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This page refers to the novel. For the upcoming film, see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	C. S. Lewis
Illustrator	Pauline Baynes
Country	England
Language	English
Series	The Chronicles of Narnia
Genre(s)	Fantasy
Publisher	Geoffrey Bles
Publication date	1952
Media type	Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
Pages	223 pp
ISBN	NA
Preceded by	Prince Caspian
Followed by	The Silver Chair

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis. Written in 1950, it was published in 1952 as the third book of The Chronicles of Narnia. Current editions of the series are numbered using the internal chronological order making Dawn Treader the fifth book.

See the Note on typography below about the italics in the book's title.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Commentary 3 Differences between British and American editions 4 Film, TV or theatrical adaptations 5 Note on typography 6 References 7 External links 8 See also

The two youngest children from the previous stories, Lucy and Edmund Pevensie, are sent to the house of their obnoxious cousin Eustace Scrubb for a holiday. While with their cousin, the Pevensies look at a painting on the wall of a Narnian ship at sea. Suddenly the ship begins to move and a moment later, the three children are pulled through the painting into the world of Narnia. They fall into the ocean and are fished out of the sea onto the Dawn Treader.

Once safely on board, Lucy and Edmund are greeted by their friend Caspian (now King Caspian) who has undertaken a quest to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia, as he had previously promised to Aslan. Eustace, however, does not have the enthusiasm of the Pevensies. He repeatedly violates various rules onboard the ship, like attempting to steal water when there is little to drink. Among the crew members on the ship is Reepicheep, a brave talking mouse.

During their voyage, they visit several islands, the first being The Lone Islands. Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep are kidnapped by a slave trader to be sold. A man "buys" Caspian before they even make it to the slave market. He turns out to be the first lost lord, Lord Bern, who immediately acknowledges Caspian as his King, when Caspian reveals his identity. Before they leave the island, Caspian re-claims it for Narnia, overthrows the greedy governor, and replaces him with the Lord Bern, whom he creates Duke of the Lone Islands.

At the second island they visit, Eustace leaves the group to avoid doing any work. He finds a dragon's cave and goes in to escape the rain. In the cave he finds gold and starts to have greedy thoughts about it. He starts filling his pockets and puts on a large golden bracelet. He then falls asleep and wakes up as a dragon, with the bracelet badly hurting his arm, which has grown into a front leg. As a dragon, he becomes aware of how bad his previous behaviour was, and uses his strength to help make amends. Shortly before they leave the island, Aslan visits Eustace during the night and turns him back into a boy. After his encounter with Aslan, Eustace becomes a much nicer person. When Eustace is finally able to take off the bracelet, Caspian recognizes that it belonged to another lord, Lord Octesian.

In addition, they visit Burnt Island, Deathwater Island (an island containing a pool of water that turns anything, including another lost Lord, to gold), the Duffers' Island, the Island Where Dreams Come True (which is a mass of darkness where nightmares come to life, and where they find a crazed Lord Rhoop) and finally the Island of the Star, where they find the three remaining lost lords in an enchanted sleep.

During their trip they manage to find all seven Lords on various islands. Two of them are dead, two of them are alive, and three of them are in a deep sleep on the Island of the Star. The only way to awaken them is to sail to the edge of the world and leave one member of the crew.

They continue sailing and find lilies in the sea and merpeople and the water turns sweet. It also states that the men became less demanding of sleep and food, this "light" water being enough. Caspian says that he has seen Aslan, the great lion. Aslan told Caspian that Reepicheep, Edmund, Eustace, and Lucy must go to the end of the world.

Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep venture in a small boat through an ocean of flowers. They eventually reach a wall of water that extends into the sky. Reepicheep paddles his coracle up the waterfall, and is never again seen in Narnia.

After Reepicheep goes on, Edmund, Eustace, and Lucy walk in a strange land where they find a lamb. The lamb turns into Aslan who tells them that Edmund and Lucy will not return to Narnia and that they should learn to know him by another name in their own world. He then sends the children home.

The role of Aslan as a Christ-like figure is developed further; he appears at the end as a lamb, a Biblical image for Jesus; on the isle of Ramandu the imagery of Aslan's table is also used. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is unique in that it contains what might be called the "John 3:16" of the Chronicles of Narnia. When asked by Edmund whether or not Aslan exists in their world he replies:

"I am... but there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."

This is arguably the most succinct and precise evidence of a possible parallel between Narnia and The Bible.

