Strawberry

Background

Strawberry is the London cab-horse who becomes Fledge in The Magician’s Nephew. His transformation is one of the loveliest moments in the book. After Aslan sings Narnia into being, the old horse is given wings and speech, and with that new life comes a new name. The change is more than cosmetic. Lewis presents it as a kind of joyful elevation, the awakening of a fuller self.

Personality

Even before the transformation, Strawberry is associated with patience, labor, and gentleness. As Fledge, those qualities remain, but they are joined by fresh delight and freedom. He does not become proud because he can fly. If anything, he becomes more openly grateful. That humility keeps the character warm instead of merely majestic.

Role in the Story

Fledge plays a crucial role in the history of early Narnia. He carries Digory on the journey to the western garden so the boy can retrieve the apple Aslan has commanded him to bring back. Without Fledge, Digory’s quest becomes much harder to imagine, and the book loses one of its clearest images of obedient strength put in service of a good purpose.

His relationship with Frank also matters. Because he began as the cabby’s horse, his transformation creates a beautiful parallel between the future king and the future Talking Horse. Both are lifted into a larger life, and both receive that gift without treating it as a license for self-importance.

Legacy in Narnia

Strawberry, later Fledge, is one of the most memorable animal characters in the origin story of Narnia. He combines wonder with usefulness, beauty with loyalty. Readers remember him because the idea of a weary workhorse suddenly becoming a winged friend of Aslan is exactly the sort of grace Lewis knew how to make unforgettable.