Narnia Codexery

Narnian Talking Beasts

The animals Aslan gave the power of speech.

In The Magician's Nephew Aslan, himself the first talking animal, calls animals up out of the ground as Narnia is created and gives some of them the power of speech. Across the series talking animals mostly act as allies of Aslan and the human children, though a few, such as the ape Shift, are villains.

Quick Facts

Notable
  • Reepicheep
  • Mr and Mrs Beaver
  • Shift
  • Ginger

Lore & Background

Talking beasts are larger than ordinary animals of the same kind: in Prince Caspian the mouse Reepicheep stands two to three feet tall on his hind legs. They can also lose speech for good. During the Telmarine occupation magical creatures were hunted, and many talking animals withdrew and fell back into dumb beasts, like a bear the Pevensies and Trumpkin meet. In The Last Battle the talking cat Ginger sides with Shift and the Calormenes.

More in Factions & Kingdoms

Elsewhere in Narnia

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