The Truth Behind C.S. Lewis and Digory Kirke | Narnia Lore | Into the Wardrobe 

Every time I read the Magician's nephew - the place where Digory is allowed to save his mama... I know that CS Lewis was rescuing his own mother in the only way he had the power to. This was important to me, when I was a teen and my mother faced cancer. Her battle became central to my own testimony. For my own journey, I have been blessed that my mother is still here and recovered. I'm reminded of this blessing and cry every time I remember Lewis' story and wishful retelling thru his stories.

The scenes where Digory refuses Jadis' temptation and brings the apple back to Aslan is the most beautiful, moving moment in the whole of the Chronicles.

After watching this video, I now realize how Lewis did indeed show his readers that while some things are beyond our control, there is always hope and as long as you never lose sight of that, evil will never win. Thank you Mr. Lewis for giving us Narnia, and thank you Into the Wardrobe for giving us this video.

Great comments on a great story. "The Magician's Nephew" is one of the few "kid's stories" that I truly enjoyed as an adult through the eyes of a child. Also, I highly recommend Sir Kenneth Branagh's reading for the audio book.

I'm over 60, and each year I re-read The Chronicles of Narnia. It takes me to a purer place of thought, hope and belief. Great essay!

The Magician's Nephew will always be one of my favorite Narnia books. While I was reading it, I was in college and had begun a relationship with Christ. I had also experienced my mom being sick and in and out of hospitals from a young age, like Lewis and Digory. She had multiple hospitalizations that scared me as a kid, and when I read the passage where it describes Digory's desperation to save his mother, and Aslan's tears being "bigger and even more sorrowful than his own," I was deeply moved to tears. I couldn't describe why in the moment, but I now realize it was because it touched the part of my being where I knew God also felt that way about our anguish and deep struggles. The thought of God being so compassionate was a new realization for me, as I also grew up without a properly loving father figure. It was the start of a long journey finding out just how loving and gentle God the Father is. And how compassionate Jesus was, especially towards the vulnerable members of society.

Jesus cried for Lazarus despite having the power to revive him. Narnia is one of those childhood gems that shaped me as a person. Truly a masterpiece

The illustrations in this video are stunning!

So well done. Digory is such a great personification of C.S. Lewis. I absolutely love The Magician's Nephew. It helps me too after the loss of my wife four years ago.

"And, if you're reading Narnia in the right order; the publication order, that is..." Preach it! The chronological order can be silly. (Someone tell George Lucas.)

I had no idea about the connections between Digory and Lewis, until I saw this video. Learning the truth behind it does leave a much deeper impression, I'll tell you that. By the way! Thanks so much for recommending C.S. Lewis' space trilogy in one of your other videos! I picked it up, and I've read through them four times already. It's become one of my favorite reads!

These illustrations are beautiful.

I wish I could be reading the Narnia books for the first time. I have read them several times and find something new and exciting each time. But it never compares to the first time reading it. It took up all my spare time as I couldn't put it down until I finished them.

6:35 I think that moment is one of my favorites in the Narnian history. Aslan who has all power to heal and had many other important things to do, takes a moment and griefs with Digory. I thought you would say more about Digory as a professor teaching children logic and Lewis doing the same… But still, great video!❤

The Narnia books have always been my favorite! Every time I read them I see new things that relate to the Bible! I can’t wait to meet Lewis in Heaven and thank him for those books!

Oh my God! That was so pure. I almost cry. I need to read all Lewis book. I love him.

I loved how Lewis was able to channel his childhood into this story, especially how close he was to his mother.

This channel is truly amazing. Before I started seeing your videos, I hade never really read much Lewis, outside of his apologetics. And now I'm doing an independent study on him and Tolkein this upcoming Spring semester, as part of my final semester in undergrad!

