When I was on the set last September, Douglas Gresham told me this name, and I was unable to reveal it until now. He created the name, which evokes imagery of the sea of lilies in the book as well as a very feminine and ethereal feel.
Ramandu’s daughter, in the book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, was always a very mysterious character, and will be portrayed on film by Laura Brent. The name Liliandil, I feel, is the perfect name for the character.
He told me during a private conversation and asked me not to reveal it until much later. It was later spoken by director Michael Apted at the footage screening earlier this year, so it’s amazing that it still hadn’t been revealed. However, as the name has been revealed, I feel free to release it as well. What do you think of the name of this very important character? Do you think it is a name that Jack (C.S. Lewis) would be pleased with?
Her stand-in on the set was Stefania Duncan, a 21-year-old model and actress from Queensland Australia.
It’s not necessarily a name I LIKE per se, but I think it will suit the character.
It’s okay with me.
I do like it, and I agree it fits quite well with her character and surroundings!
This rocks. ‘Nuff said.
hmmmmmm
wow! I love the name!
I like it. Glad Douglas Gresham named her. Fits in well with names like Coriakin and Ramandu. The Shepherdess will still be unamed. 😀 (If she is in the movie.)
Ahhh,…I don’t really like it. I just don’t think of Ramandu’s Daughter when I think of that name.
Very cool… Rilian son of Lilliandil, i like it!
I like it! A little bit of the familiar, with a touch of fantasy. Quite a few L’s in it, though! I’m sure a bunch of little kids are going to have a bit of trouble pronouncing it. 😉
Sounds kind of Lord of the Rings ish, but nice. I think it will fit her character well, and as Aslanismyman said; Rilian son of Lilliandil… Cool! Though I can’t say as though I paticularly like the name.. Glad Douglas Gresham picked it out, though =D.
Nice name but… too much kind like Arwen or other people from LotR. But I sound great “Rilian son of Lilliandil” so … well, we always may have worse name 😀
Well considering Clive and J.R.R. were close friends and along with the Inklings they wrote their books together, I think it sounding a little Lord Of The Rings-ish would be ok with it.Not to mention the fact that Ramandu sound like a LOR name…
Caspian and Lilliandil… I like it! 🙂 That is cool that Douglas Grasham picked the name!
I think the name is good. Definitely better than calling her “Ramandu’s Daughter” all the time.
=)
It’s nice now that she has a name. I like how it sounds, and it fits the picture of her on the poster. It evokes the same feeling I get when I hear Ramandu’s daughter, so as long as that’s there, I think it will work very nicely. King Caspian the Tenth and his lovely wife Queen Lilliandil. Like the sound of it!
sounds very lord of the rings! I like that she has a name now. naming character like that could have turned out really cheesy but I think they did good!
I love the name; it suits the character very well, and I think it is a name C.S. Lewis would be proud of. I’ve been wondering about what her name would be for a long time! It would drive me crazy if they just kept calling her “Ramandu’s daughter” in the movie, so I’m glad they’ve picked a name that fits!
HAND
I like the name. i think it suits her. if she had to have a name this one would be the best. has anyone who has read the books noticed that Caspian was supposed to have blonde hair and not dark hair? jw
I have totally noticed that in the book prince c has blonde hair!
ooh i was wondering when we would find this out! i knew they would have to give Caspian’s wife a name eventually!
i wasn’t sure at first, but i think i’m warming up to it. i think i just have to get past the idea that this is the first character that wasn’t named by c.s. lewis himself. but i think it goes well, and it sounds pretty!
Oh, she’s not the first by a long shot. Check out “Oreius” and “Otmun”…
It fits the character well. A very strong name but gentle at the same time. A hero’s name. Way to pick the name DG.
Cool name. Do you happen to know the pronunciation of Lilliandil?
Sadly, it reminds me too much of “Earendil” from LotR. Just “Lillian” would’ve been nice, even though it isn’t as fantastical sounding as “Lilliandil”.
I agree Anne. And considering the whole blue star thing (Lilliandil) in the film that the heroes have to follow to reach Ramandu’s Island, it is very similar to how the Edain have to follow Earendil (who becomes a star) to reach the island of Númenor in ‘the Silmarillion’. Plus, the ‘-(n)dil’, I’m almost certain, is a masculine name ending; I’ve never come across any female Tolkien characters with that suffix before. I think Lillian sounds a lot better if she really needs to be given a name.
