Mr Tumnus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Tumnus)
Jump to: navigation, search
Narnia character
Mr. Tumnus
Race/Nation Faun / Narnia
Gender Male
Birthplace Narnia
Major character in
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Portrayals in Adaptations
1988 BBC miniseries: Jeffrey Perry
2005 Disney film: James McAvoy

Mr. Tumnus is a faun and a fictional character in C. S. Lewis's book series The Chronicles of Narnia. He is featured prominently in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and also appears in The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle. He is close friends with Lucy Pevensie and is the first person she meets in Narnia, as well as the first Narnian to be introduced in the book series. Lewis said that the first Narnia story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, all came to him from a single picture he had in his head. It was a picture of a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels through a snowy wood. In that way, Tumnus was the initial inspiration for all of the Narnia stories. The name Tumnus may be a truncated form of Vertumnus which was borne by a rustic god in Roman mythology.

Contents

Lewis describes Tumnus as having reddish skin, curly hair, a short pointed beard, horns on his forehead, cloven hooves, shiny black goat legs, and a long goat's tail.

In the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Tumnus has lighter skin and brown legs.

Mr. Tumnus was first introduced to the Chronicles of Narnia in the first published book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950).

He explains that he grew up in the forests of Narnia before the White Witch caused the eternal winter. Before the winter, Tumnus enjoyed midnight dances, long hunting parties, feasting, and treasure seeking. His many friends included not only fauns, but also nymphs, dryads, Red Dwarfs, and talking animals, including Mr. Beaver and Mrs. Beaver.

By the year 1000, Tumnus is over 100 years old. His father had passed away and Tumnus lives in a cozy, furnished cave in Lantern Waste, not far from the lamppost. Despite his abhorrence of the White Witch, he becomes a paid kidnapper in her service. He takes orders to turn over any human children he finds in Narnia to the witch. (It turns out that the witch was particularly concerned about the presence of children in Narnia due to a prophecy about her own downfall. It is unclear if Tumnus is aware of the prophecy.)

The first human that Tumnus meets is Lucy Pevensie, who finds her way into Narnia by a magic wardrobe. In an effort to gain her trust, Tumnus takes Lucy to his house where he serves her tea, sardines, and cakes. He tells her many stories of Narnia before the winter and plays his flute for her. His melody makes Lucy want to laugh and cry and dance and sleep, unaware of the danger that Tumnus intends. However, when Lucy announces a few hours later that she must go home, Tumnus begins to cry, and confesses what his intentions were. He tells Lucy that he cannot go through with the witch's orders, although he risks being turned to stone if he doesn't. Lucy forgives Tumnus, and then he takes her safely back to the lamppost from where she returns home to her own world. Lucy lets Tumnus keep her handkerchief.

Lucy pays Tumnus a second visit a short time later. At the same time, Edmund meets the witch, and tells her that his sister has been in Narnia before and has met a faun. Soon thereafter, Tumnus is arrested by the witch's Secret Police and taken to her house. Before his arrest, he passes Lucy's handkerchief to his friend, Mr. Beaver, asking him to tell Lucy should the worst happen. Mr. Tumnus is turned to stone, but after Aslan's resurrection and his subsequent raid on the witch's castle with the Pevensie girls, Lucy finds the statue of Mr Tumnus, who is then restored by Aslan's breath.

At the end of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensies find their way back to their childhood after Tumnus reports that the White Stag, who grants wishes when caught, has been seen near his house. During the hunt for the White Stag, the children stumble back through the wardrobe into England.

In The Horse and His Boy, during the Golden Age of Narnia, Tumnus continues to live in Lantern Waste, and continues to be close with the Pevensie children. He accompanies Edmund and Susan on their trip to Tashbaan. When they realize they may be taken prisoner if Susan refuses to marry Prince Rabadash, it is Tumnus who devises the escape plan.

He is reunited with Lucy at the end of The Last Battle.

He was spoofed in Epic Movie.

Mr. Tumnus appeared in the "Robot Chicken's Half-Assed Christmas Special" voiced by Seth Green. When he meets the nerd upon his arrival, the nerd beats him to death with a stick he dubbed "Excalibur 2."

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.