| Aslan | |
|---|---|
| Narnia character | |
 Aslan the lion (byMaurice Harron (2016), CS Lewis Square,Belfast). | |
| First appearance | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) |
| Last appearance | The Last Battle (1956) |
| Created by | C. S. Lewis |
| Voiced by | Liam Neeson others,seeAdaptations |
| In-universe information | |
| Race | TalkingLion /Deity |
| Family | Emperor-Over-the-Sea (father) |
| Nationality | Aslan's Country |
Aslan (/ˈæslæn,ˈæz-/) is a major character inC. S. Lewis'sThe Chronicles of Narnia series. Unlike any other character in the Narnian series, Aslan appears in all seven chronicles.[1] Aslan is depicted as atalkinglion and is described as the King of Beasts, the son of theEmperor-Over-the-Sea,[2] and the King above all High Kings in Narnia.[3]
C. S. Lewis often capitalizes the wordlion in reference to Aslan since he parallelsJesus as the "Lion of Judah" inChristian theology.[4] The wordaslan means "lion" inTurkish.[4][5]
Aslan is first mentioned byMr. Beaver when the Pevensie children arrive inNarnia. He is described by Mr. Beaver as being the true king of Narnia who has returned to help the Pevensies to free Narnia of theWhite Witch's rule.
Mr and Mrs. Beaver guidePeter,Susan andLucy to thestone table to meet Aslan. They inform Aslan thatEdmund has betrayed them by joining the White Witch. Aslan sends some of his followers to rescue Edmund. The next day, Aslan is approached by the White Witch who demands her right to kill Edmund, as the deep magic states that all traitors belong to her. Aslan discusses the matter in private with the Witch, persuading her to release Edmund.
That same night, Aslan travels to the stone table with Susan and Lucy. The Witch and her followers bind Aslan to the stone table—it is revealed that Aslan had agreed to be killed to save Edmund. However, due to a deeper magic (which the Witch was unaware of), Aslan is brought back to life and manages to rescue his followers who have been turned to stone by the Witch. He brings his followers to the battle where he kills the Witch himself, ending her tyranny once and for all.
Aslan is present at thecoronation of the four Pevensie children. He then leaves to attend to other duties with Mr. Beaver convincing the Pevensie children that he will be coming and going.
The Pevensies are summoned into Narnia from their world to helpCaspian—the rightful King of Narnia—overthrow his usurpingUncle Miraz and restore freedom to the land. When they get lost in the forest, Aslan calls Lucy to lead her siblings to him; some obey more faithfully than others. Aslan helps Peter, Edmund, andTrumpkin the Dwarf to come to Caspian's aid in time to thwart an attempt on his life. Aslan then leads an army of awakened Trees andMaenads to victory against Miraz'sTelmarine occupation. He later crowns Caspian as King and creates a door whereby surviving Telmarines can leave the Narnian world if they so choose.
Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are transported to the eastern ocean of the Narnian world along with their cousin, the recalcitrantEustace, where they join King Caspian on a seafaring journey. When Eustace falls under an enchantment and becomes adragon, Aslan delivers him from the enchantment. Aslan appears at various points of the journey to provide guidance. When they reach the world's end, Aslan appears as alamb before returning to his usual form. He showsReepicheep (a talking mouse) the way toAslan's Country.
Aslan brings Eustace and his classmateJill to Narnia. He explains to Jill that she and Eustace are charged with the quest of finding King Caspian's son,Prince Rilian (who had disappeared years before), and gives her four Signs to guide them on their quest. Aslan makes no further appearances until the end of the story, but his Signs prove central to the successful quest. When he returns Eustace and Jill to their world, Aslan shows himself to the bullies at their school to frighten them.
Aslan's influence is at first hidden from the characters. Prior to the story's opening, he delivered the infant Prince Cor ofArchenland from his enemies to aCalormene fisherman who named himShasta. At one point in the book, Aslan—pretending to be a common "witless" lion—chases Shasta and the talking horseBree so that they will meetAravis andHwin, who become their traveling companions. He comforts Shasta in the form of acat and defends him as he sleeps; later, he chases Shasta and the others so that they will reach Archenland in time to warn that nation of the impending attack of PrinceRabadash of Calormen. After Rabadash is defeated, Aslan turns him into a donkey as punishment.
This book tells the story of Aslan's creation of Narnia, his crowning of its first King and Queen, and his gift of the power of speech to some of the animals. Aslan tells the two main characters—Digory Kirke andPolly Plummer—that the evil Jadis (later to become the White Witch) will pose a great threat to the Narnians. Aslan charges Digory and Polly with a quest to acquire a magicapple that, when planted, will protect Narnia from Jadis.
ThoughShift the Ape and the other villains act in his name (dressing the naïve donkeyPuzzle in a lion-skin), Aslan himself only appears late in the story in a paradise entered through a stable door. He brings Narnia to an end, and leads into his own country such of its inhabitants who, coming to the Stable Door as the world ends, look into his face and love him, some to their own surprise. At the end of the book, he informs the other characters that "all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead", and that the afterlife in which they now find themselves is the true reality as they go "further up and further in".
Although Aslan can be read as an original character, parallels exist withJesus.[6] According to the author, Aslan is not anallegorical portrayal of Christ, but rather a suppositionalincarnation of Christ himself:
If Aslan represented the immaterialDeity, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however, he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, "What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?" This is not allegory at all.[7]
In one of his last letters, Lewis wrote, "Since Narnia is a world of Talking Beasts, I thought He [Christ] would become a Talking Beast there, as He became a man here. I pictured Him becoming a lion there because (a) the lion is supposed to be the king of beasts; (b) Christ is called "The Lion of Judah" in the Bible; (c) I'd been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the work."[8]
The similarity between the death and resurrection of Aslan and thedeath and resurrection of Jesus is obvious; one author has observed that like Jesus, Aslan was ridiculed before his death, mourned, and then discovered to be absent from the place where his body had been laid.[9][10][11] In this interpretation, the girls Susan and Lucy who witness Aslan's death, mourn him and witness his resurrection would stand forThe Three Marys of Christian tradition.
Aslan's words to the Calormene inThe Last Battle ("I take to me the services which thou hast done to [the false godTash]... if any man swear by [him] and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by [Aslan] that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him"), ratifying the good deeds the latter did even in service to a false god, have been the subject of controversy because they implicitly endorseinclusivism.[12]
In the1967 TV serial, Aslan was portrayed byBernard Kay.
In the1979 animated film, Aslan was voiced byStephen Thorne, who later voiced Aslan in all seven of the BBC Radio 4 Tales of Narnia series.[13][14]
In theBBC television adaptations ofThe Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan was performed byAilsa Berk and William Todd-Jones and voiced byRonald Pickup.[15][16]
In theFocus on the Family Radio Theatre dramatisations, Aslan was portrayed byDavid Suchet.
In the 2005 filmThe Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, theCGI Aslan was voiced byLiam Neeson. Neeson also voiced Aslan in the sequel,The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in 2008, and in the third film in the series,The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 2010.[17]
In 2025, it was reported thatMeryl Streep was in talks to portray Aslan in the 2026 Netflix adaptationNarnia: The Magician's Nephew helmed byGreta Gerwig.[18]
In 2011, Aslan was one of eight British magical figures, which included characters fromArthurian legend,Harry Potter, andDiscworld, commemorated on aseries of UK postage stamps issued by theRoyal Mail.[19]
