The right to rule: crowned by Aslan, usurpers and reluctant kings

• In brief, in Narnia, the crown comes from Aslan and obliges: Frank and Helen receive duties before being crowned.
• Did you know? The usurpers take power by force or deceit (the White Witch, Caspian I, Miraz, Shift); legitimate kings often receive it against their will (Caspian X, Cor).
• Lewis considered himself a democrat because he believed in the Fall: no one is good enough to be given unchecked power over others. His good kings are those who know it.
• Narnia’s genealogies, Archenland, Telmar, and Calormen, with their family trees, are detailed below.

The crown that obliges

The first coronation in Narnia, in The Magician’s Nephew, rewards neither strength nor birth. Aslan chooses a London cabby, Frank, and his wife Helen. Before crowning them, he asks them questions: will they work the land, rule justly, protect the talking beasts without enslaving them, and lead the charge if an enemy comes? The crown comes after the duties, not before.

This scene is remembered throughout the series. Narnia is only well governed when a Son of Adam or Daughter of Eve sits on the throne, and those who rule against Aslan are always usurpers. The dates given on this page are Narnian years, taken from Lewis’s timeline, which he established for himself and was published after his death.

Taking a throne or receiving it

If one sorts Narnia’s monarchs not by family but by how they came to power, a pattern emerges. The details are in the data below.

• By force. The White Witch proclaims herself queen in 900 and imposes a hundred years of winter. Caspian I the Conqueror invades Narnia in 1998. Miraz murders his brother in 2290. Each silences something: festivity, trees, beasts, or the memory of Old Narnia.
• By deceit. In The Last Battle, the ape Shift doesn’t even take the crown: he speaks for a false Aslan and delivers the country to the Calormenes. It’s the most modern usurpation in the series.
• By claimed divine right. The Tisrocs of Calormen claim descent from the god Tash. Their title is always followed by “may he live forever”: a power that claims sacredness and answers to no one.
• By gift, often against one’s will. Legitimate monarchs receive their crown, and most didn’t seek it. A cabby, four evacuee children, a fugitive prince, and a Calormene orphan.

Kings against their will

Two scenes say what Lewis expects of a king. In Prince Caspian, Aslan asks the young Caspian if he feels capable of ruling. Caspian answers no, that he’s only a boy. Aslan replies that this is exactly why he is: if he thought himself capable, he wouldn’t be.

In The Horse and His Boy, Shasta learns he is Cor, the heir of Archenland, and wishes his twin Corin to rule instead. King Lune explains what kingship is: being first in every desperate charge and last in every desperate retreat, and when famine strikes the land, wearing finer clothes and laughing louder at a thinner meal than one’s subjects. Ruling, for Lewis, means serving on the front line.

Lewis and power

Lewis has sometimes been considered a nostalgic for kings. His essays are more nuanced. In “Equality”, published in The Spectator in 1943, he explains he is a democrat because he believes in the Fall: no man is good enough to be given unchecked power over others. He adds that humans need something to revere, and that monarchy, reduced to a symbolic role, can offer this without danger.

Narnia applies this double principle. Its good kings never rule alone: Aslan chooses them, can judge them, and they know it. Its bad kings are those who think themselves above all, like Miraz or the Tisroc. This is likely why the last king, Tirian, is also the most touching: he loses everything, but never stops obeying one greater than himself.

The lineages, kingdom by kingdom

Narnia: the House of Frank

Frank I and Helen (year 1) rule over the brand new Narnia. Their children marry nymphs, wood-gods, and river-gods: some fairy blood flows in the veins of Narnia’s and Archenland’s kings. Their descendants rule for centuries, but we know very little about them.

• Frank V (around year 180) is only known because his youngest son, Col, leaves to found Archenland.
• King Gale (around year 302), Frank’s ninth descendant, delivers the Lone Islands from a dragon. The grateful inhabitants make him emperor: this is why Narnia’s kings also hold the title Lord of the Lone Islands.
• Queen Jewel is a legendary figure, so beautiful her reflection stayed a year and a day in the waters where she leaned. Lewis’s timeline places her around year 1502, but the unicorn Reepicheep in The Last Battle places her before the White Witch’s reign. The two indications don’t match.