I think the name is GREAT!! It does sound LOTRish but she is sort of mysterious and to me the name fits. she seems like she could almost be a LOTR character, the daughter of a star and all, and the fact that Douglas Gresham named her makes it a lot better I think if you dont like the name.
I like it with reservations. Lillian- is great, but -dil is not the right ending. Lilliandra, Lillandra, Lillandil, Lillond…hm. I haven’t hit the right one yet, but I know it’s out there! If I found the one I thought best I’m sure half of the NFs out there would disagree though. 😉 Mr. Gresham did a great job for someone who (probably) isn’t a name fanatic! Just…please, not too much emphasis on the ‘ee’ sound the second ‘i’ makes. Call her Lilliandil and pronounce it Lillondil…and I’ll be happy. 😀
Because it looks like a copy from an LoTR character (Elendil, Earendil), I suppose it’s ok. I would disagree with Paul that the name is “perfect” because in my opinion it is not..
Hmmm,
Yes, very LoftheR’s ish!
But, I think it will turn out fine in the end.
I’m not blown away, but I’m alright with it… and her having my screen-name in her name doesn’t hurt, either. 😉
For some reason though, even though I know it’d be unfair to snag a name from an unrelated Lewis work for her, I’ve been thinking of her as an Istra. Like Psyche’s native name from “Till We Have Faces.” They both have the same innocent fair-haired goddess mystique, anyway.
Hmmm…I think it’s a pretty name. But in the books, I kinda liked how she didn’t really have a name. But the name suits her, so I don’t have a problem with it. I’m sure Jack would be pleased 🙂
I think it’s a really pretty name. And I agree it would have been awkward to be calling her “Ramandu’s Daughter”.
Well, it does sound similar to LotR, yeah. But the connection works. “Earendil” is a star (there’s a legend behind it, but I can’t remember)so it makes sense for a star’s daughter to have a very similar name.
Do you mean the Norse legend about Odin and the guy’s glowing toe, or the Tolkien-verse one with the halfelven man seeking help for Middle Earth who ended up riding his ship across the sky with a shining jewel on his brow?
The Tolkien-verse one. Thanks, Lily!
You are quite welcome. 🙂
Lilliandil… 🙂 I think it’s a beautiful name… soft, mystic, femenine…
The “dil” ending sounds LOTR-ish (actually it means “friend” or “lover” in the elven language quenya.) Earendil was a sea-farer, (his name means “lover/friend of the great sea”)who became a star. He was one of Tolkiens first mythical characters, whom he propably talked about with Lewis.)
But “Lillian” I think does not sound Tolkienish, the name has its own (narnian?) feel to it. “Lover/friend of lilies” … Love it! 🙂
Oh you know some Elvish!? Awesome!
I agree: “lover of lilies” fits since the lily-covered Silver Sea is just beyond Ramandu’s island! Do you suppose Douglas Gresham had this sort of thing in mind?
Also, in LOTR Quenya Elvish, the prefix Gil or the root Elen both mean “star,” so if they were looking to connect VODT with LOTR, then something along those lines would have worked.
Oh, and about Earendil, has anyone read the part of the Silmarillion about him? It’s completely movie-worthy! A sort of prologue-type scene of the kinslaying and the banishment of the Noldor from Valinor, then continuing to tell Earendil’s story, ending with the Great Siege of Angband and the overthrow of Morgoth and the rescue of the Silmarils and the re-shaping of the earth. (Beleriand’s transformation into the modern map of Middle-Earth.) Doesn’t someone think that would be an awesomely epic movie?!?!?!
I read that some years ago (have to reread it when I get the time)… great story!
I don’t think they were trying to connect VODT with LOTR although the names sound related. (After all why would they when C.S.Lewis has created his own, wonderful fantasy universe?)But I just remembered, in Lewis’ Space Trilogy there are also names ending with -dil, like “Eldil” and “Maleldil.” These are from the language Lewis created for these books, possibly inspired by his philologist friend Tolkien. The reason I write this is to show that the name Lilliandil goes quite well with the Lewis tradition, and isn’t necessarily closer to Tolkiens works than to Lewis’ own Space Trilogy. 🙂
Athough, the Space Trilogy itself binds Lewis’s world to Tolkien’s, as his Merlin and Ransom reference “Numinor”…
The only problem is that there are so many movie-worthy stories wrapped up in that of Earendil. Beren and Luthien and Tuor and Idril–giving us the Quest for the Silmaril and the Fall of Gondor–are both in his ancestry, and the re-shaping of the earth comes with the epic but chillingly grim fal of Gondor to the wiles of Thu/Sauron. How do you condense all that into one movie?
