Part 4
The Old Narnians rally to Caspian and make him their king, and for a time the war goes well. But Miraz learns of the rising and marches a great Telmarine army against them. Caspian’s smaller force is driven back and besieged at Aslan’s How — a huge grassy mound raised long ago over the ancient Stone Table, honeycombed with dark tunnels. Their situation grows desperate. In a war council, Doctor Cornelius reminds Caspian of his last hope: Queen Susan’s magic Horn, which may summon the great Kings and Queens of old, or even Aslan himself. They agree to blow it at sunrise, and to send messengers to the coast to meet whatever help may come. Meanwhile, back at the ruins of Cair Paravel, the four children finally understand the strange magic that seized them: it was that very Horn, blown across the ages, that dragged them out of England. Trumpkin, one of the messengers, has been rescued by them; now, doubting the old magic even as he serves it, he sets off with the children up the great river gorge toward Aslan’s How, to bring the help the Horn has called.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Siege words: siege, mound, muster, retreat, summon… |
| Literary Elements | A setting layered with history, two plotlines joining, and the reader who knows more than the characters |
| Cross-Curricular | Horns, beacons, and sieges — how people called for help in war |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| Chapter 7 | Old Narnia in Danger — Miraz besieges Caspian’s army at Aslan’s How; in council they decide to blow Susan’s magic Horn to call for help. |
| Chapter 8 | How They Left the Island — the children realize the Horn pulled them back; rescued Trumpkin joins them, and they set off up the gorge toward Caspian. |
For Chapters 7–8, the phrase “Words of a Besieged Army” points to diction that changes as the characters face new pressure. In context, siege functions as a noun and means the surrounding of a place to force surrender; the example grounds it in the episode: Miraz’s army pressed the siege on the mound. In context, mound functions as a noun and means a raised heap of earth; the example grounds it in the episode: Aslan’s How was a great grassy mound. In context, muster functions as a verb and means to gather forces together; the example grounds it in the episode: Caspian tried to muster all the Old Narnians. In context, retreat functions as a verb and means to move back from an enemy; the example grounds it in the episode: The Old Narnians had to retreat to the How. The resulting word map links concrete work to inward growth through exact register.
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
The Horn Is Blown is organized around a difficult decision, the risk it creates, and the eventual result. The Old Narnians rally to Caspian and make him their king, and for a time the war goes well. But Miraz learns of the rising and marches a great Telmarine army against them. Caspian’s smaller force is driven back and besieged at Aslan’s How — a huge grassy mound raised long ago over the ancient Stone Table, honeycombed with dark tunnels. Their situation grows desperate. In a war council, Doctor Cornelius reminds Caspian of his last hope: Queen Susan’s magic Horn, which may summon the great Kings and Queens of old, or even Aslan himself. They agree to blow it at sunrise, and to send messengers to the coast to meet whatever help may come. Once decision and result are joined, “The Horn Is Blown” supplies narrative momentum.
- Miraz marches a great army against them.
- Caspian’s force is besieged at Aslan’s How.
- The council decides to blow the magic Horn.
- The four children set off with Trumpkin toward Caspian.
- The Old Narnians make Caspian their king.
C. S. Lewis makes the midpoint turn through setting, irony, and structure rather than through explanation alone. The Old Narnians make their stand at Aslan’s How, and Lewis chose this setting with great care, because it is a place layered with history like rings in a tree. At its heart, deep inside the mound, lies the ancient Stone Table — the very place tied to Aslan’s greatest deed in the old stories. Over the centuries the Old Narnians raised a great earthen How above it and tunnelled it with passages, turning a holy memory into a fortress. So the setting means more than ‘a good hill to defend. To fight from Aslan’s How is to fight from the roots of Narnia’s deepest faith, standing on the memory of Aslan himself. That authorial design makes “Aslan’s How: A Mound Over the Stone Table” a lesson in deliberate symbolism.
“Sieges and Signals” supplies a cross-curricular frame built from sieges, signals, and siege. When Miraz pins Caspian’s army inside Aslan’s How, Lewis is staging a siege, one of the most important kinds of battle in the medieval world. A siege happens when an attacking force surrounds a stronghold — a castle, a walled town, or here a fortified mound — and tries to force those inside to surrender, often by cutting off their food and escape. For the defenders, a siege is a race against time: they must hold their walls and make their supplies last while hoping that help will arrive from outside. That last hope raises a hard problem of the age before telephones or radio: how do you call for help across long distances? This context turns Part 4 from a private adventure into a broader question of agency.
Think back over the turning of the war. At first the Old Narnians rise and Caspian is crowned in the woods, and hope runs high — but then Miraz comes with a real army, and hope is beaten back mile by mile until the little host is penned on a green mound honeycombed with tunnels, the buried Stone Table at its heart. In a council by torchlight they face the truth: alone, they cannot win. So they choose their last hope and lift the ancient Horn to blow it at first light. Far away, among the ruins of Cair Paravel, four children feel again the memory of a strange pull — and understand at last that the magic which snatched them out of England was that very Horn, calling across the years for the help only they can bring.
When Caspian’s army is trapped on the mound of Aslan’s How, it faces a danger as old as war itself: the siege. In a siege, an attacking force surrounds a castle, a walled town, or a fort and tries to force the people inside to give up. Rather than storming the walls at once, the attackers often simply wait, cutting off food, water, and any way out. For the defenders, a siege becomes a grim race against time. They must guard their walls, make their supplies stretch, and hold on — because their best chance is usually not to win by themselves but to survive until help arrives from outside.
That raised a hard question in the days before telephones and radio: how do you call for help across many miles? People answered it with signals: armies blew war horns and trumpets whose blasts could carry commands and alarms above the noise of battle. On hilltops, watchmen built beacon fires, and by lighting one after another in a chain, they could flash a warning across a whole country in a single night. Fast riders carried urgent messages from town to town. Every one of these was a way of reaching beyond the walls to say, we cannot hold out alone. Susan’s magic Horn belongs to this same family of desperate signals, only Lewis makes it greater: its call crosses not just distance but time, summoning help from an age long past.
“A beacon on one hill was lit as soon as the watchman saw the next one flare.”
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 4 “Calling for Help”
Caspian’s army blows the Horn because, alone, they cannot win. Write about a time you needed help and had to ask for it, or a time you answered someone else’s call for help. What was the situation, how hard or easy was it to ask (or to come), and what happened? 6–10 sentences. End with what you learned about needing others.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 4 Complete!
You finished Chapters 7–8 of Prince Caspian.
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Your writing was checked automatically for length, spelling, grammar, and whether you included the key parts of the scene. Scroll back to Part 5 anytime to read your feedback and improve your work.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by C.S. Lewis. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows C.S. Lewis’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.