Then the lineage dies out or is lost. In 898, the White Witch returns from the North and proclaims herself queen of Narnia. For a hundred years, from 900 to 1000, she imposes winter without Christmas. Mr. Beaver reminds everyone she has no right to the throne: she isn’t human, she descends from Lilith, Adam’s first wife in an old legend, and from giants.

Old Narnia’s Golden Age

In year 1000, the prophecy is fulfilled: when two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit on the four thrones of Cair Paravel, the White Witch’s reign will end. Aslan crowns Peter the Magnificent, High King, Susan the Gentle, Edmund the Just, and Lucy the Valiant. Their fifteen-year reign is remembered in Narnia as the Golden Age. They defeat the giants of the North, sign treaties, and abolish wicked laws. In 1015, they disappear while chasing the White Stag, leaving no heir. We don’t know who succeeds them.

Telmar and the Telmarine dynasty

Telmar’s history is one of the strangest in the Chronicles. Around year 300, Calormenes colonize the land west of Narnia and behave so wickedly Aslan turns them into dumb beasts. The land stays empty. In 460, pirates from the South Seas, who came from our world through a magic cave, land and found a people: the Telmarines. Aslan reveals this at the end of Prince Caspian.

In 1998, Caspian I the Conqueror invades and conquers Narnia. His descendants, all named Caspian, rule for three centuries. They silence the trees, banish talking beasts and dwarfs, and even forbid speaking of Old Narnia. The Telmarines fear the sea and the woods, which they believe to be haunted.

In 2290, Miraz murders his brother Caspian IX and takes the throne, first as Lord Protector, then as king. He marries Prunaprismia. When a son is born in 2303, young Caspian, their nephew and legitimate heir, must flee. With the help of Old Narnians and the Pevensie children, called by Susan’s horn, Caspian overthrows his uncle. Miraz is killed treacherously by his own lords during his duel against Peter.

Caspian X, called the Seafarer, rules from 2303 to 2356. He restores Narnia to its true inhabitants, defeats the giants of the North, and sails to the world’s end aboard the Dawn Treader. He marries Ramandu’s daughter, a sleeping star. Their son, Rilian, is the first crown prince not named Caspian. Kidnapped by the Lady of the Green Kirtle ten years earlier, Rilian succeeds his father in 2356, the very day of his death.

After Rilian, the lineage is unknown for two centuries, until Erlian, then his son Tirian, seventh descendant of Rilian. Tirian is the last king of Narnia: he rules until the end of the world, in 2555. This Telmarine lineage will have lasted five and a half centuries.

Archenland: the line of Col

Archenland is the small mountainous kingdom south of Narnia. In 180, Col, Frank V’s youngest son, settles there with companions and becomes its first king. The two kingdoms are thus brothers, and remain allies throughout their history.

• Olvin (around year 407) defeats the two-headed giant Pire, whom he turns to stone. The giant becomes Mount Pire, which still dominates the country, and Olvin wins the hand of Lady Liln.
• Lune rules in Anvard during the Golden Age. His twin sons, Cor and Corin, are born around year 1000. A centaur predicts Cor will one day save his country. The Lord Bar, a traitorous chancellor, then kidnaps the baby, who grows up in Calormen as Shasta. In 1014, Shasta warns Lune of Rabadash’s attack on Anvard: the prophecy is fulfilled and he is recognized as the crown prince. Corin, delighted to remain a simple prince, becomes the best boxer in the country.
• Cor marries Aravis, the Calormene Tarkheena who had fled with him. Their son Ram the Great (around year 1050) is the most famous of all Archenland’s kings.
• Prince Corin rules Anvard at the time of Prince Caspian: it’s to him that Doctor Cornelius advises Caspian to flee.

Calormen: the Tisrocs

Calormen, the vast southern empire, is founded around year 204 by outlaws from Archenland, who cross the desert and establish themselves further south. The empire grows quickly and becomes the great power of the world. Its monarch holds the title of Tisroc, always followed by the formula “may he live forever”. The Tisrocs claim descent from the god Tash.