I have just found your channel and would like to thank you for the wonderful presentation. I found Narnia as a child having borrowed the book from the library - I think I was around 8/9. I read it alone and can remember the day I read of Aslan’s death at the hands of the white witch. I cried uncontrollably but through my tears read of his resurrection. I had never cried like that while reading a book but I had cried at images of Jesus on the cross. I can remember the day, the afternoon sun streaming through my bedroom curtains. I sat for ages contemplating as I immediately recognised Jesus and I so wanted to go and live in Narnia. This book changed me so much, and I went on to read the others, I always feel sad when I leave that world. My favourites are the lion the witch and the wardrobe and probably the magician’s nephew, but it is truly hard to pick as each book is unique. I personally feel the presence of God through the pages and have read everything written by CS Lewis including his adult novels about space. He was a remarkable man. I am late 60’s now and have read the books to my children and grandchildren. I loved the movies and was sad they were not completed as they really did justice to the writings of CS Lewis. I do hope Netflix get to complete them in a similar style. I shall enjoy browsing the videos in this channel and will share 💝 Note - I would like to recommend the audio books read by Michael Hordern and accompanied by the most beautiful harpist Marissa Nobles. Published by HarperCollins publishers Ltd.

I think this might be one of your best videos. How you fit so much into 9 minutes naturally is crazy.

Like you, I always suspected from the start and diggory's story was the same as Lewis's as a young man from the first time I read "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Wizard's Nephew." As always, your analyzes are correct, and your way of narrating things fascinates me more and more. Good job. 😊

Finally RU-vid notified me of your video! I am really glad it did because it is always a great video from this channel 😀

This is awesome! Love how Lewis brought his own life experiences into these stories. Keep up the great work Stuart!

Digory is my favorite character! Loved this video!

6:36 This scene reminded me of Rachel Scott, who was a Christian girl who died in the Columbine shooting. Her father was being interviewed and the reporter asked him where God was when Rachel died. Her father said “in the same place when his son was dying on the cross”. God understands and feels our pain.

I am not a Christian but a great admirer of Lewis. [And of Chesterton too, who wrote some great fictions you might want to do something on.] This is a lovely and thoughtful reflection.

This one really had me crying. Thank you so much for this channel, it is so appreciated.

Wow. Another awesome presentation by Stuart and the team. Great insight and original interpretation accompanied by stunning illustrations and beautiful music. The death of his Mother with a struggling Father, and forced to leave the santity of the parental home , crossing from Ireland to horrid schools profoundly effected Lewis. He was unable to grieve and heal. He needed to express and live through this loss - weep and talk. His life became a subconscious search for his Mother ... ( This is addressed in Dr David Holbrook's phenomenalogical study and AN Wilson's bio.) The writing of the salvation of Digory's Mother was part of that late life healing process. Striking parallels between his Mother's plight and that of his adopted Mother Mrs Moore. Let's not forget what the Austrian genius Sigmund Freud told us, wherever we travel in mind or body we are subconsciously repeating childhood trauma. Like a Pavlovian reflex. A Grief Observed telling of the death of his wife is gut wrenching, suffering on a par with Job's. One of the most powerful and profound books written. May I add, Digory was was also influenced by Edith Nesbit's literary character of the same name. Thank you to Stuart and the team for a another cracking video.

I love the Narnia series, and the Magician's Nephew is my favorite. One of the great classics in my opinion.

I never cried so much with a RU-vid video, God bless you and your channel ❤

I really love this video. Cancer effects all of us. Cancer runs in my family and had experience loss of loved ones to it. I do appreciate Lewis and his experience with cancer and wrote about the pains and how he went through. It is one of the reasons why I love The Chronicles of Narnia, drawing from life experiences that lead to Christ Himself. Thank you so much for making this video.

I'm wondering if you are planning a video for the Wardrobe itself? It is almost like a personal companion to Digory, with its own traveling and timeline.

I listened to the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre version of the Magician's Nephew, and Digory is voiced by a boy named Nathaniel Lippiet, who also lost his mother to cancer as a child.

Love your videos! Very detailed :) Thanks for keeping the community alive! I also love the Magician's Nephew! When I first read the book, it was a huge MCU mindblown for me, and watching the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was never the same again after reading the book. Especially knowing that each of the art carvings of the wardrobes represented the symbols of Digory's encounters in Narnia :)

It would be cool to see a video on the symbolism of colors in the Chronicles of Narnia

Missed hearing from you channel! Love this episode❤️

Fascinating! As always, you have introduced me to another new aspect of a much loved series of books. Thanks for sharing your insights with us and thanks to C.S. Lewis for sharing his great wealth of imagination and inspiration.

