A Question on Fauns...

D

Dr.Cornelius

New member
Anyone have any idea of the average faun life expectancy? I've been looking online and in the books, but if it's there somewhere I haven't been clever enough to riddle it out...

Mr. Tumnus seems to age as humans do, since by the time the children are grown and hunting the White Stag, he is a "middle-aged Faun and beginning to be stout," I believe.

But then, he tells Lucy all the tales of the Fauns and the Nymphs and the Dryads from before the Witch's 100-year winter. He /couldn't/ have been alive at that time, if he has a normal human life span...perhaps the tales were passed down from his father? But then, that'd still be an awfully long lifespan for his father...perhaps his /grandfather?/

And, on that train of though, anyone have an idea what Tumnus' father's name was? I suppose it's all pure speculation, really, but I couldn't even find the etymology of 'Tumnus' in order to find a suitable name for his father.

I am not just meticulously interested in details...I was thinking about writing a fanfic, but I wanted to see if there was any canon basis before flailing about and improvising madly. Thank you!
 
Fauns are a race of Fairy, so they would have the potential to be immortal. As with all things of fantasy, their lifespan depends on the author of the story.
 
Dr.Cornelius said:
And, on that train of though, anyone have an idea what Tumnus' father's name was? I suppose it's all pure speculation, really, but I couldn't even find the etymology of 'Tumnus' in order to find a suitable name for his father.
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*looks in LWW*

It never clearly states what Mr Tumnus' father name was in the book. All it says is,

"My old father, now...that's his picture over the mantlepiece."
-Mr. Tumnus, LWW Lions Edition Pg 23

I guess you get to improvise! :)
 
Oh goodness gracious mercy me, improvisation. *laughs* Thank you very much, at least now I'm not afeared of contradicting any canon. Well.../directly/. But thank you very much and hoorah for free reign. ;)
 
Let ua know when you get your fan fiction finished, I'd really like to read it. :)
 
i think mr. tumnus is like... over 100 years old. i have 2 reasons to believe this.
1- he says to Lucy "you made me feel warmer than i felt in 100 years" (or sumthing like that)
2- i think he was there before the white witch came to narnia coz he talks like he was and that a long time ago, too. :cool:
 
Yep I agree. Tumnus must be more than 100 years old. Fauns are immortal I believe. As they are a race of Faery. Further more I believe he says Lucy has made him feel warmer than he has in 100 years....so that pretty much answers that question. Now...here is another question...how old is the witch?
 
Archmage_lord said:
But if he's around 100 year old... then all those Lucy/Tumnus pairing fanfics... :eek:
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His AGE is what is wrong with those fics?????

lol, anyway, I think Tumnus is over 100 during LWW because of his statement about feeling warmer than he had in 100 years. But I didn't think that he was immortal - for he's not still around by the time of Prince Caspian, and there is also a pretty intense reunion between him and Lucy in the new Narnia at the end of TLB. (Unless of course fauns are immortal like the LOTR elves, and can be killed by blade or flame - which means possibly the Telmarines may have killed him along with other Old Narnians when they invaded).

Oh, and to the person who asked if he had been in Narnia before the Witch came, it would be hard for this to be possible as the Witch was in Narnia from it's very beginning. She followed Digory and Polly in when Aslan was breathing Narnia to life, and ate an apple from the orchard which was naughty, naughty. :) I don't know how long it was until she overthrew Frank and Helen or their descendants and began her reign but you would think it would be quite some time before this happened as their descendants were Kings and Queens of Archenland too, and as far as we know Archenland was established at the time of LWW.
 
there are Lucy and Tumnus pairings?!?!?! EWW!!!! Lucy is like... 8, and I'm guessing that Mr Tumnus is probably around..... 150. But he doesn't look a day over 19! And, about Mr Tumnus's dad, call me crazy but.... has anyone else noticed that the professor looks a bit like Mr Tumnus? Seriously!! I believe that Professer Digory Kirke is secretly Mr Tumnus's dad, and he kept the secret so well that not even C S Lewis knew it! *nodds* so my theory is that he was in the war, then he chased a wolf or something to the lamp post area, then got lost, and ended up in the wardrobe in the spare room. And he couldn't get back in, so he stayed in the house, waiting for the wardrobe to open again so that he could go back to Narnia!!! And that is why he seems so eager about Lucy's story, and seems so sure that it's true.
 
I don't think there's any indication that fauns are immortal or even long-lived. In the book, in the chapter The Hunting of the White Stag, Tumnus is referred to as a "middle-aged" faun (who was beginning to be stout, as happens to many of us in middle age :)) right at the end of the Golden Age. I think the 100+ years bit, as well as the inference that Tumnus' father fought and died in the war at the beginning of the Witch's reign, are inventions of the scriptwriters. Not that I think they detract all that much from the story.
 
PeaseantGirl said:
there are Lucy and Tumnus pairings?!?!?! EWW!!!! Lucy is like... 8, and I'm guessing that Mr Tumnus is probably around..... 150. But he doesn't look a day over 19!
That never stopped fanfic writers -_-

But the few that I've read involve Lucy being much older, so that gets rid of the problem...

Trust me, if people can come up with Peter/Susan, they're not scared of age differences!

I never tried writing a Narnia fanfic... maybe I should...
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as long as you dont do gross pairngs. wait...... SUSAN AND PETER PAIRINGS??? OH MY GOD!!!!!!! THAT IS JUST SICK!!!!!!!!! am I the only one here who thinks that the professer is mr. tumnus's father?
 
PeaseantGirl said:
am I the only one here who thinks that the professer is mr. tumnus's father?
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I think you are... It says somwhere in the book that the proffessor never got married. I don't see the resemblance between the two, but it's still plausable :D
 
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