stories.

Peter and Susan, worried something is wrong with Lucy, go to the professor for help. They are surprised when he tells them Lucy might be telling the truth. After that they make sure things go better for Lucy. That might have been the end of it, but on another rainy day all four children climb into the wardrobe to avoid a sightseeing party that is touring the old house. Once inside, they discover that Lucy’s stories are true because they find themselves in the wood. They borrow the fur coats to keep warm and follow Lucy to Mr. Tumnus’s cave. They are distressed to find Mr. Tumnus gone and his tidy home wrecked. He has been arrested by the witch’s chief of secret police.

The children decide to help Mr. Tumnus and wonder what to do—until they meet Mr. Beaver. He tells them that the great Lion, Aslan, may be in Narnia. They don’t know who Aslan is, but all of them, except for Edmund, feel wonderful at the sound of his name. Edmund feels a sense of horror. Mr. Beaver cautiously leads them back to his den where they meet Mrs. Beaver. The Beavers tell them that Mr. Tumnus has likely been taken to the witch’s house and turned into a statue. Mr. Beaver also tells them that the faun has been charged with taking the children to Aslan.

Mr. Beaver explains a Narnian prophecy: that when four human children sit upon the thrones in the castle at Cair Paravel, the witch’s wintry reign will end and she will die. This is why they must meet Aslan at the Stone Table as quickly as possible—the witch intends to kill the children to prevent the prophecy from coming true.

They now notice that Edmund is gone. Peter wants to mount a search, but Mr. Beaver tells them that Edmund has gone to the White Witch. If they are to save Edmund and themselves they must leave immediately to avoid being caught.

Edmund makes his way to the witch’s castle where he finds the courtyard full of statues. Edmund is treated very cruelly there, especially after the witch finds that his brother and sisters are not with him. He tells her that they are at the Beavers’ house so she sends Fenris Ulf, the wolf who is chief of her secret police, ahead to kill anyone there and, if they are gone, to meet her at the Stone Table.

Meanwhile, the Beavers and the children rush out into the cold, snowy night. They march for a long time then hide in a secret den that Mr. Beaver leads them to. When they wake in the morning they hear bells and worry it might be the witch’s sled. They are delighted to find instead that it is Father Christmas. The witch’s hold on Narnia must be weakening. Father Christmas gives them each gifts including a sword and shield for Peter, a horn for Susan, and a small liquid-filled bottle for Lucy.

During that same night Edmund has been forced to sit without a coat beside the witch as her sled covers mile after mile through the forest. He was covered with snow all night and is now wet to his skin. In the morning they come upon a party of forest creatures enjoying a feast that Father Christmas has given them. The witch is enraged to find out that her hold on the land is weakening and she turns the whole party to stone.

When they start out again Edmund notices it is getting warmer and the snow is getting wet. The snow continues to melt and the sled struggles until it can no longer move. The other children and the Beavers realize that the witch must be slowed by the thaw so they also slow to enjoy the spring that is blossoming around them.

As the sun goes down the children and the Beavers climb a hill and at the top they find the Stone Table, a gray slab of stone supported by four upright stones. To their right they see Aslan sitting in a crowd of creatures along with two leopards who carry his crown and standard.

At first the children are afraid to approach the lion, but eventually Peter moves forward and Aslan welcomes them. Aslan asks where the fourth child is and Mr. Beaver says that Edmund has gone over to the White Witch. Lucy asks if anything can be done for Edmund. Aslan says that all will be done, but it will be hard. Aslan takes Peter to the edge of the hilltop and shows him the castle where he will be king. Suddenly they hear Susan’s horn. Peter rushes off and finds her being chased into a tree by Fenris Ulf. Peter slays the wolf with his sword, but another wolf escapes.

Aslan sends his centaurs and eagles after the wolf, but it finds its way back to the witch. She sends the wolf to summon all her people to come fight. Then she has the dwarf tie Edmund to a tree. As she is about to kill him the eagles and centaurs arrive and rescue Edmund. The dwarf and witch escape, though.

The next morning when Peter, Susan, and Lucy wake, the Beavers tell them Edmund has been rescued. They find him talking with Aslan and Edmund tells them he is sorry. They don’t have much time to talk about it, though, because the dwarf comes and arranges a meeting between Aslan and the witch. She has come to remind Aslan of the Deep Magic by which every traitor belongs to her—and so Edmund’s life is forfeit by law.

Aslan admits that is true, but he has a private discussion with her and then announces the witch has given up her claim on Edmund. Instead of appearing defeated, she is oddly joyful. Aslan, on the other hand, is quiet and stern as they break camp and move to the Fords of Beruna. That night Susan and Lucy are so worried they cannot sleep. They go outside their tent and see Aslan walking into the woods. They follow him and see he is taking the route back to the Stone Table. In a clearing he discovers them, but allows them to accompany him. He is tired and overwhelmingly sad so he lets the girls stroke his fur to comfort him.

At the last tree before the clearing on the hilltop, Aslan tells the girls to hide. From there they see the witch’s people crowded around the stone table. Aslan walks proudly to the crowd and at first the witch’s army holds back in fear, but she orders Aslan be tied. Then the crowd beats him and drags him onto the stone table. The witch bares her arms and declares that the Deep Magic must be appeased. She will now rule Narnia forever and nothing can keep her from killing Edmund. As the girls cover their eyes she slays Aslan.

Afterward the hoard rushes past as the girls crouch in their hiding place. The girls go to Aslan and stay with him until morning, when friendly field mice gnaw away the ropes that bind him. The girls walk to the edge of the hilltop and as the sun rises they hear a deafening crack. They see the Stone Table has been broken in two and Aslan is gone. When Susan wonders out loud if it is more magic, the girls are overjoyed to hear Aslan’s voice reply that it is. They think it may be a ghost, but Aslan proves he is alive. He explains that, although the witch knew the Deep Magic, there is Deeper Magic from before the dawn of time that is even more powerful.

Susan and Lucy climb on Aslan’s back and he runs across Narnia to the witch’s castle where he breathes on the statues in her courtyard and halls, turning them back into living creatures. He tells everyone to follow him to fight the witch. They rush out from the castle and soon find Peter, Edmund and Aslan’s army in a battle with the witch and her minions. With a great roar Aslan jumps onto the witch. All the others who have followed him also attack. The witch is killed and her army quickly defeated.

Peter tells Aslan that they lasted as long as they did because Edmund destroyed the witch’s wand. He was badly wounded doing it, however. Lucy uses the liquid from the bottle Father Christmas gave her to heal Edmund, as well as others who were wounded in the fight.

The next day the children, Aslan, and his people march to Cair Paravel. The children are crowned and Aslan quietly leaves. The children grow to be great Kings and Queens and govern Narnia well.

One day Mr. Tumnus comes to tell them the White Stag has been spotted—the White Stag who grants wishes if you catch him. The Kings and Queens hunt the stag and follow it into a thicket. They notice the thicket is very familiar and soon they find the lamppost. As they continue walking they are no longer among trees but among long fur coats. Suddenly they tumble out of the wardrobe. They are mere children once more, and scarcely a moment has passed since they climbed in to hide from the sightseers.

Later they tell the professor the whole story and wonder if they might ever get back to Narnia. He tells them that they will not likely get back through the wardrobe. But they will return to Narnia some day—when they aren’t looking for it, and when they least expect it.