The Horse And His Boy characters

Appears from the start

The Lion of Narnia, known to the reader from the earlier books: the maker and true king of the country, who appears when he chooses and is not to be commanded by anyone. He is not tame and not safe, but he is good.

Appears from the start

A boy brought up in a fisherman's hut on the far southern coast of Calormen, made to work hard and given no affection. He is fair-skinned and fair-haired, unlike everyone he knows, and he spends his time wondering what lies to the north, a direction the fisherman refuses to discuss. He knows nothing of the world beyond his stretch of shore and is easily overawed, but he is dogged and quicker than he believes himself to be.

Appears from the start

The Calormene fisherman who has raised Shasta, hard-working, grasping and entirely without warmth. He treats the boy as labour rather than as a son and is chiefly interested in what he can be sold for.

Also known as Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah

Appears from the start

A splendid war horse belonging to a Calormene lord, and secretly one of the Talking Horses of Narnia, stolen as a foal and forced to hide his speech for years among ordinary horses. He knows a great deal about war and about Narnia, and is generous and brave, but he is also very concerned with his own dignity and with looking the part of a proper Narnian free horse.

First appears in chapter 2

A young Calormene noblewoman travelling north in disguise, proud, sharp-tongued and courageous, and a good rider and shot. She has been raised to expect obedience from servants and does not think much about them, and she is running from something at home that she does not want to explain to a stranger.

First appears in chapter 2

Aravis's mare, another Talking Horse of Narnia taken south as a foal. Timid, modest and easily talked over, she is nevertheless the most sensible traveller of the four and the one who first persuaded Aravis that there was another way out of her troubles.

First appears in chapter 3

The elderly Grand Vizier of Calormen, rich, servile before the Tisroc and ambitious behind him. Aravis's father has arranged for her to marry him.

First appears in chapter 4

One of the four rulers of Narnia, in the city of Tashbaan with an embassy. Practical, courteous and quick to act, he is the one who organises the Narnians' affairs abroad and takes charge when things go wrong.

First appears in chapter 4

Queen of Narnia and the most beautiful woman of her age, courted by the Crown Prince of Calormen. She came south to consider his suit and has changed her mind about him, which leaves the Narnian embassy in an awkward and dangerous position.

First appears in chapter 4

The Crown Prince of Calormen and son of the Tisroc, a famous horseman and swordsman who has been courting Queen Susan. He was charming in Narnia and is a different man at home; he cannot bear to be refused anything.

First appears in chapter 5

The young son of King Lune of Archenland, staying in Tashbaan with the Narnian party. He is cheerful, entirely fearless and always in a fight or on his way to one, and he has gone missing from his lodgings.

First appears in chapter 7

A fashionable young Calormene noblewoman and an old friend of Aravis, married and very pleased with her position. She is kind in her way, hides Aravis without hesitation, and cannot understand why anyone would give up jewels and parties for a life among barbarians in the north.

First appears in chapter 8

The absolute ruler of Calormen, seated in his palace in Tashbaan, unhurried, immensely fat and entirely cold. He weighs every plan by what it costs him and prefers arrangements he can disown if they fail.

First appears in chapter 10

An old man living alone in a green enclosure on the far side of the desert, with a pool, a tree and goats. He is calm about everything, seems to know a great deal about what is happening elsewhere, and treats wounded travellers and exhausted horses without fuss.

First appears in chapter 11

The King of Archenland, the small country between Narnia and the desert. He is stout, red-faced, merry and unceremonious, popular with his people, and rides out hunting with a handful of lords rather than a formal escort.