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My favourite edition of CS Lewis's Narnia series has covers featuring a variety of significant items from the books wrapped around by twining leaves and branches, as shown in the image below (from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, although it's only the centre panel that changes from book to book):

enter image description here

Obviously I can identify some of these items and characters - the lamp-post, Jewel the unicorn, Susan's horn - but can we make a complete list of what they all are?

What are all the items along the left and right sides of this book cover?

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3 Answers 3

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Left Hand Side:

  • Jewel the Unicorn - The Last Battle
  • Yellow and Green Rings - The Magician's Nephew
  • Trufflehunter the Badger - Prince Caspian
  • The Magician's Book - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  • Cair Paravel - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (First Appearance)
  • Lucy's Cordial - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
  • The Dawn Treader - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Right Hand Side:

  • Peter's Sword and Shield - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
  • Bell and Hammer from Charn - The Magician's Nephew
  • Susan's Bow and Arrow - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
  • Reepicheep The Mouse - Prince Caspian
  • The Lantern/Lamppost - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
  • The Serpent/Lady of the Green Kirtle - The Silver Chair

Also, interwoven throughout are Toffee Apples from the tree in the garden in The Magician's Nephew.

The four corners are:

  • Top Left: Jadis (The White Witch)'s Dagger
  • Top Right: Susan's Horn
  • Bottom Left: Aslan
  • Bottom Right: Glimfeather the Owl (The Silver Chair)

I have this edition of the books, and it was the one I grew up with so I was able to look in better detail than the picture provided. This is also not the first time I have looked at them for hours deciding what I thought they all were.

Most of these are clear, but there are a couple that I am not 100% certain of, so I will outline my reasoning.

The serpent could be a dragon or sea serpent from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but the Silver Chair reference seems more likely as it was a more significant character, and matches closer with the illustration in the book.

Glimfeather, is to my recollection the only named owl with a speaking part.

The White Witch's dagger is important in both The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, and I can't think of another dagger of such significance.

Again, the most significant book in any of the books would be The Magicians Book from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

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    Lucy also had a dagger, but I think you are right that the White Witch's dagger was much more significant.
    – Torisuda
    Mar 26, 2016 at 4:27
  • Maybe I'm overlooking something, but what makes you say that the badger is Trufflehunter from Prince Caspian, rather than Mr Badger from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Mar 26, 2016 at 6:53
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    @JanusBahsJacquet They were beavers, not badgers
    – Izkata
    Mar 26, 2016 at 6:59
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    Good, thorough answer. Just two quibbles: I think the top-left dagger is more likely to be Lucy's than the White Witch's (because that's a better parallel to Susan's horn on the top right), and the apples could instead/also refer to the opening scenes of Prince Caspian.
    – Martha
    May 1, 2017 at 16:41
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    @Martha Also Jadis' knife (not dagger) is made out of stone (and looks that way), and that one pictured looks like metal.
    – Lexible
    Aug 15, 2018 at 0:06
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The apples are from Prince Caspian. The four Pevensie children land in overgrown ancient Cair Paravel and the apple orchard has overgrown. Apples are all they have to eat for several meals.

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From what I can see, the castle is Cair Paravel, the castle with the four thrones. There's Susan's Bow and arrows, Peter's sword and shield, and the ship on the side is the Dawn Treader herself. The upper left corner is Lucy's dagger. There is also Lucy's cordial made from the fire flower. The mouse may be Reepicheep, and there's a badger head. That's all I can see right now.

The dragon could possibly be the one the Eustace changes into during "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" Alternatively, it could be the Sea Serpent from the same book.

There's also a badger head, and possibly Eustace's diary.

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    Yes ... and? There's a lot more items than that, if you look more closely :-) (Also, Percy?)
    – Rand al'Thor
    Mar 25, 2016 at 17:01
  • @randal'thor percy, peter, same difference. Also, was going off the old picture, my poor eyesight, and my memory. :P
    – CBredlow
    Mar 25, 2016 at 17:03
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    Badger is Trufflehunter most likely. Mar 25, 2016 at 22:19
  • I see Susan's horn, possibly Lucy's dagger, the Lantern of Lantern Waste, Glimfeather the Owl, and Jewel the Unicorn. There may be more (I think I see Reepicheep under Susan's bow) but the resolution, and my eyesight, start giving me problems. Mar 26, 2016 at 2:22
  • Under Peter's shield is the bell from Jadis' Hall. Mar 26, 2016 at 2:32

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