Parallels may also be drawn with the Arthurian legend of the Holy Grail. Three knights set off for the grail—Galahad, Percival and Launcelot—of whom Launcelot turned back in sight of the Grail, while Galahad and Percival both partook of the Grail. Galahad was subsequently raptured, while Percival returned to the realm of mortals.

In a similar vein, three groups on the Dawn Treader were on quest to seek the uttermost East, where Aslan's Country is rumored to be. Caspian, King of Narnia, was turned back due to Ramandu's daughter, whom he wishes to marry; and because he is reminded that, as King of Narnia, he has a responsibility to his country, in sight of the Last Sea. The Pevensie children and Eustace met with Aslan, and were returned to their own world in England. Reepicheep, Chief of the Talking Mice, was the only voyager on the Dawn Treader entirely without fear, and disappeared into the waters of the Utter East, where in the words of C.S. Lewis, "...he vanished, and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse. But my belief is that he came safe to Aslan's country and is alive there to this day."

Reepicheep is indeed encountered there in the closing chapters of The Last Battle, making him presumably unique in the history of Narnia in having been bodily assumed into Aslan's country while still alive (compare Enoch the patriarch and Elijah the prophet).

In the thirteenth chapter, titled The Three Sleepers, the words of one of the three Narnian lords echo Dante's Inferno, Canto XXVI, in lines given to Ulysses.^[1] The words of the lord (probably Lord Argoz) as he quarreled with his comrades are: "We are men and Telmarines, not brutes. What should we do but seek adventure after adventure? We have not long to live in any event. Let us spend what is left in seeking the unpeopled world behind the sunrise." Later, as Caspian and his fellows attempt to awake the lord, he echoes the same words: "Weren't born to live like animals. Get to the east while you've a chance-- lands behind the sun".

The corresponding lines in the Inferno are:

"O frati", dissi, "che per cento milia / perigli siete giunti a l'occidente, / a questa tanto picciola vigilia

d'i nostri sensi ch'è del rimanente / non vogliate negar l'esperïenza, / di retro al sol, del mondo sanza gente.

Considerate la vostra semenza: / fatti non foste a viver come bruti, / ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza".

Like Ulysses, Lord Argoz is trying to encourage his shipmates to sail yet farther to an unknown land. Both seek "the unpeopled world" (il mondo sanza gente) "behind the sun" (di retro al sol) and both claim that they were not made "to live like animals" (a viver come bruti). Their ultimate motivations differ, however; Ulysses' is to seek virtue and knowledge (per seguir virtute e canoscenza), while Argoz' lesser goal is "adventure after adventure".

Michael Ward, in his book 'Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis', argues that Lewis constructed the story out of the imagery associated with Sol (the Sun) as it was understood within pre-Copernican cosmological thought.

Prior to the publication of the first American edition of Voyage, Lewis made the following changes to chaper 12 "The Dark Island". When HarperCollins took over publication of the series in 1994, they decided to use the British edition as the standard for all subsequent editions worldwide. (Ford 2005)

British Edition	Pre-1994 American Edition
¶¶1-2 In a few moments [...] warm, blue world again. And all at once everybody realized that there was nothing to be afraid of and never had been. They blinked their eyes and looked about them. The brightness of [...] grime and scum. And then first one, and then another, began laughing. ‘I reckon we’ve made pretty good fools of ourselves,’ said Rynelf.	¶1 In a few moments [...] warm, blue world again. And just as there are moments when simply to lie in bed and see the daylight pouring through your window and to hear the cheerful voice of an early postman or milkman down below and to realise that it was only a dream: it wasn’t real, is so heavenly that it was very nearly worth having the nightmare in order to have the joy of waking; so they all felt when they came out of the dark. The brightness of [...] grime and scum.
¶¶3–6 Lucy lost no time [...] Grant me a boon.’	¶¶2–5 Lucy lost no time [...] Grant me a boon.”
¶7 ‘What is it?’ asked Caspian.	¶6 “What is it?” asked Caspian.
¶8 ‘Never to bring me back there,’ he said. He pointed astern. They all looked. But they saw only bright blue sea and bright blue sky. The Dark Island and the darkness had vanished for ever.	¶7 “Never to ask me, nor to let any other ask me, what I have seen during my years on the Dark Island.”
¶¶9–10 ‘Why!’ cried Lord Rhoop. ‘You have destroyed it!’ ‘I don’t think it was us,’ said Lucy.	¶8 “An easy boon, my Lord,” answered Caspian, and added with a shudder. “Ask you: I should think not. I would give all my treasure not to hear it.”
¶11–12 ‘Sire,’ said Drinian, [...] the clock round myself’	¶¶9–10 “Sire,” said Drinian, [...] the clock round myself.”
¶13 So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind. But nobody noticed when the albatross had disappeared.	¶11 So all afternoon with great joy they sailed south-east with a fair wind, and the hump of darkness grew smaller and smaller astern. But nobody noticed when the albatross had disappeared.

