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For a novel I'd like to start, I'm interested in discovering what happened to the gifts that Aslan (through Father Christmas) gave to Peter, Susan, and Lucy Pevensie: Peter's sword Rhindon and his shield, scabbard, and belt; Susan's bow, arrows, and horn; Lucy's cordial and dagger. But I don't currently have the books, and I can't find any explanation on (e.g.) the Chronicles of Narnia wiki.

Is there an authoritative explanation in the books or the ancillary writings/notes of C.S. Lewis of what happened to the gifts? Since the novel, if I ever finish it, will be about Queen Susan, I am particularly interested in the fate of her gifts, if known.

To clarify, a good answer will discuss for each gift, or each child, what happened to the gifts after the recipient left Narnia for the last time, and before the End of the World (when, presumably, they were destroyed. That is, where were Peter and Susan's gifts between Prince Caspian and The Last Battle, and where were Lucy's gifts between The Dawn Treader and The Last Battle?

I am of course counting The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as finishing after A Horse And His Boy.

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    They find some of them at the very beginning of Prince Caspian. But I'm guessing that you're asking after later books?
    – FuzzyBoots
    May 23, 2016 at 20:18
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    Of the known gifts, only Susan's Bow seems likely to have been outside Narnia at the time of the End of the World. All the other gifts were presumably destroyed.
    – Valorum
    May 23, 2016 at 20:18
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    @Valorum Well, naturally they would have been destroyed at the End of the World; I'm looking for information about where they were in the interim (between Prince Caspian and the end of The Last Battle). And I don't remember Susan's bow ever being outside Narnia - what's your source for that? May 23, 2016 at 20:28
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    @RossPresser So it did; but there's no mention of it running out. Even if it did, I'd love to see what happened to the bottle. May 23, 2016 at 20:30
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    The reason I'm asking is that I'd like to write the book Susan of Narnia that Lewis apparently would have liked to write (as he seems to have claimed in a letter to a young fan), but never wrote, and perhaps couldn't have written, detailing how Susan found her way back. I'm wondering whether the gifts, or her gifts anyway, might play a part. May 23, 2016 at 20:43

2 Answers 2

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+500

Peter

  • Sword

    Peter employed a sword in his battle with Miraz, presumably Rhindon.

    The Badger said nothing, for now Peter and Miraz were entering the lists from opposite ends, both on foot, both in chain shirts, with helmets and shields. They advanced till they were close together. Both bowed and seemed to speak, but it was impossible to hear what they said. Next moment the two swords flashed in the sunlight.

    Prince Caspian

    The books don't seem to mention whether he left his sword in Narnia to be wielded by Caspian, or took it back to England.

    However, Peter probably had his sword after he died.

    Seven Kings and Queens stood before him, all with crowns on their heads and all in glittering clothes, but the Kings wore fine mail as well and had their swords drawn in their hands.

    The Last Battle

    Peter was, of course, among these Kings and Queens, and thus presumably was wielding a sword. It could of course have been an entirely different sword from Rhindon, which was gifted to him by Father Christmas, but I don't think so. His royal attire was provided to him by Aslan, and why would Aslan not provide him with the sword he had worn while High King in Narnia?

  • Scabbard

    This doesn't really get mentioned. Probably it was with the sword.

  • Belt

    Same.

  • Shield

    This was also employed by Peter in his fight with Miraz, as indicated in the preceding quote. Its fate is unknown.

Susan

  • Bow

    This is not mentioned after Prince Caspian

    "You and I'd better each have an arrow on the string," said Susan to Trumpkin. The Dwarf nodded, and when both bows were ready for action the party went on again.

    Prince Caspian

    This is the last mention of Susan's bow, shortly before Trumpkin kills a bear.

  • Arrows

    These are always mentioned together with the bow, and are also not mentioned after Prince Caspian

  • Horn:

    The Horn was left in Narnia at the end of Prince Caspian:

    And of course Caspian offered the Horn back to Susan and of course Susan told him to keep it. And then, wonderfully and terribly, it was farewell to Aslan himself, and Peter took his place with Susan's hands on his shoulders and Edmund's on hers and Lucy's on his and the first of the Telmarine's on Lucy's, and so in a long line they moved forward to the Door.

    Prince Caspian

    It was still present as of Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

    After a little more conversation Caspian and Bern walked down to the coast a little west of the village and there Caspian winded his horn. (This was not the great magic horn of Narnia, Queen Susan's Horn: he had left that at home for his regent Trumpkin to use if any great need fell upon the land in the King's absence.)

    Voyage of the Dawn Treader

    The Horn is not mentioned after that. However, its absence in The Silver Chair is notable. There is no mention of Caspian blowing the Horn to seek aid in retrieving his son, even though this is surely an example of precisely the great need previously mentioned. It is possible that this indicates that he lost the Horn, but it is equally possible that either he did blow it, and Aslan delayed sending help for some time until it suited him (because all the gifts must work by the will of Aslan), or he blew it with no effect, for much the same reason.

    In any case, if no misfortune befell the Horn, it was probably passed down the line of Narnian Queens and Kings until the End of the World.