Not just a simple "prequel"‼️ He is important in so many different ways. Pain and grief is hard to deal with. But God speaks through pain 💔❣️♥️

Another wonderful video. I have known the story of Lewis' mother for a long time but never thought of it as a connection to Digory. Thank you for another video revealing hidden things and connections in Narnia! :)

Thank you for your excellent quality and production in your videos! Grief and loss are hard even for adults. How many times do we overlook others who are facing grief? Lewis and his writings are a precious gift from God.

Yes Professor Digory Kirke is The Magicians Nephew. C.S. Lewis also went by the Name Jack. So Lewis was The Real Digory Kirke.

Great video as always 👍

As a child I love these books as a adult I love them even more 💕

Wow! That’s the best video I’ve seen this year! Thank you.

i have read "a greif observed" a couple of times after losing:- my husband, then my closest friend, both times it helped me through the raw pain part, into the place i could heal. i have just lost my closest friend again and you have encouraged me to read it again

By the Lion, another wonderful video! Keep up the amazing work!

The art in this video is **INCREDIBLE**. Cheers, great work 👍👍

Excellent and when reading again "The Magician's Nephew," certain the story will have deeper meaning than before. Looking forward to that adventure.

Notification from this channel always makes me very happy!

I also found out that C.S. Lewis had a Professor that taught him for two years. His look and mannerism make me think that The professor from lion witch and Wardrobe are connected and he wrote his professor into his stories.

The art work in this video is beautiful!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Absolutely love your content, thankyou for putting so much work into these videoes, blessings from Norway, Soli Deo Gloria To Gods glory alone!

I believe this difficulty with grief is the stumbling stone for many who are raised in Christian homes. We are taught all the wonderful stories of answered prayers and marvelous providential works done, but then we have hard times when finances fail, we or loved ones suffer a compromise of our constitutions and health declines drastically maybe even to death, or people to whom we are close either reject the faith or leave it never to return. Then we learn the story of Abraham, who believed God for 25 years that he would be made into a great nation, Naomi who left her people during a time of famine and starvation only to come home a sad, bitter, childless widow, David who prayed and fasted for day for his son only for the boy to die, or Paul who sought for relief from his thorn in his flesh. It is a difficult lesson to learn that He is not a tameable God.

Beautifully done. Made me cry…as usual with all things Aslan related.

Great video! Interesting to learn about the writer's inspiration for the character! Makes me want to dig up those books my mother used to read to me.

Awesome video! This is a marvelous tribute to the true wisdom and love of Jesus, and the life beyond the grave that I long to one day see. Thank you for this wholesome dose of perspective on a story I have heard since childhood; one that the world needs to hear!

I was wondering when we'd talk about the professor. Great insight.

Good morning! I just discovered your channel and am stoked to enjoy all of this goodness! Thank you.

I just love your videos!!! Please keep them coming 😊😊😊😊😊

Amazing content from start to finish. Looking forward to the next one. Maybe….Christmas in Narnia?? 🎄

Request: I would love some more insights into the stable in The Last Battle. So glad I found your videos! They are highly entertaining and most are almost devotional in nature and I get so much from them! Thank you!

Dude those paintings of Lewis are great

Thank you very much for this video. Lewis has such a way of helping me understand things about life and the Lord sometimes. The Magician's Nephew is one of my favorites from the Narnia series too. Thank you for the video. God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)

Awesome..so appreciate your work..blessings f ou r a great Christmas and New Year

Amazing how the first contemporary apoligest spoke loudest, even to adults, in his stories for children. Perhaps that's because he understood that if you don't reach the youth, you very often miss the adults as well.

Seems to me that, not only is Digory's something of a reversal of what could have happened in Lewis' own life, but in a way, a mild undoing of Adam's sin of eating the fruit of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Instead of taking the fruit himself, as Adam did, Digory takes the fruit, but then humbly presents it to Aslan rather than eating it, and then casting blame on someone else for his doing so. This, of course, does not negate the fact that the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve are still fallen in nature, and that that fallenness became a part of Narnia, making death and suffering still a very real thing, but I like to think that some of the consequences of Original Sin are lessened. For starters, while battles are ugly when women fight in them and men are expected to behave in a chivalric manner towards women, there is no explicit command from Aslan that men take guardianship of women and that women are put under men -- at least as far as creatures native to Narnia go. I also like to think that the birthing pains for women are lessened - though we know little about births in Narnia. Mundane toiling is a thing that seems to only be done if one wants to do it rather than it being something entirely born out of necessity. All we need to do is look at Mr. Tumnus' description of how life in Narnia was before the coming of the White Witch's long winter without Christmas. Poisonous plants, weeds, thorned plants do exist, but in the stories we read, they do not seem to be an ongoing hinderance in a world without machinery. I won't get too deep into it, but I think that perhaps this action by Digory Kirke helped to preserve the magic of Narnia that seems so lost in our world.

