Allegory - a work in which every element bears symbolic weight, and is used to express an idea through representation. C. S. Lewis was adamant that the Chronicles were not allegorical, but an exploration of his own suppositions. However many people (especially non-fans) continue to believe the opposite. See C. S. Lewis, Christian ties to Narnia.

Angst!Peter - the reimagined character traits for Peter in the Prince Caspian film, intended to create/emphasize his conflict with Caspian. Angst!Peter is more impatient, antagonistic, and resentful that his book counterpart. Angst!Peter's rivalry with Caspian is the main source of Peter/Caspian slash. (Book canon has no mention of a rivalry.)

Aslan - the preeminent character of the Narnia series, the Great Lion, the Highest of High Kings. From a religious perspective he is the suppositional Christ figure. "Aslan would approve!" is common praise in positive reviews, meant to indicate that a story is well written or canon-compliant. See Christian ties to Narnia, canon.

Bashing - a form of reviewing which is negative and harsh. Bashing differs from flaming in that it is more reasoned and thought out, and usually does not extend to the author. Bashers may or may not make accurate points, but they argue them well, and generally do not use the poor spelling and all caps associated with flaming. They are more given to the rant than to the anonymous insult, and offer reasons for denouncing the story (though these are usually subjective). Bashing can be a form of canon-defense. See flaming, defending canon.

BBC serials - the 1988-1990 television adaption of the British Broadcasting Company, which divided LWW, PC, VDT and SC into an eighteen-part miniseries. The storyline follows book canon more closely than the films. In modern fandom they are are mostly regarded as cheesy, and if referenced are usually done so in comparative jest. However they did have some long-term effects, and in certain purist circles are still considered the best adaption. See Younger!Caspian, purist.

Bookverse - a story classification that defines its background solely by the books. A bookverse fic disregards any events, ideas, or characterizations that the films may have created. However, because the films are based on the books, many bookverse stories will comply with most movieverse themes. See movieverse, canon.

British English - accepted spelling, grammar, and syntax of the UK (e.g. colour as opposed to color). American readers sometimes mistakenly regard this as incorrect. As British lit, the Chronicles were orginally written in British English, and many non-UK authors will use British spelling out of respect for the source material.

Brotherfic - a sibling fic which focuses on the bond between Peter and Edmund. See sibling fic, sisterfic.

C. S. Lewis - author of the Chronicles of Narnia. He is held in high esteem by bookverse fans, but respected mostly at the basic level for movieverse fans, who tend to idolize the film actors. Comparison to Lewis' writing style is considered the highest praise in Narnia fan fiction; bad fic is often said to have C. S. Lewis "turning in his grave". He was known as Jack to his friends and family. See movieverse, bookverse, Jack.


Canon - the core, the essence of a fandom, what began it all; the Chronicles of Narnia series. The term canon was formerly considered strictly book-based, but recently fans have taken to separating canon into 'book canon' and 'film canon' so as to unquestionably clarify. Book-based canon is sometimes called true canon. See bookverse, movieverse, True Narnia.

Canon pairing - a pairing that originates in canon and is fully supported by the text, and ends up together. The Chronicles have only two: Aravis and Cor, and Caspian and Ramandu's daughter. Though paired together, we do not count Susan and Rabadash as an officially titled 'canon pairing' because they did not end up together, and an important theme in THHB was that Rabadash was *not* an appropriate partner for Susan.


Christian ties to Narnia - the relationship between Christian theology and the Chronicles. C. S. Lewis did not originally write with religious intentions; he later said that as he wrote LWW, elements of Christianity came naturally through the process. While not allegory, certain characters and themes are representational of Christian figures and ideas: Aslan as Christ and True Narnia as Heaven are the two most prominent. The Christian ties to Narnia are always under debate by scholars and fans alike, and serve as the basis for many Christian flames. See C. S. Lewis, Christian flame, allegory.


Defending canon - a rant against fanfic that may take the form of a review, response, private message, email, personal profile, or blog, which denounces any fanfic elements - plot, characterization, 'verse, spirituality (or lack thereof) - as going against true canon. When referring to a specific story, defending canon may be classified as bashing. Purists are often initiators of defending canon. See bashing, canon, purist.

Disney (Walt Disney Pictures) - producer of the first two Narnia films with partner Walden Media. After the somewhat disappointing box office return of Prince Caspian (though affected by many situational factors), Disney suckered out of their contractual obligation to make Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This spewed much negative fan response (sometimes referred to as Disney bashing), and resulted in a five-week swing period during which it was unknown if VotDT would ever be made. See Fox, Walden Media.

Epic Movie - a parody after the style the Scary Movie franchise, in which four children (Peter, Susan, Edward, and Lucy) travel to "Gnarnia". Though dismissed by most fans as ridiculous, stupid, and a cheap ripoff, it nonetheless retains a certain number of Narnia fans.

Flame - a review that is purely offensive in nature, which aims to insult the author or the story. Unlike constructive criticism, flames do not offer advice to help improve grammar, plot, characterization, or writing style. They are often profane and are usually meant to provoke. See bashing.


Friendship fic - a story in which there is no romance between two characters; synonym for gen fic. The term most often describes a fanfic whose main characters are often paired together, but are not romantic in that particular story. It can be used to signify that there are no slash or incest themes. See sibling fic, slash, incest.

