XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.fan.tolkien, alt.books.cs-lewis   
   From: nospam@nospam.com   
      
   In article ,   
   Steve Hayes   wrote:   
   >On Wed, 14 Dec 2005 20:04:08 GMT, "Christopher Kreuzer"   
   > wrote:   
   >   
   >>I _think_ that is different from the Manichean heresy that Stan was   
   >>talking about, but I don't know for certain. As for Stan's idea that   
   >>Tash was a creation of Aslan, I always got the impression that Aslan in   
   >>some sense was as much a part of Narnia as any other creature. Aslan,   
   >>Tash, the White Witch, are all part of the magic of Narnia. This   
   >>discussion really makes me want to re-read the Magician's Nephew now,   
   >>but still have two more books to read before that one...   
   >   
   >In "The magicians nephew" Aslan *creates* the magic of Narnia, but I'm not   
   >sure that he creates Tash.   
   >   
   >It's not Manichaean though. There are different forms of evil in Narnia -- the   
   >white witch, the green snake, Shape and Tash. Some arise within Narnia, som   
   >are imported from outside, but they are not equal and opposite to Aslan (or   
   >the Emperor-beyond-the-sea).   
      
   The White Witch specifically entered Narnia from outside at the time of   
   its creation.  Her homeworld, Charn, whas pretty clearly a "fallen world"   
   like Earth, with corrupt and evil rulers such as would not be suprising   
   to anyone familiar with Earth's history.  Thus, the presence of that   
   evil requires no more explanation that the presence of evil on Earth.   
   Humans were brought into Narnia from Earth, and presumably brought the   
   usual complement of both good and evil with them.  It is quite clear   
   from tLtWatW that other creatures can "go bad" pretty much as humans   
   do; the presence of Jadis and humans would have been ample influence   
   to corrupt various talking animals and mythological creatures.  Now,   
   what of Narnia's "special evils"?  tVotDT shows that immortal human-   
   like beings with inate magical powers have free will and can do bad   
   things, for which atonement is possible, etc.  This would go a long   
   way to explain most witches, warlocks, wizards, etc.  Especially if   
   magical beings can intermarry with humans to produce "slightly more   
   than human" offspring, as is strongly implied in a couple of the books.   
   Tash, though, is a special case.  Though the religion goes as far back   
   as aHaHB, there is no indication that Tash manifested as a being until   
   it began to appear as a translucent spectre in tLB.  It would almost   
   seem that Tash was being created by the Calormene's worship of it.   
   Nevertheless, there are explanations that don't invoke the Manichaen   
   heresy.  For one thing, according to Christian scriptures, demons   
   cast out of one place or one person can roam the world looking for   
   other opportunities.  If demons can cross from world to world   
   (perhaps riding a mortal host that is moving from one world to   
   another?), the presumably some could be roaming about Narnia, and   
   one decided that impersonating the Calormene myth would be a profitable   
   gig.  In general, Tash is no harder to explain than the weirdness that   
   is supposed to befall Earth in the endtimes, according to some   
   Christians.   
      
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