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Ettinsmoor (derived from Ettins' Moor) was the Giant-inhabited land directly to the north of the Kingdom of Narnia, west of the Bight of Calormen, east of the Western Wild region, south of the Wild Lands of the North, bordered on the south by the River Shribble, and on the north by the Great Northern River. To the west it was bordered by the western mountains, and to the east of the Merpeople's sea nation by the Eastern Ocean. It is the only official nation (as recognised by the Kingdom of Narnia) in the Wild Lands of the North. Although the Wild Lands of the North would eventually be considered separate country north of Ettinsmoor.

The country was a rough and stony moor, traversed by many streams and rivers. Wild geese commonly flew over Ettinsmoor in the late autumn.

One of the main sights of the land, besides the ruined bridge and city, is also the current castle of Harfang where the so-called Gentle Giants live.

History[]

The Ettins were once a sophisticated species of Giants that built ancient cities and bridges in Ettinsmoor and their Giant neighbor country, the Wild Lands of the North during the Age of Conquest. However, some time during the Age of Winter, the Giants became wild and uncivilized. The inhabitants of Ettinsmoor became notorious for their stupidity and vicious temperament. Physically, they resembled rock formations when standing still, helping them to blend into their barren surroundings.

It is possible that the reason the Giants were once sophisticated is because they may have been ruled by Jadis the White Witch, who had Giant blood in her. When Jadis first came to Narnia, she was banished to the north, where she remained for 900 years. It is possible that during that time she ruled the Giants, and compelled them to build the ancient city that now lies in ruins. After she returned to and conquered Narnia, she most likely left the Giants in their own country where, without her guidance, the Giants degenerated into their brutish selves.

The northern Giants regularly raided their southern neighbors in Narnia for many years in the Golden Age. The High King Peter, during a northern expedition, finally declared war on the eastern side of the nation by recognizing it as its own independent nation, Ettinsmoor (having been a previously unnamed region). He defeated the Giants in the Ettinsmoor War in the Narnian-year 1014, and with this, they were forced into constructing Ettinsmoor as a new, united nation as part of the Narnian Empire, in which the River Shribble was its northern frontier. The Ettin inhabitants, however, were unable to establish for themselves a long-standing political system, and continued their savage and anarchic lifestyles, and during the second half of Narnia's Dark Age, the east side of the nation ceased to be part of the Narnian empire since Narnia itself was waning.

In the Age of Exploration, the Ettins were again encroaching on Narnian territory in the time of Caspian X, who defeated them in 2304, and forced them to pay tribute. At this point, the east of Ettinsmoor was reincorporated into the Narnian Empire as the Barony of Ettinsmoor, a new Narnian territory. While in ancient times the northern giants were historically a threat to Narnia and Archenland, in the later centuries they were a mere nuisance. However, some time during the Later Ages, outlaws of various species from Narnia rebelled, but were defeated and exiled from Narnia, and took refuge in the west of Ettinsmoor.

By 2534, King Erlian's father built three guard towers in the Lantern Waste, to guard Narnia from being attacked by northern outlaws; it is unknown whether these outlaws were Giants or not. When the giants did attack, Erlian was wounded and ultimately died. Tirian soon took his father's place.

Trivia[]

  • Ettinsmoor is spelt as "Ettinsmoor" in The Silver Chair, but as "Ettinsmuir" in The Last Battle. Both are acceptable spellings.
  • The word Ettin is an obsolete form of the word eten (meaning giant), and a "moor" is a high and open wasteland.
  • "Ettenmoors" is the name of a region in Middle-earth, also inhabited by Giants. The reason for this would likely be the close friendship between Tolkien and Lewis.

References[]

  • Paul F. Ford, The Companion to Narnia (San Francisco, 1994)
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