Next location: Narnia


Partly because of the impossible challenge and partly because the books are sitting on the shelf in front of me.

Extra points will be awarded for literary relevance.

I've decided that the challenge of rhyming is a good thing. Sorry I've been a bit of a baby about it in the past.

I'm in!

Now to try for a topical one.

Mine is almost complete. Mind you, on checking through some of C S Lewis's works I have discovered that it's not only Narnia that's tricky to rhyme; he seemed to delight in using tricky words for his creations.

Not sure about this one. I've always hated those Narnia books (being Jewish and all). How are you saying it, Bob?

as such an awkward rhyme I'll accept more or less any which way. The two so far submitted ar NARN-ya (2 sylables) and NARN-ee-a (3 syllables)

I've written one. I left it at work, so I'll send it tomorrow.

It's a little "in your face," I must admit. Oh well. I've always disliked, immensely, C.S. Lewis.

I sent one earlier today.

And another just now. Whee! Isn't it fun to be mean to Mr Lewis?

Hoo...you should see mine, bethree.

quote:

Oh well. I've always disliked, immensely, C.S. Lewis.

Most people's introduction to C S Lewis is "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" but it wasn't mine.

As a science fiction addict I picked up a title I'd not seen previously - "Out of the Silent Planet" - by Lewis. Although its science was seriously flawed I got into it and its successors and enjoyed them - in spite of their clear religious overtone. One of the things I recall was that the "hero" was described in that first book of the series as a professor of philology - which study I knew nothing of at that time. Now, of course, I have more than an average interest in that topic!

That's interesting, Richard. That was how I was introduced to reading CS Lewis, too. I do remember though a radio serialisation of TLTWATW on "Children's Hour" in the 1950s. That was shorn of all religious overtones though - or, at least, did not seem apparent to this little pagan. I can only remember it now as a pretty good fantasy.

I'll leave this running till the weekend.

Any word from the Limerick Awards?

Just dropped another "nomination" over the transom!

OK here, in the order received, are the Narnailicks.

jerry, perceiving some slight difficulty with the rhyme gave me

A primary prime rhymer is Narnia.
For you see it rhymes only with Narnia.
Put it back on the shelf.
Let it rhyme with itself
Like silver and orange and narnia.

followed by shu who sent in

There once was a fellow from Narnia,
Who said to his surgeon, "I warn ya,
My wife thinks a lot o' me.
So I'll have no peotomy!
So don't even think it, gol-darn ya!"

and then, complete with alternate titles

On the Shallowness of Narnian Society,
or
How to Succeed in Narnia Without Really Trying.

With Narnian folks you’ll succeed
Using “Dress for Success” as your creed.
To gain their regard,
Just rely on which ward-
robe you choose, sir. Success guaranteed!

Richard then provided

In Crete there's a city called Chania
Where Lewis first chronicled "Narnia".
Where live satyrs and centaurs,
And Aslan's "joke" jackdaws.
Unlikely? It's a fairy tale, darn ya!

bethree5 chipped in with, the not very complimentary

Traversing wardrobes to Narnia—
Have you ever heard such a yarn-ya?
An ice dominatrix
In a leonine matrix
With a princeling: it’s sickening, I warn ya!

Followed by Kalleh's even less complimentary

When you're Jewish and read about Narnia,
Your Christian friends really should warn ya.
You get through all seven...
It's Christ up in Heaven!
[We Jews say of Lewis - Oh, Darn ya!]

bethree5 pops up again next with another entry

A fierce eye had the chronicler of Narnia
And holy socks with nary a darnia
Proselytes he was wishin’,
So he made it his mission
To knit stories of very thin yarnia.

And again with

Evangelicals love that Lewis and his Narnia--
Which just proves that they can’t reason worth a darn-ia.
Read his essays: he’s a cheater
Who would wiggle by St Peter
With a wink, and a bit ‘o the old Blarn-ia.

(I'm sensing a dislike of the book, here. )

Finally let me provide my own humble effort, just the one this time…

When out for some Tex-Mex in Narnia
Best to order your chilli sin carne – a
Good idea, 'coz –
As in Dorothy's Oz -
The animals there can out-blarney ya.


I'm rather conflicted on my choice here.

On the one hand I love shu's second one which is immensely clever, but dioesn't meet the rule of place name in A-rhyme position.

bethree5 has managed three, albeit with some repeated rhymes, which is something I failed to do this week (and with my own word!)

I like Richard's but I'm not mad about the B-rhyme and jerry's while creative smacks a bit of throwing in the towel.

Nancy's not only identifies the theme of the books but also correctly points out that after the seventh we've had the Day of Judgement and the Christians have all gone to Heaven.

So who is it to be?

Well, it's my game and if I choose to break the rules, I can. So, even without it's A rhyme, I choose shu's number two (but let's try to keep it to the A-rhymes in future folks.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

Conscious of Bob's desire for the limerick to be relevant to the book, I tried very hard to get a better b-rhyme but few of the Narnian characters' names rhymed one with the other. Centaurs and jackdaws was about the nearest.

And of course, I have no idea whether or not Lewis ever visited Crete - but Charnia (pronounced Harnia) is the only perfect rhyme I could find for Narnia!

I didn't expect mine to win...too negative.

I hadn't seen Shu's before, so I found it interesting that we had used the same rhymes!

Can you give him a nudge and tell him he's won and that he now needs to pick a place name?

Hear, hear! Shu's was hilarious & light-hearted as limericks should be.

I stumbled across Narnia in my late teens, right after Tolkien's tales, & loved the series. (Should I mention that at the same time I was romantically converting to Catholicism, taking catechism lessons over at Cornell's chapel with Dan Berrigan's buddies?....)

However I do think it a sorry idea to peddle religion to children via fantasy, & I stuck to Oz books in raising my own.

My third limerick was poking fun at Evangelicals, not Lewis. I haven't read his famous non-fiction, but I follow atheistic & theological squabbles. Fundamentalists are wont to quote long passages from Mere Christianity to prove to their mistakenly admiring evangelical friends that Lewis (a)did not take the Bible literally [far from it] (b)was a blasphemer [Lewis thought ANYbody could get into heaven!] and (c)seemed to like Buddhism & Judaism as much as Christianity [horrors!]

Way too much to suspend from a light verse, but I shall continue to chercher la limérique!

We're out of town right now with limited computer access, so he probably won't get to this until Monday. But I am an excellent nudge, so I will do my job, Bob.

Funnily, when Shu first showed me that limerick, I told him to write another. I admonished him that he hadn't followed the rules and wouldn't win. That's why he submitted two.