“The witch knows the deep magic but there is a magic deeper still, which she has never known, for her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. In the stillness, in the dark before time ever began, there was a different incantation. When a willing victim who has committed no treachery offers his life in a traitor’s stead, the stone table will crack and death itself will be denied.”
The Christian allegory is clear here, with the resurrection of Aslan in the final episode of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He gave his life to save a sinner, and came back from the dead, thanks to a power that existed before the creation of the universe. The parallel is not exact, because Aslan does not ascend to heaven after that, instead heading off to help “other countries”. He is a wild animal at heart, who “needs to be free”, so the inspiration is there, but C.S. Lewis was not simply retelling the Bible story. Continue reading