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Peter Pevensie is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis's '' Chronicles Of Narnia '' and is the eldest of the four Pevensie children (the others are Susan , Edmund , and Lucy ). He appears in four of the seven books; in '' The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe '' and '' Prince Caspian '' he is a principal child character. He is mentioned in '' The Silver Chair '' as a High King, '' The Horse And His Boy '', and he is an adult in '' The Last Battle ''. PORTRAYALS In the 2005 Disney film '''', Peter is portrayed by a British actor William Moseley . In the 1988 Television Serial produced by the BBC , ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', Peter was played by actor Richard Dempsey . SYNOPSIS The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe As the eldest brother, he tried his best to protect his other siblings and to act like a responsible young adult. He was evacuated to the countryside with his siblings by train as the air-raids of World War II devastated the city of London. In the countryside, they stayed at the old mansion of Professor Digory Kirke --the first human to visit Narnia, some forty years ealier, unbeknownst to Peter--until the end of the war. When Lucy first stumbles on the wardrobe, Peter doesn't believe her at first, believing it was just her imagination until he and the other Pevensies enter the wardrobe themselves; "A jolly good hoax, Lu". He apologized to Lucy for not believing her and was quite angry with Edmund for earlier denying Narnia's existence; "Well, of all the poisonous little beasts". This is caused by Edmund revelation of his deceit when, upon entering Narnia, he says; "I say...oughtn't we to be bearing a bit more to the left, that is, if we are aiming for the lamp-post?". He was knighted as Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane by Aslan after he slew Maugrim the wolf, chief of the White Witch 's secret police, who tried to kill Susan and Lucy. This was Peter's first battle. In the 1979 Animated Film , he is instead knighted Sir Peter Fenris-bane; this is probably because Maugrim has been renamed Fenris-Ulf , a figure from Norse Mythology , in keeping with a US version of ''The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe''. After defeating the White Witch Jadis, self-styled Queen of Narnia, and her evil allies during the battle, he was crowned by Aslan as His Majesty King Peter the Magnificent, High King of Narnia, Emperor of the Lone Islands, Lord of Cair Paravel , Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Lion. The ancient prophecy of two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve coming to sit on the four thrones of Narnia at Cair Paravel had come to fruition. This marked the end of the hundred years of winter and the reign of the White Witch, and the beginning of Narnia's Golden Age. COMMENTARY Even before entering Narnia , Peter demonstrates his strong moral fibre. Perhaps for this reason he undergoes the least development of the major characters; his experiences in Narnia serve primarily to strengthen his innate tendency towards humility and courage. He possesses the traits of maturity and discernment, as befits his position as King Peter the Magnificent, High King over all kings of Narnia. Given Lewis's penchant for the use of significant names (for example, '' Aslan '' is Turkish for '' Lion ''), the surname "Pevensie" is worthy of notice. Pevensey , on the southeast coast of England, is the site of a medieval castle that figures importantly in British history at several points. In Rudyard Kipling's ''Puck of Pook's Hill'' ( 1907 ) at least one of the characters refers to Pevensey as "England's Gate," which the celebrated wardrobe in Lewis's books quite literally becomes. The surname "Pevensie" does not actually appear in the Chronicles until the third published book, '' The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader .'' We can notice the tie between Peter Pevensie and St. Peter who was one of Jesus's original twelve disciples. In the story, Peter is the leader of the children as St. Peter is considered a leader of the twelve disciples. Peter leads the army of Narnia to fight against the evil and St. Peter led the early Christian church in spreading Christianity. Like St. Peter, who was given that name from Christ, Peter is given the name Sir Peter Wolfsbane by Aslan. The biblical St. Peter, according to Catholic tradition, was given the key to the gate of Heaven and Peter Pevensie shut the door on the destroyed Narnia after the judgment in The Last Battle . FOOTNOTES |
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