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In C. S. Lewis's fantasy novels the Chronicles of Narnia, Archenland is a nation to the south of Narnia. Lewis derived its name from the Greek root "arch" meaning "ruler". Its borders are formed by mountains to the north and by the River Winding Arrow to the south. Its capital appears to be the castle located in the Anvard pass, which allows passage to Narnia.
Events
In The Horse and His Boy, which is set fourteen Narnian years after the main events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, during the reign of High King Peter and his siblings (and one year before the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Archenland is in close alliance with Narnia, and is inhabited by humans. Narnia by contrast is at that time populated almost entirely by talking animals. Prince Rabadash of Calormen unsuccessfully attempts to conquer this land as the prelude to a planned invasion of Narnia.
It is said in The Magician's Nephew that the second son of King Frank, the first king of Narnia, became the first king of Archenland; Aslan himself had decreed Archenland's existence to Frank before he took the throne. Archenland's formation is uncertain, and was believed to be under Narnian rule; but it constitutes a separate country at the time of King Col of Archenland (180 years after Narnia's creation). Unlike Narnia, Archenland keeps its line of rulers unbroken at least as late as the time of The Horse and His Boy, and the main character of The Horse and His Boy, Shasta, is of this line. Archenland still exists at the time of The Last Battle.
The Kings and Queens of Archenland
The following are the Kings and Queens of Archenland; it can be assumed that there were other kings and queens since Archenland history spans 2,335 years.
- King Col (son of King Frank V of Narnia), fl. 180
- King Lune, fl. 1014
- King Cor, son of Lune, married to Aravis of Calormen, d. c.1050
- King Ram the Great, son of Cor and Aravis, reigned from 1050
- King Nain, fl. 2303
Castle Anvard
Anvard is the moatless castle where King Lune of Archenland resides. It is made of red-brown stones and sits on a green lawn in front of a high woody ridge. In The Horse and His Boy, wicked Prince Rabadash led a force of two hundred horsemen in an attack against it but was defeated by King Edmund. The warrior Fair Olvin (fl. 407) is sometimes listed as a King of Archenland, but this is not stated by Lewis.
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"Archenland"