Lucy

  • Dagger

    The dagger receives very few mentions; in fact, basically just one:

    He gave her a little bottle of what looked like glass (but people said afterwards that it was made of diamond) and a small dagger. "In this bottle," he said, "there is a cordial made of the juice of one of the fire-flowers that grow in the mountains of the sun. If you or any of your friends are hurt, a few drops of this will restore you. And the dagger is to defend yourself at great need. For you also are not to be in the battle."

    The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

    It does not seem to be mentioned at all after this, and it seems quite unclear whether Lucy ever used it.

  • Cordial

    The last mention of the cordial is in Voyage of the Dawn Treader

    "Show me your poor paw," said Lucy, "I might be able to cure it." The dragon-that-had-been-Eustace held out its sore leg gladly enough, remembering how Lucy's cordial had cured him of sea-sickness before he became a dragon. But he was disappointed. The magic fluid reduced the swelling and eased the pain a little but it could not dissolve the gold.

    Voyage of the Dawn Treader

    Since the cordial was not mentioned as being used up here, and Lucy returned home at the end of her adventure, we can assume that, barring dreadful carelessness, which must in any case surely have been averted by Providence, the cordial remained with Lucy until her death.

All

The more conspicuous objects were presumably left in Narnia, even if not explicitly mentioned. Sword, shield, bow and arrows would all be very out of place in England, as suggested by the following quote:

"This way," said Susan, who seemed to know all about it. "Back into the trees. We've got to change."

"Change what?" asked Lucy.

"Our clothes, of course," said Susan. "Nice fools we'd look on the platform of an English station in these."

Prince Caspian

Credit to Miltonaut for mentioning this quote.


As we can see, the history of most of the gifts after their respective owners left Narnia is basically unknown. Only two are mentioned thereafter: Susan's horn stayed in Narnia, and Prince Caspian possessed it (though he did not carry it) during the events of Dawn Treader, and perhaps beyond. Peter probably was reunited with his sword when he appeared in full regalia in The Last Battle. It seems possible that Lucy also was given her dagger and cordial in The Last Battle, but we don't know for sure.

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    You bounty hunter :-P
    – Rand al'Thor
    May 26, 2016 at 3:37
  • @Randal'Thor - Just call me Boba Fett.
    – Adamant
    May 26, 2016 at 3:49
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    Also, on pages 20-221 of Prince Caspian, the Pevensies change out of their Narnian clothing back into their regular clothes for the return to England (just before the last mention of the Horn). Presumably their other Gifts were left behind as well. Also, Peter and Susan had already been warned that they wouldn't be returning to Narnia, so they may have already left their other gifts in the castle.
    – miltonaut
    May 28, 2016 at 2:20
  • @miltonaut - good point.
    – Adamant
    May 28, 2016 at 2:26
  • Nicely done. Thanks. May 30, 2016 at 1:27
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As I commented, the cordial got used in Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

Caspian now suggested that they might like to be shown over the ship before supper, but Lucy’s conscience smote her and she said, “I think I really must go and see Eustace. Seasickness is horrid, you know. If I had my old cordial with me I could cure him.”

“But you have,” said Caspian. “I’d quite forgotten about it. As you left it behind I thought it might be regarded as one of the royal treasures and so I brought it—if you think it ought to be wasted on a thing like seasickness.”

(Dawn Treader, chapter 2)

And

“Show me your poor paw,” said Lucy. “I might be able to cure it.”

The dragon-that-had-been-Eustace held out its sore leg gladly enough, remembering how Lucy’s cordial had cured him of seasickness before he became a dragon. But he was disappointed. The magic fluid reduced the swelling and eased the pain a little but it could not dissolve the gold.

(Dawn Treader, chapter 6)

Susan used her bow and quiver in Prince Caspian, but thought she had lost her horn:

... Susan’s gift had been a bow and arrows and a horn. The bow was still there, and the ivory quiver, full of well-feathered arrows, but—“Oh, Susan,” said Lucy. “Where’s the horn?”

“Oh bother, bother, bother,” said Susan after she had thought for a moment. “I remember now. I took it with me the last day of all, the day we went hunting the White Stag. It must have got lost when we blundered back into that other place—England, I mean.”

But later it turns out Prince Caspian has the horn and used it to bring the Pevensies back to Narnia.

Peter also used his shield and sword in Prince Caspian:

... He was afraid at first that it might be rusty and stick to the sheath. But it was not so. With one swift motion he drew it and held it up, shining in the torchlight.

“It is my sword Rhindon,” he said; “with it I killed the Wolf.”

Lucy's cordial also gets mention, but not use, in The Horse and His Boy:

“If I had but my cordial with me,” Queen Lucy was saying, “I could soon mend this. But the High King has so strictly charged me not to carry it commonly to the wars and to keep it only for great extremities!”

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    I should probably edit the question - I would specifically like any information about what happened to each child's gifts after the child left Narnia for the last time. May 23, 2016 at 20:44
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    The horn isn't there in Prince Caspian because Caspian himself has it. That was how he summoned them to Narnia.
    – Buzz
    May 23, 2016 at 21:08
  • Actually this no longer answers the question as well as I'd like; as I put in my comment I was really looking for some more information. Can you update? May 25, 2016 at 0:32
  • Unfortunately I don't have the information you are really looking for. I'll delete my answer if you wish. May 25, 2016 at 4:22
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    No that's fine. Leave it for what it does give. It goes part way. Thanks! May 26, 2016 at 0:57

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