Lion

Lion
General information
Native to	Narnia and Earth
General description	Massive with a mane of fur
Notable members	Aslan
More information
Fur colour	Brownish-gold
Appearances	Lion (BBC) Lion (CTW) Lion (ITV) Lion (Walden)

The Lion is a large feline that is four-legged, carnivorous, and a mammal. It was also one of the Talking Beasts of the World of Narnia.

On Earth, lions are the second largest cats in the world, second only to Tigers, so presumably it is the same with Narnian lions, though Aslan was by far larger than any of them.

Description

A lion's side-view.

As in our world, the lions are a brownish-gold colour, and the males are easily recognized for the mane of fur around their neck, which the females, called lionesses, lack. Young lions are generally called cubs.

The lion is a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears. The colour of its fur varies from light buff to silverly gray, to yellowish red and dark brown. The underparts are generally lighter, and cubs are born with dark spots on their bodies. The spots fade as lions reach adulthood, although faint spots often may still be seen on the legs and underparts. Males are more robust than females, have broader heads and a prominent mane that covers most of the head, neck, shoulders and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust and black hairs.

The most distinctive characteristic shared by both females and males is that their tail ends in a dark, hairy tuft, which the lion is the only cat to have. In some lions, the tuft conceals a hard "spine" or "spur", approximately 5 mm long, formed of the final sections of tail bone fused together. 

Biography

Aslan, the ruler and creator over all Narnia, takes the form of a lion, and thus all lions in Narnia are treated with special respect.

The lions, like all Narnians, endured the harsh Long Winter by the White Witch for 100 years, until the Pevensies arrived, thus fulfilling the Golden Age Prophecy.

There are no specifically named lions, though there was one that was a stone prisoner in the courtyard of Jadis the White Witch, which Edmund Pevensie first mistook for Aslan and used a stump of lead pencil to draw a comical face upon it.

That lion was restored to life by Aslan, when he went to the White Witch's Castle to find more soldiers to take to the First Battle of Beruna. The lion was a little arrogant at first; for when Aslan restored him, he went around pretending to be busy, when really he was going around saying: -

"Did you hear what he said? Us lions. That means him and me. Us lions. That's what I like about Aslan. No side, no stand-off-ishness."

―Unnamed lion (Chapter 16)

He kept this up until Aslan loaded him with three dwarves, two rabbits and a hedgehog, and had him carry them to the battlefield at Beruna, which seemed to steady him a bit.

In the Later Ages, no Narnian had seen a real lion in years. Some lions lived in the Western Wild region beyond the Great Waterfall but they couldn't talk. One lion was killed by a hunting man and skinned. Several months later, the skin was found by Puzzle and Shift in Caldron Pool. Shift made the skin into a coat for Puzzle and told him to pretend to be Aslan to set up the False Aslan Affair. The Narnian believed Puzzle was Aslan because he didn't make any hoof noises, brays, come too close, and did all this in bad light. After Narnia was destroyed, Puzzle entered Aslan’s Country no longer wearing the lionskin.

Film Adaption

Adaptation-based Information The following information originates only from the Chronicles of Narnia adaptations, meaning it does not exist in the original chronicles.

Lioness at the coronation.

In the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie, in the scene where Mr. Tumnus attacks a Boggle, a female lion can be seen.

The character of the lion in the Witch's courtyard was depicted as a lioness, although the book clearly stated it was a he. She had no spoken lines.

When Edmund first arrived at the Witch's castle, he used a bit of black char to draw a comical face upon the lioness. The char remained on the beast even after she was restored to life, as seen at the Pevensies' coronation.

Notable Lions

• Aslan
• Lion in the White Witch's Courtyard

Trivia

• Despite being only the second largest cats in the world, lions are often referred to as 'The King of Beasts'.
• The African Maasai tribes treated hunting lions as a rite of a passage, including a most sacred ceremony that symbolized becoming an adult warrior.
• The lion in the Witch's Courtyard was never mentioned in the BBC version, and was portrayed as a lioness in the LWW film, but did make an appearance in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (animated) film, though he had no spoken lines.

Lion in the Witch's Courtyard, in the animated film.