Alignment: Good
Race: Marsh-wiggle
Book Appearances: The Silver Chair
Movie Appearances: The Silver Chair (BBC)
Physical Description: “As they drew nearer, the figure turned its head and showed them a long thin face with rather sunken cheeks, a tightly shut mouth, a sharp nose, and no beard. He was wearing a high, pointed hat like a steeple, with an enormously wide flat brim. The hair, if it could be called hair, which hung over his large ears was greeny-grey, and each lock was flat rather than round, so that they were like tiny reeds. His expression was solemn, his complexion muddy, and you could see at once that he took a serious view of life.”
Book portrayal
Puddleglum is one of the finest examples of Lewis’s ability to make a gloomy character deeply lovable. He expects disaster, notices every danger, and talks as if the worst outcome is always near, yet when the true test comes he proves sturdier than almost anyone else in the book.
His great scene before the Green Lady’s fire is the heart of The Silver Chair. Puddleglum does not refute enchantment with brilliance. He stamps it out with loyal sanity and a willingness to stand with Aslan’s world even if it turns out to be only a better dream. That is why he lingers so strongly in readers’ memory.
Adaptation portrayals
The BBC adaptation preserves both his mournful comic tone and his moral courage.
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