Trumpkin

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Trumpkin" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Trumpkin
Narnia

Trumpkin is a fictional character in

.

Fictional biography

Trumpkin the dwarf is first introduced in the second published book of

Narnia's

Golden Age completely ridiculous. Nevertheless, he like many others are exhausted and sick at heart at not being able to live freely in their own lands. Therefore, when the opportunity presents itself to succour, befriend, harbour and mentor the young runaway Caspian X, the actual heir to the throne and one who desires to embrace Old Narnians, Trumpkin recognizes an opportunity too good to miss. He and his allies support Caspian in rousing a hodge-podge force of Old Narnians to mount a resistance to his Uncle Miraz's rule and to challenge the broader repression of Old Narnia.

When the underground's army is being badly beaten in a siege on

Lucy

. Despite the success of the horn's call, Trumpkin is true-to-character, singularly unimpressed with the results; four children, when the best he would have imagined are four powerful adult warriors and strategists. He supports them on their journey and helps guide them to Aslan's How, the military base of the underground. However it is only when they approach this sacred place, that Aslan finally reveals himself to Trumpkin face-to-face in an overwhelming way, and thus comes Trumpkin's moment of truth and his embracement of faith - whether he likes it or not.

After the war, King Caspian names him Lord Regent of Narnia. He does not appear in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, but is mentioned as the one who is ruling the country during Caspian's voyage. Half a century later, in The Silver Chair, Trumpkin is a very elderly, deaf dwarf who is again running the country while an elderly Caspian is away on his ship to "see again the places of his youth", although many believe that he had set out to seek Aslan to find out who could be the next King of Narnia after him, as his only son Rilian had disappeared 10 years before - not knowing that Eustace and his friend Jill Pole would be arriving in Narnia to rescue and deliver the heir to the Narnian throne.

, but puts no effort into listening to their pleas or getting others to do so. Indeed, as others have been lost in the quest for Caspian's lost son, he is also unlikely to provide them with any assistance, regardless of any accompanying message from Aslan. His healthy skepticism in the face of grief and old age has hardened into conservative obfuscation.

Trumpkin outlives Caspian and proclaims Rilian, the son of Caspian, as King of Narnia shortly after he returns from Underland where the Lady of the Green Kirtle has been holding him captive.

Trumpkin is known for using

exclamations such as "Tubs and tortoise-shells!", "Beards and bedsteads!", and "Crows and crockery!"

Portrayals

BBC serials Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair

Actor	Year	Medium
Big Mick	1989 & 1990	BBC television miniseries
Richard Griffiths	1994	BBC Radio broadcast
Chris Emmett	2000	Focus on the Family Radio Theater production
Peter Dinklage	2008	Theatrical feature film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Notes

References

• Lewis, C.S. (1951), Prince Caspian
  , Macmillan, New York
• Lewis, C.S. (1952), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  , Macmillan, New York
• Lewis, C.S. (1953), The Silver Chair
  , Macmillan, New York