Rabadash

Did You Know?

• Rabadash's comeuppance illustrates a passage from Romans 12 about overcoming evil with good.
• He was not killed but chastened, which ensured Narnia's stability.
• He has been described as 'a supreme bully,' 'cruel,' and 'spoiled.'

Character history

Rabadash's invasion of Narnia was triggered by his failure to win Queen Susan's hand. He had previously visited her at Cair Paravel and made a favorable impression. But when Susan traveled to Tashbaan with her brother Edmund, she discovered Rabadash's true nature: proud, cruel, and intent on taking her by force. She and Edmund escaped with their followers.

Nursing wounded pride and anger, the spoiled prince asked his father, the Tisroc, for permission to lead a cavalry force to Narnia. His plan was to first surprise and capture Anvard, Archenland's capital, giving Calormen a staging ground for a later invasion, then abduct Susan when she returned to Cair Paravel. The Tisroc refused to publicly endorse the attack. He knew it would be diplomatically awkward to order an unprovoked assault on a neighbor protected by Aslan.

If Rabadash failed, the Tisroc could simply deny involvement. He also saw his son's hot temper and ambition as a threat to his own throne, preferring Rabadash to waste his energy abroad—or even die—rather than plot a coup at home. Before the prince departed, the Tisroc made clear he would neither rescue nor avenge him if captured or killed. Furthermore, if Rabadash shed more Narnian blood than necessary and sparked open war, he would lose his status as heir, regardless of the campaign's outcome.

During a secret meeting with the Tisroc and the Vizier, Rabadash grew frustrated with their exchange of invented proverbs. Unable to keep up, he snapped, "I have had maxims and verses flung at me all day."