Shasta (Narnia)

Biographical summary

Raised as Shasta by a poor fisherman named Arsheesh on the coast of Calormen, Cor believed Arsheesh was his father until he overheard the fisherman negotiating to sell him as a slave to a Tarkaan. Discovering that Arsheesh had found him as a baby in a rowboat washed ashore, Shasta went to the stable and spoke to the Tarkaan's horse. The horse, nicknamed Bree, answered, warning that the new master was cruel and suggesting they escape together to Narnia, a land of freedom where nearly all animals talk.

Shasta agreed, and they fled that night. They encountered another pair of fugitives: a Tarkheena named Aravis and her talking horse Hwin. In Tashbaan, Calormen's capital, Shasta was mistaken for Prince Corin of Archenland by a visiting Narnian party. Learning that Prince Rabadash of Calormen planned to invade Archenland as a step to conquering Narnia, Shasta and his companions set off to warn Archenland.

After a grueling desert journey, a tired and barefoot Shasta successfully warned the Archenlanders. Riding with them, he became lost in fog but was guided by the great lion Aslan through a mountain pass into Narnia, where his warning mustered Narnian forces. At Corin's urging, Shasta fought in the battle that defeated Rabadash. He then learned his true identity: Prince Cor of Archenland, elder son of King Lune, Corin's twin brother, and heir apparent.

A prophecy had predicted he would save Archenland from great danger, leading domestic enemies to kidnap him as a baby. When his father pursued, the kidnappers put him on a rowboat with a knight; the knight died, but Aslan guided the boat to shore. The prophecy was fulfilled when he alerted Archenland and Narnia of the invasion. Cor reunited with his father and brother, and Aravis came to live at Anvard. They eventually married, and their son Ram the Great became the greatest king of Archenland.