- "And when you put this horn to your lips and blow it, then, wherever you are, I think help of some kind will come to you."
- ―Father Christmas [src]
Queen Susan's Horn was a prized possession of Susan Pevensie when she reigned in Narnia as Queen Susan the Gentle. Given to her by Father Christmas just before the Winter Revolution, the horn was a magical object, used in times of emergency to call for help.
Description[]
Promotional artwork of Susan's horn from the Disney films.
The Chronicles of Narnia did not describe Susan's horn in great detail, except that it was small and made of ivory.[1]
In the films produced by Disney/Walden Media, the mouthpiece of the horn is shaped like a budding flower, and the bell (where the sound emerges from) is carved in the shape of a lion's head, evoking Aslan.
Regarding the sound of the horn, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe describes it as "like a bugle, but richer",[2] but Prince Caspian offers a fuller description when Trumpkin speaks of the horn having "a sound that I'd never heard the like of in my born days. Eh, I won't forget that. The whole air was full of it, loud as thunder but far longer, cool and sweet as music over water, but strong enough to shake the woods."[3]
History[]
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe[]
Susan blowing her horn.
Susan first used the horn when she and Lucy were attacked by Maugrim the wolf. As the Battle of Aslan's Camp was about to break out, Peter heard it and came to their rescue.[2]
During the Pevensies' reign, it was unknown how often - if ever - Queen Susan used her horn. There was no mention of her having it during her visit to Tashbaan in The Horse and His Boy, nor any other mentioned use during the Golden Age. In Prince Caspian, she is called "Queen Susan of the Horn",[4] indicating her close connection with the object.
Susan lost her horn when she and her siblings were hunting the White Stag in Lantern Waste; apparently she had it on her person or on her horse during the hunt because, as Susan later said, "It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place---England, I mean."[5] After the Pevensies' disappearance, the horn remained lost for many years. Eventually it was discovered by the half-dwarf, Doctor Cornelius, around the Narnian year 2300, though how he found it is unknown.
Prince Caspian[]
Shortly before the Narnian Revolution, Cornelius passed the horn on to Prince Caspian X.[6]
Caspian X blowing the horn.
The legend of its magical ability to summon aid was known to Cornelius, and after much debate, Caspian blew it in order summon aid for the Narnians against the Telmarines. The horn magically transported the Pevensies back to Narnia, where they reappeared at Cair Paravel, and traveled to meet Caspian and his army at Aslan's How, eventually succeeding in recalling Aslan and restoring the throne to Caspian.
Just before the Pevensies returned to England, Caspian offered the horn back to Susan, but, "Of course, she told him to keep it." Susan undoubtedly knew that the horn would be of greater use to Caspian and Narnia than it would be to her even if she somehow took it back to England.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader[]
Later, when Caspian set out on his voyage on the Dawn Treader, he gave the horn to his regent, Trumpkin, to use if any great need fell on the land in the king's absence.
The horn's final fate after the destruction of Narnia is unknown. Its original owner, Susan, did not return to Narnia to reclaim it and bring it to Aslan's Country.
References[]
Users[]
The known users of Susan’s Horn, but are not limited to, are: -
Trivia[]
The horn in Caspian's cabin.
- In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (film), you can make out what appears to be Susan's horn in Caspian's cabin, on the shelf just below the golden face of Aslan. Whether this was her horn, or just a lookalike, is unknown.
- The sound of Susan's horn was changed in the Prince Caspian (film).
- In The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe it was described as 'a bugle, but richer.' However, in Prince Caspian, Caspian X blew it before the two dwarves Trumpkin and Nikabrik and it sounded a long, deep tone, like that of a conch.