Lewis Used Arthurian Tales And Mythology To Make His Novels

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Lewis used arthurian tales and mythology to make his novels more appealing to children. British mythology, explicitly the “Arthurian...themes” that he “incorporates” can be traced back to his early childhood readings and studies of the old British legends of Merlin, King Arthur, and the knights of the round table. (Tolhurst) This type of mythology is clearly integrated in chapter twelve of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Peter rescues his sisters who are the damsels in distress from the evil wolf correspondingly as saving the defenceless women is a common theme in arthurian tales. Courage when the knight is outmatched is also a theme of british mythology: Peter, the knight in this case, “did not feel very brave; indeed, he felt…show more content…
(Lewis 19) The Witch intended to sacrifice Edmund on the “stone table” but settles on a trade to sacrifice Aslan instead. This shows Aslan 's forgiveness of Edmund and his sacrifice for a sinner. “Ed” did not deserve to be forgiven or accepted into Aslan’s army, though Aslan loved him infinitely much that he did. Edmund is symbolic of the sinners and faithless in the Bible. How Jesus was willing to die for them, he who had done no wrong, out of love. Lewis knows that the idea of dying for someone else is difficult to understand as a child and he puts it in his novel to give children access to this story on a much more fundamental level. Instead of trying to understand how Jesus could die for everyone, as the Bible states, try to understand how Aslan could die for one person, Edmund. Aslan dying for Edmund, was representative of Jesus Christ 's death, only simplified for a younger audience.
Lewis also explains through the words of Aslan the significance of Bible story of Jesus’s resurrection through the resurrection of Aslan. After the White Witch kills Aslan at the stone table, he at animates the next morning much to Lucy 's and Susan’s wonder. Aslan explains that “when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.” (Lewis 90) This resurrection is mirrored in the Bible to Jesus’ who “was buried, and...rose
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