The witches' powers and control

T

The Land of NoD

Banned
Just curious, what were the complete set of abilities that made her hold power?

As I recall, when Aslan created the world, the only power Lilith had was strength (she fling the broken lampost on the ground and grow to a lamp years later)

So she had supernatural strength. Her ability to create winter (apparently a rather weak ability since it really didn't say...reduce an attacking army to icicles)

The ability to turn anyone to Stone is powerful, but only at close range. At that range, a sharp stab with a dagger or arrow can end her reign rather instantly.

So how did she manage to hold power and not have her kingdom invaded by neighbors mentioned in other books. Or those civilizations were not started until Lucy and Co returned some 1,000 years later in the next book?
 
Well, first off, she was always Jadis. She may have descended from the line of Lilith (the Beavers allude to as much when speaking of her), but that gets confused later when in Nephew we find she was of the royal line of Charn. (Just how the blood of Lilith got into the world of Charn is something Lewis leaves unexplained.)

The only hint Lewis gives is when Aslan mentions in Nephew that she will flee into the North and there "grow in dark magic". It's never made clear where the magic comes from, or how she grows in it. I think that's one of those things Lewis might have left for others to fill in. My suspicion is that she somehow got entangled with the giants, and possibly helped corrupt them.

You're right about the effective distance of turning someone into stone - it would require you to be fairly close. The only guess I'd have for that is that that instant ossification would be more complete than a blunt or sharp wound - no chance of your victim surviving long enough to take a whack at you.
 
The problem is at very close range. And since she showed no immunity of any kind, I always wondered how she manage to held on to power. (and not get knifed in sleep, ambushed by a team of determined centaurs, etc)

But then in the Battle if I remember correctly from the book only 4-6 lines were described. Maybe she did drop a few blizzard or chucked a couple fireballs.
 
she may have been guarded or protected....or, because of her obvious power, the creatures may have been afraid enough not to try to attack her.

and I think she created a long-lasting winter because spring reminded her of Aslan and all the good things...

but because the Chronicles are an allegory to Christianity, the 100 year winter could symbolize the dead, icy, cold grip SAtan gets on our lives with our sins. Satan doesn't have as much power as God but he is given free reign for a time before God steps in, as Aslan did. Aslan simply waited for the correct time to exert his power, and that was when the Pevensies discovered Narnia.
 
We know from MN that Jadis was very interested in acknowledging a world's worst potential and using it to her advantage. She did so with learning Charn's deplorable word, knowledge that was so secret that it was forbidden to even seek it out.

So apparently, she found Narnia's equivalent to the deplorable word and, with the apple she ate that gave her everlasting days, she had the time to perfect it. Remember that, as part of the Deep Magic, it was Jadis that owned all traitors of Narnia. How she got that part of the Deep Magic is never explained.

MrBob
 
It never really says that Jadis did not have more than just super-human strength when she came into Narnia, it only says that she hated and feared the Magic in Narnia because she knew that it was more powerful and of a different nature from her own, she was still able to know the thoughts of men in Narnia. She aslo understood the magic of the world because she knew what the apple would do. Jadis could not see the deeper magic from before the dawn of time because she was not there for it, but she knew the deep magic from the dawn of time because she listened to the Lion singing.
 
In terms of the issue of her being vulnerable because she could only use the wand to turn people into stone at close range, it has been very similar in the history of our world (to some extent).

Many tyrants who have seized power have managed to rule without assassination simply by the firm grip they have and the fear they spread among the populace... and they didn't even have access to magic. Imagine trying how much more fearful the Roman emperors would have been had they been able to turn people into stone and control the weather!!
 
waterhogboy said:
In terms of the issue of her being vulnerable because she could only use the wand to turn people into stone at close range, it has been very similar in the history of our world (to some extent).

Many tyrants who have seized power have managed to rule without assassination simply by the firm grip they have and the fear they spread among the populace... and they didn't even have access to magic. Imagine trying how much more fearful the Roman emperors would have been had they been able to turn people into stone and control the weather!!
Click to expand...

The Roman tyrants had entire armies to his call, often inspired to serve by coin or misplaced loyalty.

The army she called to her side was hardly inspired by either.
 
Actually, what we see of servants of Jadis appears to show that they are as cruelhearted as she, so they would probably have been bound to her by a shared hatred for Aslan and His goodness.
 
Copperfox said:
Actually, what we see of servants of Jadis appears to show that they are as cruelhearted as she, so they would probably have been bound to her by a shared hatred for Aslan and His goodness.
Click to expand...

You mean like "they hate our freedom"?

I just wondered what prevented some of her servanted decided they are more suited to rule and end up putting a knife behind her.

She had no ideologies to back her power. In Rome, it was in the name of the emperor, in days of Christan kings, they claim mandate from god, in Nazi era it was nationalism, in China is for the people, in America it is "for freedom". The general public had to have some sort of fear that outweigh hatred when opressed, and frankly in term of national defense I still couldn't understand how the Witch could not have a neighboring nation showing up at her door with an hostile army or a hostile revolution and all she have is a wand and two dozen wolves (and a dwarf or two).

Or maybe it was really good turkish delights? :D
 
One must remember that the a major part of the Narnian population was talking animals or trees. In our world, these two groups hibernate in the winter, so it can be assumed that she effectively used a dark magic that made it hard for the creatures of narnia to revolt by changing the way that they had to operate in their habitat.

Nor can we look at the books and say that Jadis's wand only worked in short range, it never says or even implies that this is true in the book, we do know that she was able to turn a whole party of animals (some of whom could be concidered fast) to stone without leaving her sledge. We also know that the Emerald Witch could enchant people and force them to do her will, Lewis makes a point to say that she was doubtlessly of the same kind as Jadis. While there was limits to her power in as much as Aslan presence could break the strangle-hold of power that she held over Narnia. We also know that all who were not directly serving her feared her (and though left unsaid one might assume that some who were directly serving her did also) whether she was super powerful or not. I would imagine that one temper-tantrum from the easily-angered Jadis would have effectively quenched any thoughts of revolt among her supporters as well as the people who lived under her dictatorship.
 
Back
Top