Lewis gives no list of Tisrocs, but a few names appear. Aravis’s proud recitation traces her lineage back to Ardeeb Tisroc, then Ilsombreh Tisroc, followed by three generations of Tarkaans until her father, Kidrash Tarkaan. The Tisroc in The Horse and His Boy is an old, cautious, and cynical politician. His eldest son, Rabadash, attacks Anvard out of thwarted love, is defeated, and is turned into a donkey by Aslan. He regains human form in Tash’s temple, on condition he never strays more than ten miles from it. As Tisroc, he can never go to war again: history officially calls him Rabadash the Peacemaker, but everyone nicknames him Rabadash the Ridiculous.

The family tree

The data on this page describe the tree as nodes (characters or groups) and links (parent, spouse, sibling, multi-generational descent, succession, Aslan’s coronation). Unknown generations are grouped into a single node, to avoid inventing anything.

Gaps in the story

The Chronicles leave great gaps: who rules Narnia between 1015 and 1998? Who succeeds Rilian? Fans have filled these blanks with hypotheses: Corin, for example, might have ruled Narnia after the Pevensie’s disappearance. But none are based on Lewis’s text. Here, we stick to what the books and the author’s timeline say.

For the wars these monarchs waged, see Neither pacifist nor warmonger. For the dates, see The history of Narnia.

