Telmarines

For the supplier of advertising and media information software, see Telmar (company).
Narnia
under Telmarine Monarchy
The Chronicles of Narnia location
Flag of Narnia
under Telmarine monarchy
Coat of arms of Narnia
under Telmarine monarchy
Based on illustration by Pauline Baynes
Created byC. S. Lewis
GenreChildren's fantasy
In-universe information
TypeMonarchy
Race(s)Telmarines (Talking animals, Dwarfs, Giants, Fauns, Centaurs, Nymphs, etc. were outlaws and claimed by the monarchy not to exist)
LocationsMiraz's Castle (capital), Cair Paravel (former capital)
CharactersMiraz, Prunaprismia, Lord Glozelle, Lord Sopespian
Language(s)English

The Telmarines are a people in the fictional world of Narnia created by the British author C. S. Lewis for his series The Chronicles of Narnia. Hailing from Telmar, the Telmarines are prominent in the book Prince Caspian, the second book published in the series (but numbered volume 4 in recent editions ordered chronologically). The Telmarines were pirates in Earth before entering the Narnian world through a magical cave.[1]

No scene from the books takes place there, but Telmar is said to be "far beyond the Western Mountains."[2] According to the timeline drawn up by Lewis, Calormen extended west into Telmar some three centuries after the world was first created. However, after only two years, the Calormenes in Telmar behaved so wickedly that Aslan turned them into dumb beasts, and the area became effectively unpopulated. Pirates from our world arrived in Telmar over a century later, through a rare gateway between the worlds. Prince Caspian describes how the descendants of these pirates, the Telmarines, invaded Narnia many generations later, leaving Telmar behind and suppressing Narnia's native inhabitants.[3] This led eventually to the events related in Prince Caspian.[1][4]

Telmarine leaders of Narnia in Prince Caspian are King Miraz (brother of the late Caspian IX), Queen Prunaprismia, Lord Glozelle, and Lord Sopespian. In the film version of Prince Caspian, the principal Telmarine characters are portrayed by Spanish, Latin American, and Italian actors.

The high-ranking Telmarines are shown to be corrupt, scheming individuals. Miraz had his own brother killed in order to claim the throne. Sopespian and Glozelle plot together to kill Miraz and blame it on the Narnians in order to declare all-out war on them. This plan succeeds, although the Telmarine army is defeated in the subsequent battle, ending some 300 years of oppression (according to the timeline).

  1. ^ a b Ford, Paul F. (2005). Companion to Narnia. HarperSanFrancisco. pp. 425–7. ISBN 0060791276.
  2. ^ Prince Caspian. pp. 41–42. It was your Highness's ancestor, Caspian the First, who first conquered Narnia and made it his Kingdom. It was he that brought all your nation into the country. You are not Narnians at all. You are all Telmarines – that is, you all came from the Land of Telmar, far beyond the Western Mountains.
  3. ^ Lewis, C. S. Prince Caspian. pp. 41–42.
  4. ^ Sammons, Martha C. (2000). A Far-Off Country: A Guide to C.S. Lewis's Fantasy Fiction. University Press of America. pp. 34–36. ISBN 0-7618-1587-2. Retrieved 2010-07-10.