anvard

[bedlamsbard]

Ladies and gents, the castle of Anvard, circa LB and Dust. Yes, that's Neuschwanstein Castle. For some reason, that's the only picture of Neuschwanstein I've found so far that really works for me as Anvard; a lot of the other ones aren't as dramatic and, I guess, fantastic as that one. I quite like Hohenzollern too; here's another good picture of Hohenzollern, with some dramatic landscapes. My mental image, as it is (I don't do images very well) is sort of a combination of the two, though more with Neuschwanstein's surrounding geography, I believe. Here's another dramatic picture of Neuschwanstein.

Before I came back from break, I spent some time coming up with rather dramatic history for Archenland, which I've almost never dealt with before in my 'verse. Lewis gives a taste of Archenlander history and legends here and there, but it's not something he deals with in detail either. It is yet to see how much of Archenland's legendary past will come into play in Dust, though probably just hints here and there. For example: a king of Archenland married a daughter of the river god of the Winding Arrow, and thus brought everything that its waters touched under his control, so there's a sizable portion of the Great Southern Desert that's technically Archenlander, though don't tell the desert-dwellers that. The mountains get higher, larger, and more dramatic the further west one goes: out of the domain of Aslan and into the province of Cybele, the Mother of Mountains, who gave the second king of Archenland the castle of Anvard. Gladis the Bold was a descendant of his, a princess who ran away from Anvard to face down the White Dragon of Arrowshead Peak alone and unaided when it was ravaging the land. (And sometimes I have to resist the urge to digress and write about her, because from what little I know of her, she's pretty awesome.) The kings and queens of Archenland descend in unbroken succession from King Frank I and Queen Helen of Narnia. And there's a reason no king of Archenland has ever won a battle on Narnian soil.

Comments

[sporky_rat]

And why is it that no Archenlander King or Queen has won a battle on Narnian Soil? Does she just not like them?

[lady_songsmith]

*adds a ditto to this and waits with curious and expectant expression*

[bedlamsbard]

I haven't quite worked out the specifics yet, but it goes all the way back to the founding of Archenland, when Prince Col left Narnia in a huff and stormed off south. (Or got kicked out. Variations upon a theme...unfortunately only the Archenlanders are left who remember the history.)

[burntcopper]

I'm going to sit here and blink a bit about Neuschwanstein. (also: INCREDIBLY drafty and filled with pointless passages and odd corners you can't fit furniture in due to the form over functionality design - it's more like a house with twiddly bits than a defensible castle, for all the remote location and cut-offable approach.). But then you know me, my version of Archenland is Wales. and I disapprove of any 'castle' that doesn't have arrowslits.

[bedlamsbard]

Off first impressions alone; I hardly have any intention of copying the exact plan. For once it's nice to just have a very vague idea of looks and architecture, rather than having absolutely no idea whatsoever what something looks like. (I still have no idea what the palace of Cair Paravel, in the Dust 'verse, looks like.) I like to think Anvard has form and function. My Anvard has a giant wall around it, for one. (A very attractive wall! But still a wall.) And another wall around the town below.

[burntcopper]

oo, in that case can i rec some of the loire valley castles/walled towns? they have *killing grounds*... :looks dreamy: (also, fairly similar approach through the town to the end PC film scene.) Might also want to bug clanwilliam and gmh on which castles were involved/improved in the post-medieval wars to see defensive measures. Britain stalled in building for defensive purposes around the tudor period. During which we still built squat and relatively simple.

oh, I get the 'wanting to have an idea', I can just never stop giggling over the real-life model of the Sleeping Beauty castle.

[bedlamsbard]

*goes to look*

It's purty. And it's really pretty much just that one picture where it works for me. Hohenzollern works on a practical level, but Neuschwanstein is pointier and is already on top of a mountain, which is helpful.

The other thing is that the capital itself hasn't been invaded in the past several centuries, so on that level alone there's a reason why it might not be as defensive as one might imagine. (Cair Paravel in Narnia is the same way.) Archenland tends to rely on its location and natural geography as a defense as much as it can, although it has an awful lot of squabbling barons. As one does...

[autumnia]

Ooh, meta and pretty pictures!

I kinda like Hohenzollern as a good outline of my version of Cair Paravel; it's not quite my exact picture but it's getting there. Anvard to me was always a bit squarish and drab (certainly not as beautiful as the Cair) -- my views of places and things have always been influenced by Pauline Baynes' illustrations.

And I'm with the other folks above and want to know why no Archenlander King or Queen has won on Narnian soil!

[bedlamsbard]

I go with the movie for my Golden Age Cair Paravel -- let me see if I can find a good picture online, it's the background on my laptop right now -- ah, here we are. (There's some other really lovely concept art on his Narnia gallery page; I love concept art more than most things.) This sketch, with the village below, is roughly how I figure the Shifting Market started out. (Oh my gods, did they not get that Henrik Tamm in to do concept art for VotDT? THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH. Among other things. OMG, what is this crusader type movie he has concept art for? All there are is initials, no name! *easily distracted*)

I can say with complete honesty that I have no idea how Dust-era Cair Paravel, city or palace, looks. Well, on a micro-level I know how the city looks, but not on a macro-level.

Like I said above, it goes back to the very foundation of Archenland, when Prince Col left Narnia. I'm vague on the specifics, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

[autumnia]

Oh!! I love that sketch with the city (shifting market and all) below you linked to. How have I not seen that one before? I've always wondered how a city around the Cair would have grown up considering its geography and all.

Hmm. I also liked this illustration of the throne room. Not my canon, but very pretty nevertheless! The arches in the design actually remind me of the Mezquita in Cordoba, Spain, for some reason.

And yeah, picturing Cair Paravel during Dust is really hard. I'd guess it's a bit like Miraz's castle in the movie but with a bit of Narnian design in it.

[bedlamsbard]

I love concept art. Love, love, love. Have you seen The Crafting of Narnia? It has some of the most beautiful concept art I have ever seen there, and some really interesting thoughts on the architecture and geography they chose for LWW and PC. (If you will excuse a moment of bitterness, one page has more thought put into it than went into, like, the entirety of VotDT. /bitterness over)

I know I described Caspian's castle in Dust, but I can't remember if it was in a deleted chapter or one that actually went up. A cut chapter, I think, as I'm reasonably certain it was a Peter POV I stopped mid scene. *looks* Ah, yes, a discarded chapter. ...wow, I was really bitter in this chapter.