• In 1983 the world premiere of the musical stage adaptation of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was produced by Northwestern College (Minnesota) at the Totino Fine Arts Center. Director: Carol Thomas; Libretto: Wayne Olson; Music and Lyrics: Kevin Norberg (ASCAP).
• The BBC produced a TV miniseries of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989); it was combined with the previous film and released as Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (see The Chronicles of Narnia (TV miniseries)).
• BBC Radio produced a radio play based on the book in 1994.
• Focus on the Family released a longer version as part of its complete production of all the Chronicles of Narnia.
• Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media are scheduled to release The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in May 2010.^[2].^[3]
• In 2000 a musical version was written and produced by the Alternative Community School of Ithaca, NY

By English typographical conventions, both book titles and ship names are usually italicized when written. Since "Dawn Treader" is part of both, it should in theory be put in Roman text to signify this, but the title would then not be distinct from the context. To avoid confusion, the entire book title is italicized in this article, and the ship name only when mentioned separately from the book title.

• Ford, Paul (2005), written at SanFrancisco, Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition, Harper, ISBN 0-06-079127-6

• Dawn Treader model photographs
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at Narnia Fans
• NarniaWeb
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• St. Peter's Blog Narnia Project original song demos from composer-director Kevin Norberg's Dawn Treader stage musical

v • d • e The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Books	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe · Prince Caspian · The Voyage of the Dawn Treader · The Silver Chair · The Horse and His Boy · The Magician's Nephew · The Last Battle
Inhabitants	Peter · Susan · Edmund · Lucy · Eustace · Jill · Digory · Polly · Caspian · Aslan · Shasta · Aravis · White Witch · Puddleglum · All characters · All creatures
Locations	Narnia · Archenland · Cair Paravel · Calormen · Charn · Lone Islands · Telmar · Wood between the Worlds · Aslan's How · Aslan's Country · All places
Other	BBC serial · Disney films · First Battle of Beruna · Dawn Treader · Deplorable Word · Timeline

v • d • e Works by Clive Staples Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) • Prince Caspian (1951) • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) • The Silver Chair (1953) • The Horse and His Boy (1954) • The Magician's Nephew (1955) • The Last Battle (1956)
Space Trilogy:	Out of the Silent Planet (1938) • Perelandra (1943) • That Hideous Strength (1946)
Other fiction:	The Pilgrim's Regress (1933) • The Screwtape Letters (1942) • The Great Divorce (1945) • Till We Have Faces (1956) • Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1961) • Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer (1964) • The Dark Tower (1977) • Boxen (1985)
Poetry:	Spirits in Bondage (1919) • Dymer (1926) • Narrative Poems (1969) • The Collected Poems of C. S. Lewis (1994)
Non-fiction:	The Allegory of Love (1936) • Rehabilitations and other essays (1939) • The Personal Heresy (1939) • The Problem of Pain (1940) • A Preface to Paradise Lost (1942) • The Abolition of Man (1943) • Beyond Personality (1944) • Miracles (1947) • Arthurian Torso (1948) • Mere Christianity (1952) • English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama (1954) • Major British Writers, Vol I (1954) • Surprised by Joy (1955) • De Descriptione Temporum. An Inaugural Lecture (1955) • Reflections on the Psalms (1958) • The Four Loves (1960) • Studies in Words (1960) • An Experiment in Criticism (1961) • A Grief Observed (1961) • They Asked for a Paper: Papers and Addresses (1962) • Selections from Layamon's Brut (1963) • Prayer: Letters to Malcolm (1964) • The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1964) • Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (1966) • Spenser's Images of Life (1967) • Letters to an American Lady (1967) • Christian Reflections (1967) • Selected Literary Essays (1969) • God in the Dock (2 volumes) (1970-1971) • Of Other Worlds (1982) • Present Concerns (1986) • All My Road Before Me: The Diary of C. S. Lewis 1922–27 (1993) • Essay Collection: Literature, Philosophy and Short Stories (2000) • Essay Collection: Faith, Christianity and the Church (2000) • Collected Letters, Vol. I: Family Letters 1905–1931 (2000) • Collected Letters, Vol. II: Books, Broadcasts and War 1931–1949 (2004) • Collected Letters, Vol. III: Narnia, Cambridge and Joy 1950–1963 (2007) • The Business Of Heaven (1984)