• tree —
  • nodes —
    • Aslan — id : aslan — name : Aslan — kingdom : Narnia — period : always — role : founder — note : He crowns the first rulers and all legitimate kings derive their authority from him.
    • Frank, the Coachman (King Frank I) — id : frank-1 — name : Frank I, former coachman — kingdom : Narnia — period : year 1 — role : king — note : First king of Narnia.
    • Helen, Queen Helen (Nellie) — id : helene — name : Helen — kingdom : Narnia — period : year 1 — role : queen — note : First queen of Narnia.
    • frank-1 — children-frank — In brief : The children of Frank and Helen — Narnia — after year 1 — lineage — They marry nymphs, wood gods, and river gods; from them descend the kings of Narnia and Archenland.
    • Frank V — id : frank-5 — name : Frank V — kingdom : Narnia — period : around year 180 — role : king — note : Known only by Lewis's chronology.
    • The Storm King (Gale) — id : gale — name : The Storm King (Gale) — kingdom : Narnia — period : around year 302 — role : king — note : Ninth descendant of Frank; delivers the Lone Islands from a dragon and becomes their emperor.
    • The Swanwhite Queen — id : swanwhite — name : The Swanwhite Queen — kingdom : Narnia — period : around year 1502 according to chronology, before the Witch according to Joy — role : queen — note : Legendary queen; her exact place is uncertain.
    • Jadis, the White Witch — id : jadis — name : Jadis, the White Witch — kingdom : Narnia — period : 900-1000 — role : usurper — note : Declares herself queen of Narnia and imposes a hundred years of winter.
    • Lilith — id : lilith — name : Lilith — kingdom : — — period : origins — role : legendary ancestry — note : According to Mr Beaver, Jadis descends from Lilith, Adam's first wife, and the giants.
    • Peter Pevensie — id : peter — name : Peter the Magnificent, High King — kingdom : Narnia — period : 1000-1015 — role : High King
    • Susan Pevensie — id : susan — name : Susan the Gentle — kingdom : Narnia — period : 1000-1015 — role : queen
    • Edmund Pevensie — id : edmund — name : Edmund the Just — kingdom : Narnia — period : 1000-1015 — role : king
    • Lucy Pevensie — id : lucy — name : Lucy the Valiant — kingdom : Narnia — period : 1000-1015 — role : queen
    • pirates — In brief : The pirates of the South Seas — Telmar — around year 460 — founders — They come from our world through a magical cave and found the Telmarine dynasty.
    • Caspian I the Conqueror — id : caspian-1 — name : Caspian I the Conqueror — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : 1998 — role : king — note : Conquers Narnia.
    • Caspian II to Caspian VIII — id : caspian-2-8 — name : Caspian II to Caspian VIII — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : 1998-2290 — lineage — Eight little-known generations who suppress the memory of Old Narnia.
    • Caspian IX — id : caspian-9 — name : Caspian IX — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : until 2290 — role : king — note : Murdered by his brother Miraz.
    • Miraz — id : miraz — name : Miraz — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : 2290-2303 — role : usurper — note : Lord Protector then king; killed in 2303.
    • Prunaprismia — id : prunaprismia — name : Prunaprismia — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : 2290-2303 — role : queen
    • Miraz's son — id : miraz — name : The son of Miraz — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : born in 2303 — role : prince — note : His birth threatens Caspian's life.
    • Caspian X — id : caspian-10 — name : Caspian X the Seafarer — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : 2303-2356 — role : king
    • Ramandu — id : ramandu — name : Ramandu — kingdom : Ramandu's Island — period : — — role : star — note : A star at rest.
    • Ramandu's daughter, Queen of Narnia — id : ramandu-daughter — name : Ramandu's daughter — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : queen from 2310 to 2345 — role : queen
    • Prince Rilian — id : rilian — name : Rilian — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : 2356-? — role : prince
    • unknown-kings — Five unknown kings — Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — 2356-2555 — lineage — Tirian is the seventh descendant of Rilian.
    • King Erlian — id : erlian — name : Erlian — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : before 2555 — role : king — note : Father of Tirian.
    • Tirian — id : tirian — name : Tirian — kingdom : Narnia (Telmarine dynasty) — period : until 2555 — role : king — note : Last king of Narnia.
    • Col — id : col — name : Col — kingdom : Archenland — period : around year 180 — role : king — note : Younger son of Frank V; first king of Archenland.
    • Olvin of Archenland and the Giant Pyrus — id : olvin — name : Olvin — kingdom : Archenland — period : around year 407 — role : king — note : Victor over the Giant Pyrus.
    • Shasta (Prince Cor) — id : cor — name : Cor (Shasta) — kingdom : Archenland — period : after year 1014 — role : king
    • Aravis — id : aravis — name : Aravis — kingdom : Archenland — period : after year 1014 — role : queen — note : Tarkheena of Calormen who became queen of Archenland.
    • Corin — id : corin — name : Corin — kingdom : Archenland — period : born around year 1000 — role : prince
    • Ram the Great — id : ram — name : Ram the Great — kingdom : Archenland — period : around year 1050 — role : king — note : Most famous of the kings of Archenland.
    • Nain — id : nain — name : Nain — kingdom : Archenland — period : around year 2303 — role : king — note : King at the time of Prince Caspian.
    • Tash — id : tash — name : Tash — kingdom : Calormen — period : — — role : legendary ancestry — note : The Tisrocs claim descent from him.
