Bree (Narnia)

Biographical summary

Bree was born in Narnia as an adventurous and inquisitive colt. Ignoring his mother's warnings, he ventured south past Archenland into Calormen, where he was captured and either enslaved by or eventually sold to the Tarkaan Anradin. For many years he pretended to be a dumb and witless horse to conceal his origins, becoming one of Anradin's prized possessions. With only non-talking horses for comparison, Bree developed a very high opinion of himself, further inflated by his status as a prized war charger. Having spent little time in Narnia, he held incorrect notions about Narnian behavior and culture; notably, he asserted that Aslan was not an actual lion but only a metaphor, partly because he secretly feared lions.

Later in the book, Bree was forced to confront this fear when a lion chased the four protagonists as they neared the Hermit of the Southern Waste. Bree fled in terror, outpacing the mare Hwin and forcing Shasta to dismount at full gallop to help their companions. This incident deflated much of Bree's ego, as he felt intense shame for leaving the two females behind while a peasant boy found the courage to return. The last of his preconceptions shattered when Aslan himself visited the hermitage: while Hwin submitted meekly, Bree retreated and cowered until ordered forward.

Aslan revealed that he was the lion who had both brought the group together and chased them across the desert—the latter to force the horses to the speed needed to warn Archenland and Narnia of the Calormene attack in time. Aslan admonished Bree for his hubris but said he could change if he realized he would be 'nothing special' in Narnia, where he would be only one talking animal among many. At the book's close, Bree and Hwin lived happy lives in Narnia, both eventually marrying (though not each other), and they made frequent trips to Archenland to visit Cor and Aravis, who married and later ruled Archenland.