On a much more superficial level, the Professor symbolized to me the adult who still remembers the joys of childhood and imagination but is unable to revisit it. He would be the person that treasured his childhood toys because, to him, they weren't just toys but doorways to incredible worlds he used to frequent.

Great video. That music was really great too! God bless!

Keep up the good work friend!

My mother died four days ago, the pain is so horrific I can’t bear it. I wonder is there life after death and will I see her again? I remember her reading me the Chronicles of Narnia, for they were our favourite books. There was a lake and a lovely safe, quiet spot where no one ever came. There she would sit and read to me, And I interpreted Narnia and Aslan as a form of how I interpreted God and heaven. Much like CS Lewis himself. I now understand his pain, but I also take heart and hope from his works. And I wish that I could also ask Aslan to help me in this pain, but in truth, I think he already is. Thank you for doing this video, as it gives me hope, and strength, and that maybe it’s implied to mean something to me, as well as many others in this circumstance.

I have to say my favorite narnia book is the magicians nephew. So many interesting concepts in it. The wood between the worlds, charn. The white witch. So much going on

The art in this video rocks

Can you create a theory video about the deities and creatures from Greco-Roman, Egyptian, and Norse mythology that Aslan may have befriended? Several different species from different mythologies inhabit the world of Narnia so I've often wondered about Aslan's connection to different pantheons.

Wow, that was really well-done. I congratulate you.

Glad to see another video from you! Great job as always.

I need to reread the series

Would you please make a video about the « 8th narnia novel » that Francis Spufford wrote ? I think it would be very interesting, I heard it is not just like any of those numerous fan fictions

Good to see that you have a new video out. 🙂

Beautiful. I now want to read his autobiography

I love the artworks!

Great video !!

Will you be making a video about the 7 deadly sins in the Narnia books? That would be neat to watch when it's laid out and dissected

yes! the man has returned ^_^ I always look forward to your videos.

Love the videos. Hope you're going to continue to do Eustace and Jill as well.

Amazing.

Greetings from Ireland! I'm a great fan of CS Lewis. At the moment I'm reading a selection of his essays, Fern-seed and Elephants and an anthology of short writings by George MacDonald, selected by Lewis, the man that Lewis tells us , influenced him most. I'm onto a Lewis beano and have ordered a selection from his letters called, Yours Jack, which should be a slightly easier read from the professor style, tho' of course there's a clarity of vision in all his writings and a work called image and imagination which includes his reviews on Tolkien's work.

So what you're saying is, Digory was CS Lewis as a child, and then grew up to be Tolkien? Got it. :)

One thing that I am glade of is that we were given the Professors origin story and that, as the penultimate book, tied back to the original story. A rich tapestry is tied together and culminates in the The Last Battle. The beginning and the end become one thread with heaven as the point of all. Aslan’s Country is the only true country with all others being sub-creations. The majesty of this is that those born in the sub-creation may eventually journey to the real Country. Ignore the worlds incessant calls to play the game that ends in death. Embrace the call to eventually go to a fair green country under a swift sunrise. Remember, faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love. Also, read first Corinthians thirteen.

i loved the first book sm

Just discovered your RU-vid channel, new subscriber! :D

I wish I could make the Narnia books into films.

I so glad he was created I love him so much ❤

Hey where did you find these illustrations? Its super hard to find good Magician Nephew art

Amazing ✝️❤️

Nicely done. :)

That reminds me of Camus's The Plague. I read it recently and it deals with the Absurd present in suffering. Although Camus portrayed faith as very negatively, his depticion of Father Paneloux is present in many churches even today. C. S. Lewis also deals with this Absurd, but goes to different conclusions than Camus.

is there a place we can download or purchase these awesome artworks? I love that lion in the cloud at the end of the video.

Wonderful video. Who does the beautiful illustrations for your videos? They are amazing!

This video was beautiful🙌

He made the characters in his book go through the same things he did except with a better ending