    • The family and ancestors of Aravis — id : ardeeb — name : Ardeeb Tisroc — kingdom : Calormen — period : unknown — role : tisroc
    • The family and ancestors of Aravis — id : ilsombreh — name : Ilsombreh Tisroc — kingdom : Calormen — period : unknown — role : tisroc
    • The family and ancestors of Aravis — id : kidrash-1 — name : Kidrash Tarkaan (the elder) — kingdom : Calormen — period : unknown — role : noble
    • The family and ancestors of Aravis — id : rishti — name : Rishti Tarkaan — kingdom : Calormen — period : unknown — role : noble
    • The family and ancestors of Aravis — id : kidrash-2 — name : Kidrash Tarkaan — kingdom : Calormen — period : around year 1014 — role : noble — note : Father of Aravis.
    • The Tisroc (may he live forever) — id : tisroc-ce — name : The Tisroc (may he live forever) — kingdom : Calormen — period : around year 1014 — role : tisroc
    • Rabadash the Ridiculous (Rabadash the Pacifier) — id : rabadash — name : Rabadash the Pacifier — kingdom : Calormen — period : after year 1014 — role : tisroc — note : Changed into a donkey by Aslan; will reign in peace as he cannot leave Tashbaan.
    • The Tisroc of The Last Battle — id : tirian — name : The Tisroc of The Last Battle — kingdom : Calormen — period : year 2555 — role : tisroc
  • types of links —
    • parent — father or mother of
    • spouse — married to
    • sibling — brother or sister of
    • lineage — descendant over several generations (unknown intermediates)
    • succession — succeeded by
    • crowning — crowned by
• lists —
  • Narnia —
    • Frank I and Helen (year 1)
    • …
    • Frank V (around year 180)
    • The Storm King (Gale) (around year 302)
    • Jadis, the usurper (900-1000)
    • Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy (1000-1015)
    • … gap …
    • Caspian I (1998) to Caspian IX
    • Miraz, the usurper (2290-2303)
    • Caspian X (2303-2356)
    • Rilian (2356-?)
    • … five generations …
    • Erlian
    • Tirian (until year 2555)
  • Archenland —
    • Col (around year 180)
    • Olvin (around year 407)
    • Lune (around year 1014)
    • Cor and Aravis
    • Ram the Great (around year 1050)
    • Nain (around year 2303)
  • Calormen —
    • Ardeeb Tisroc
    • Ilsombreh Tisroc
    • the Tisroc of The Horse and His Boy (around year 1014)
    • Rabadash the Pacifier
    • the Tisroc of The Last Battle (year 2555)
• ways to access power —
  • Frank, the Coachman (King Frank I) — sovereign : King Frank I and Helen — kingdom : Narnia — period : year 1 — way : crowned by Aslan — note : A coachman and his wife, chosen because they are simple and just; Aslan gives them a crown before entrusting them with duties.
  • Olvin — id : olvin — name : Olvin — kingdom : Archenland — period : around year 180 — way : heritage — note : Younger son of Frank V; he founds a sister kingdom to Narnia.
  • The Storm King (Gale) — id : gale — name : The Storm King (Gale) — kingdom : Narnia and the Lone Islands — period : around year 302 — way : heritage, then popular recognition — note : The inhabitants of the Lone Islands, delivered from a dragon, make him their emperor.
  • Jadis, the White Witch — id : jadis — name : Jadis, the White Witch — kingdom : Narnia — period : 900-1000 — way : usurpation — note : She declares herself queen; Mr Beaver reminds that she is not human and has no right to the throne.
  • Peter Pevensie — id : peter — name : Peter the High King — kingdom : Narnia — period : 1000-1015 — way : crowned by Aslan (prophecy) — note : The prophecy of the four thrones of Cair Paravel is fulfilled.
  • Aravis — id : aravis — name : Aravis — kingdom : Archenland — period : after year 1014 — way : heritage recognized, accepted despite himself — note : Kidnapped as a baby, raised in Calormen; he would rather his twin Corin reign.
  • Ramandu — id : ramandu — name : Ramandu — kingdom : Ramandu's Island — period : — — way : divine right claimed — note : They claim descent from the god Tash; the title is always followed by "may he live forever".
  • Caspian X — id : caspian-10 — name : Caspian X — kingdom : Narnia — period : 2303-2356 — way : legitimate heritage, confirmed by Aslan — note : He says he does not feel up to it; Aslan answers that if he thought himself capable, it would prove he was not.
  • Prunaprismia — id : prunaprismia — name : Prunaprismia — kingdom : Narnia — period : — — way : heritage — note : Mother of Aravis.
  • Tirian — id : tirian — name : Tirian — kingdom : Narnia — period : until year 2555 — way : heritage — note : He says he does not feel up to it; Aslan answers that if he thought himself capable, it would prove he was not.
  • Shift — id : shift — name : Shift — kingdom : Narnia — period : year 2555 — way : imposture — note : The ape does not take the crown: he speaks in the name of a false Aslan and delivers the country to Calormen.
  • Tirian — id : tirian — name : Tirian — kingdom : Narnia — period : until year 2555 — way : heritage — note : The last king: he loses his kingdom by remaining faithful.
• lewis's text —
  • title — Equality
  • support — The Spectator
  • date — 1943
  • idea — Democrat because he believes in the Fall; human need to honor something that can be satisfied by symbolic monarchy.

See also

• In brief: From the First Dawn to the Last Night—the history of Narnia
• Archenland
• Calormen
• Telmar
• Cair Paravel
• The Four Thrones of Cair Paravel
• The Crowns of Narnia
• The Telmarines
• The Calormenes (Tarkaans, Tisroc)
• Frank, the Coachman (King Frank I)
• Caspian X
• Tirian
• The Lune King of Archenland
• The Tisroc (may he live forever)
• The Complete List of Characters
• Jadis, the White Witch
• Miraz
• Shift
• Shasta (Prince Cor)
• Former soldier: Lewis and the Nine Battles of Narnia