I have seen things online that talk about making a Silmarillion movie, an idea I don’t think I like. Like you said, how do you condense that all into one movie? In order to do each movie-worthy event justice, there would have to be several long movies to contain it all, which I think would probably take at least 20 years. (Has any other writer ever accomplished such a thing, to write so many movie-worthy stories that they can’t possibly all be made in one person’s lifetime? Just goes to show how awesome he is!)
Eep–my brain must have been turned off. I meant “Numenor,” not “Gondor”!
Goodness, very LOTR. I like it though. Maybe a little Elvish, C.S. Lewis would be proud.
Lover of lilies doesn’t fit since she really didn’t have a clue what was beyond her island at the Utter East. It’s just a bad copy of LoTR characters names.
It may also have been a name sounded out phonetically with no LOTR-connected intentions but an unfortunate resemblance noticed by hordes of fans.
She might not have, but Ramandu probably knew about the lilies in the days when he was a star. Most people don’t pick their own names, after all.
It is a great name for her and is very beautiful. It is a strange and unheard of name, but it goes for the strange beauties of Narnia and the worlds beyond Narnia.
A mouthful to say and spell, but I like it. I was afraid that they would name her something utterly ridiculous or stupid. Of course, I would have preferred no name at all, but I understand how no name to such a person would be confusing to an audience not familiar with the story.
I love it! I think it totally fits her character. It’s sounds so pretty like her.
Funny that i too knew her name but didn’t reveal it so i’m wondering exactly how private that conversation was! p.s very nice girl. I can even remember her lines although i can’t repeat them either yet.
Did you work on the film? They shot her stuff indoors.
It is true that Lilliandil sounds Tolkien-ish, but he never used the “dil” ending for female characters, it was a specifically masculine name ending. I appreciated the post someone else said about Lewis using the “dil” ending in his Space Trilogy. It makes more sense to connect the name to that than it does to LOTR, regardless of the Inkling connection, but fans will be fans. 😉
And whoever said “most people don’t choose their own names” cracked me up…So true! Ha ha!
I think it is a very J.R.R. Tolkien style name but seeing as both series’ of books winked at each other in character play. One instance comes to mind In Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring just before the group ventured into Moria, the storm that they endured was as Frodo saw, Giant Trolls throwing boulders as a game. Which paralleled Eustace and Lucy’s adventure with Puddleglum as the saw a similar event. With that said, Jack (C.S. Lewis) and J.R.R. Tolkien were good friend bouncing idea’s of each other all the time…of course I think he would approve.
A dear fan of both Narnia and The Fellowship
lightbarer (KarlCzirr)
I don’t like how they feel they can just name an unnamed character. I just feel like CS Lewis just rolled over in his grave…not cool.
They’ve done it since the first movie, so it’s really no big deal. Plus, even C.S. Lewis understands that it’s a work of fiction. It’s not like they’re giving a name to a real person, like an unknown soldier that actually had a name in the past.
I agree with Teresa Dawn. It’s not exactly a name I like, but it will suit the character just fine. Lilliandil — it does resemble LotR names, but something about it is definitely Narnian.
I have to agree with Dernhelm about the “dil” ending, though. Not the best they could have done, but it will do just fine. As far as the “perfect” name, I would have to say Lilliond. It’s very similar, but not quite so sloppy sounding. But this is coming from an aspiring author and devoted fan who absolutely OBSESSES over names. 🙂
Anyway, I’m not concerned enough to be upset. Lilliandil is a fine name — suitable for the movie, the character, and the author. It’s already growing on me! Congratulations Douglas Gresham on a job well done! 🙂
“LILLIOND”? Sounds like ‘lilly pond’ to me!
Some of you really amaze me. Complaining about a character’s name chosen by Douglas Gresham, stepson of the master of Narnia himself. Don’t you think he, of all people, would know what would be appropriate? I wish it stated how old Mr. Gresham was when he named her. Was he still a boy and did “Jack” approve? Also, why are the negative comments mostly girls!?! Jealousy or envy perhaps?
I laughed when I heard the star’s daughter’s name. One of the cheesiest, faux-Tolkien-esque names I’ve ever heard. I can’t say it was unexpected, though.