"Magic" According to Lewis & Tolkien - Kate Bennett

     I had never read the Chronicles of Narnia before becoming a student in this class. Against a good amount of my classmates' advice, I decided it would be best to try and digest the content chronologically, rather than in the order they were released by. So, my journey in Narnia begins with The Magician's Nephew. I immediately noticed a kind of connection between Lewis' words and the concepts we had explored prior to diving into Narnia, particularly in regards to the term 'magic'. In his work, "On Fairy-Stories," Tolkien made an important distinction between 'magic' and faerie. While many take the terms to mean the same thing, Tolkien exposes that magic is a type of manipulation of the primary world, while faerie concerns a completely secondary world altogether. This act of manipulation isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be harmful when it is equated to the power of faerie. Instead, Tolkien proposes the term 'enchantment' to describe the wonder of faerie. 

    In writing the Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis was no stranger to using the term 'magic'. Despite this, Lewis had a way of portraying a view similar to Tolkien's. As the plot of The Magician's Nephew unfolds, the term 'magic' is repeatedly used to describe the peculiar capabilities of this Other world, even going as far as referring to Uncle Andrew as a 'magician'. Lewis had no problem expressing the inadequacy of this term though. In the chapter, "The Wood Between Worlds," Lewis writes, "Uncle Andrew, you see, was working with things he did not really understand; most magicians are" (p. 30). This jab at the kind of art that mistakes itself for myth, rather than manipulation immediately reminded me of the somewhat negative connotation that Tolkien took toward the term.

    This could've been a strategic move on Lewis' part. In writing a book targeted towards children, I like to think that Lewis opted for a term that was easily understood across generations, despite knowing the amazing intricacies of myth. To make it more palatable to an audience, Lewis needed to include terminology that was easily understood and quick to captivate. However, that doesn't mean that he didn't add in a few passive remarks about the discrepancy between magic and myth here and there. In a way, having to consume the Chronicles of Narnia at this time in my life, rather than when I was a child, grants me with a different understanding of the story. As a child, I would have taken the word to simply mean magic. Now, I recognize the story as something completely transcendent of itself, unlike magic. It really emphasizes this notion that myth is not mean to be juvenile. Instead, it is something capable of satisfying a reader regardless of what stage of life they may be in. At risk of speaking too soon, I'd say I'm pretty satisfied.