Fox (20th Century Fox) - producer of the third Narnia film. Fox signed on to coproduce Voyage of the Dawn Treader with Walden Media after Disney opted out, citing budgetary and logistical reasons (i.e. the lesser somewhat disappointing gross of Prince Caspian). By doing so, Fox ensured that the Narnia franchise would at least continue to the third film. For this reason fans sometimes refer to Fox as 'the hero of Narnia'. See Walden Media, Disney.

Golden Age fic - a story set during Narnia's Golden Age, during which Susan, Edmund, and Lucy all ruled under Peter in a time of great peace and prosperity. The length of the Golden Age is never given during the books, but is generally accepted to have lasted fifteen years (as recorded C. S. Lewis' timeline).

Incest - a romantic pairing between two people who are related, usually the Pevensies siblings (sometimes referred to as Pevencest). It may or may not be a slash pairing depending on the characters. By far the most popular pairing is Susan/Peter, though Peter/Edmund is also common. It remains disputed whether or not to include Eustace/Pevensie under the incest heading.

Jack - the nickname by which C. S. Lewis was called among friends and family. Fans use this name to show fondness for the series' creator, and to display intimate knowledge of Narnia trivia.

Letters to Children - a collection of C. S. Lewis' answering letters to young Narnian fans, published posthumously. In them he addresses several questions and expands a bit on the Narnian universe. These letters are most often used to cite Susan's eventual reacceptance of Narnia: "there's plenty of time for her to mend . . . perhaps she will get to Aslan's country in the end". In the letters Lewis also invites others to write stories of their own to fill the gaps of Narian history, which many fans consider to be justification for Narnia fan fiction.

Movieverse - a story classification that defines its background entirely on events, ideas, and characterizations portrayed in the films. A story set in movieverse will have no direct influence from any of books. Because of this, movieverse stories may contain incorrect assumptions and characterizations, or be based on events that do not take place in true canon, such as Susan/Caspian. Movieverse fics are often bashed by purists. See bashing, bookverse, canon, purist.

Narnian timeline - a numbered outline of Narnian history and the correlating Earth time, written by series creator C. S. Lewis. It provides the only exact dates for events in the series. However, because this information was not included in any of the seven books, it is not canon in the strictest sense. See canon, Golden Age.

Older!Caspian - a Caspian who is older than the Pevensie children. This idea originated with the announced casting for the Prince Caspian film; at the time of filming, actor Ben Barnes would be 25 years old (ten years older than the age of his book counterpart). After the film was released, most fans agreed that he did not look much older than the Pevensies, whose ages were also slightly increased to accommodate the actors' aging. See Younger!Caspian.

Parody - an intentionally humorous story which takes the form of ridiculous imitation. Most parodies follow the film storylines and bear titles in the vein of "The Lion, the Whiff and the Warthog".

Purist - someone who prefers only bookverse. To a purist, no media adaption of the Chronicles could ever top the books. This can mean a person who enjoys the films but holds the books in higher regard, or range to someone who will only read the books and strongly dislikes the films. Extreme purists believe any derivative works (from films to fan fiction) are actually insulting the series. Purists are sometimes behind fanfic bashing. See bookverse, movieverse, BBC serials.

Sibling fic - a story which focuses on the bond between two or more of the Pevensie siblings. This term is also used to indicate the absence of slash or incest themes. Related terms include sibling bonding, sib fic, family-friendly, etc. Depending on the characters involved it can be called a brotherfic or a sisterfic.

Sisterfic - a sibling fic which focuses on the bond between Susan and Lucy. See brotherfic, sibling fic.

Slash - a male-male pairing. The female equivalent is femslash. In Narnia fandom slash is somewhat common (particularly following the release of Prince Caspian) while femslash is almost nonexistent. Common slash pairings are Caspian/Peter and Peter/Edmund. See incest.

Susanfic - a story dealing with Susan's loss of faith and/or her coping with the many deaths that occur in The Last Battle. These are often based off the "nylons and lipstick and invitations" line and usually feature Susan slowly regaining belief over her lifetime, returning to greet her family in Aslan's country.

Suspian - the Susan/Caspian pairing. It caused a great deal of controversy among fans when the film makers chose to include it in the Prince Caspian film, as this pairing has no basis in book canon. (Caspian and Susan appear together in only one book and share little direct interaction.) See canon, movieverse.


True Narnia - Real Narnia, as introduced in The Last Batle, where all the good characters end up after they die. From a religious perspective it is the suppositional Heaven. In fandom True Narnia has become a metonym for book canon. Thus, if a story follows book canon, it is set in True Narnia.

Walden Media - production company that owns the film rights to all seven Narnia books. Walden coproduced the first two Narnia films with Disney as the financial backer, and partnered with Fox after Disney bailed for Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Walden has expressed a desire to produce the whole series (seven films) but this is known to depend on box office response and strong continued interest. See Disney, Fox.

Younger!Caspian - a Caspian who is younger than the Pevensie children. This idea originated with the BBC serial of Prince Caspian/Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which an actor younger and smaller than both Peter and Edmund played Caspian. This technically does not comply with book canon. In the books, Caspian is said to be about the same age as Peter. See Older!Caspian.