Fr. Michael Ward believes that each of the seven chronicles of Narnia can be seen to echo the seven planets of medieval cosmology in their themes, characters, and mood.
In The Narnia Code, Father Michael Ward has abridged and made more accessible Planet Narnia, his doctoral thesis on C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia.
The Narnia Code is a welcome volume for those who are too busy or too impecunious to splash out for the larger tome. I have been familiar with the outline of Fr Ward’s theory for some time, but it was only in my preparation for teaching a course on Lewis that I got around to learning more about Ward’s somewhat controversial theory.
In The Narnia Code, Ward tells how he was intrigued by the Narnia stories as a boy, and as he grew up began to study the rest of Lewis’ works. Wondering if there was a key to understanding Lewis’ intent, he explored various theories. Some scholars discerned a hidden pattern in the Narnia tales: the seven books echoed the seven deadly sins or the seven virtues. Others discerned secret meaningful allegories and symbols.
It was in reading Lewis’ book The Discarded Image, combined with one of his poems on the planets, that the light bulb went on: Ward discovered what he believes is a pattern in the Narnia tales that unlocks a deeper structure and meaning.
Put simply, Ward thinks Lewis patterned the seven stories to reflect the seven planets of medieval cosmology. Each book, according to Ward, simmers with the personalities of the planets. To explain his theory one first needs to understand medieval cosmology and Lewis’ love for that world view. The medieval astronomer perceived seven heavenly bodies that circle the earth: Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the sun, the moon, Mercury, and Saturn. Each of the seven planets occupied a ring around the earth, and each ring was dominated by the ruling planetary personality of that ring. Lewis used this conceit in his space fiction, naming the tutelary spirit the Oyarsa of that planet. In The Discarded Image, Lewis explains this cosmology and admits to being delighted by it—though he understood that modern science disproved its facticity.
Father Ward believes each of the seven chronicles of Narnia can be seen to echo the seven planets in their themes, characters, and mood. Thus, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is jovial in spirit. Prince Caspian martial, The Silver Chair lunar, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader solar, The Horse and His Boy mercurial, The Magician’s Nephew echoes Venus, and The Last Battle is saturnine.
It was the mystery of why Father Christmas appears in the first story that set Ward thinking. Critics disliked Father Christmas’ presence in the story. It was a plot hole: “Why Christmas when Christ is not present in Narnia?” Tolkien suggested Santa’s removal. Lewis kept him. Why? Because, Ward thinks, Father Christmas helps to maintain the jovial spirit of the book.
Ward’s theory is intriguing, and as he marshals his argument it must be admitted that the connections are stronger in some areas than others. One can see the jovial spirit in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Dawn Treader certainly seems solar while Silver Chair is full of darkness and the silvery moon. Other details seem more strained. Nevertheless, Ward makes his arguments well, and he overcame my initial skepticism.
Questions remain however. Lewis’ own descriptions of the writing of the chronicles never betrays such an intent. The first book, he said, simply grew from an image of a faun in a wintry wood that had been in his mind for years. Then Aslan “came bounding in,” and everything else fell into place. If there is a secret cosmological symbolism in the chronicles, it would seem that it was not conceived from the beginning, but woven in as the books were written. The method and madness of the creative process is mysterious. As Lewis never hinted at such a plan, it could be that the pattern Ward has discerned flowed from Lewis’ love of medieval cosmology and was a subconscious addition to the chronicles.
Ward’s theory, while intriguing, leads one to ask, “So what?” What does the secret medieval cosmological pattern add to the stories? Is it important? If so, why was Lewis silent about it? If Lewis had an apologetic or evangelistic motive in writing, how does the medieval cosmological structure help to illuminate the truths in the story… and does it matter?
Father Ward explains that the hidden structure adds necessary verisimilitude. One usually thinks of fantasy fiction being convincing through the author’s depth and detail of description. Ward explains how Lewis stressed that a story needed to have such detailed description to make the fantasy world thoroughly believable, and he put this into practice in Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, where the descriptions of Mars and Venus exhibit both Lewis’ astounding imagination and power of description.
The cosmological structure of Narnia—if Ward is correct—provides a foundation of reality for the stories. They hang together because they are part of a greater pattern. Narnia seems more real because there is a foundational structure and plan; like the natural world, the parts function as cogs in a greater machine. This underlying structure therefore adds verisimilitude at an unconscious depth level, and it is right that this is hidden because the foundations of a building are properly underground.
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
The featured image is Oresme Spheres (detail) from “Le livre du Ciel et du Monde” (1377), and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.