Have you ever wondered where, in the world, you could go to see what Narnia might have looked like to C.S. Lewis? We’ve seen spectacular vistas in the films, to be sure, but those views were based on locations scouted for filming. Personally, I have never seen these quotes from C.S. Lewis, but he has mentioned what his ideas of the look of Narnia were like.
“I have seen landscapes, notably in the Mourne Mountains and southwards which under a particular light made me feel that at any moment a giant might raise his head over the next ridge.” He continues, “That part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia.” And finally, “I yearn to see County Down in the snow; one almost expects to see a march of dwarfs dashing past. How I long to break into a world where such things were true.”
South Down Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Seán Rogers believes that the links with C.S. Lewis and the South Down area of Northern Ireland should be reinforced. He told Newry Times, “C. S. Lewis’s love of our magical landscape is well recorded and yet visitors could arrive and leave the Mournes without once learning of the inspirational effect it had on this world renowned writer. So many beautifully scripted quotes are gifted to us that should enable us to capture a little of the C.S. Lewis magic and deposit it firmly into the landscape where he envisaged it.”
Rogers added, “It should not be allowed to go unrecorded that C. S. Lewis revealed in a letter to his brother that the Mournes and in particular Rostrevor were his idea of the enchanting landscape that became known as Narnia.” He suggested one proposal might be to place a large sculpture of the great lion Aslan at that already mythically rich location known locally as “The Big Stone.” “The lion looking out from the Mournes across to the Cooley Peninsula could so easily become a major international tourist attraction,” Rogers insisted. “Such a dramatic image would allow us to glimpse our beautiful landscape through the eyes of this inspirational and truly great man and no doubt would be visited by many. I will endeavour to ensure C.S. Lewis’s connection to the Mournes is recorded in a way that ensures it will not become lost through the passage of time.”
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I would definetly visit if they had an Aslan sculpture there!