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ASLAN , the Great Lion, is the founder of Narnia. The name (pronounced Ass-lan) means "lion" in Turkish, and came from the book Tales from the Arabian Nights which C.S. Lewis used to read as a child.
Unlike any other character in the Chronicles, Aslan appears in all seven books - but he only comes when Narnia is in terrible need, as when Edmund's life is in danger in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Aslan is a huge and terrifying lion (though, when he wants to be, he is gentle and playful) and has such great magic at his command that he is able to defeat the White Witch, just when she thinks she's got the better of him!
It was a Lion. Huge, shaggy and bright, it stood facing the risen sun. Its mouth was wide open in song and it was pacing to and fro about the empty land. And as Aslan walked and sang, the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave.
In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains, making that young world every moment softer. A light wind could now be heard ruffling the grass which was sprinkled with daisies and buttercups. Along the river bank, willows were growing; on the other side, tangles of flowering currant, lilac, wild rose and rhododendron closed them in.
All this time the Lion's song and his stately prowl, to and fro, backward and forward, continued. It was clear that all the things were coming "out of the Lion's head." When you listened to his song you heard the things he was making up; and when you looked around you, you saw them all. This was Aslan's world of Narnia.
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