Prince Rabadash
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Narnia character | |
| Rabadash | |
|---|---|
| Race/Nation | Human / Calormen |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Tisroc |
| Birthplace | Calormen |
| Major character in | |
| The Horse and His Boy | |
Prince Rabadash is a human character from C. S. Lewis's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. Prince Rabadash is the heir to the throne of the Tisroc of Calormen. In The Horse and His Boy, he attempts to conquer Archenland, the neighbouring country of Narnia, but is thwarted by King Edmund and Queen Lucy of Narnia, with help from a boy named Shasta.
Rabadash goes to war because he is unsuccessful in courting Queen Susan of Narnia. Rabadash tries to make Queen Susan his wife during her visit to Calormen's capital Tashbaan. Queen Susan knows Rabadash to be cruel and so she refuses his proposal and escapes from his clutches. Rabadash, spoiled, angry, and with an injured pride to nurse, acquires permission from his father to make war on Narnia (though his father does not expect him to return). In order to reach Narnia, he first tries to invade Archenland and fails.
At the end of The Horse and His Boy, Aslan gives the captured Rabadash a chance to repent. When Rabadash refuses, Aslan transforms him into a donkey. Aslan commanded Rabadash that he must return to the temple of Tash in Tashbaan and stand before the altar at the time of the autumn feast, when literally thousands of his subjects will be watching. If this is done, he will regain his former person. However, he must live within a ten mile radius of the vicinity of the temple. If he were to risk leaving that vicinity, he would risk being transformed into a donkey for a second time, with no hope of ever changing back. Because he cannot leave Tashbaan, his reign upon assuming the throne is described as incredibly peaceful; he could not make war himself, and feared that any Tarkaan who won glory in war might try to overthrow him. He was called 'Rabadash the Peacemaker' to his face by his subjects, and 'Rabadash the Ridiculous' behind his back and after his death, with people perceived as being foolish being called "a second Rabadash."
[edit] References
- Ford, Paul (2005), written at SanFrancisco, Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition, Harper, ISBN 0-06-079127-6
- Lewis, C.S. (1954), written at London, The Horse and His Boy, Geoffrey Bles
- Lewis, C.S. (1956), written at London, The Last Battle, Geoffrey Bles
- Markos, Louis (2000), written at Chantilly, VA, The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis (audio course), Lecture 10: Journeys of Faith-The Chronicles of Narnia II, The Teaching Company, ISBN 1-56585-316-4
- Schakel, Peter J. (1979), written at Grand Rapids, Reading With the Heart: The Way into Narnia, William B. Eerdmans, ISBN 0-8028-1814-5
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