Lewis' Narnian Dwarves Hint of Africa and the Bible

 

Alice C. Linsley

Have you wondered what inspired C.S. Lewis' idea of dwarves as smiths? The dwarves of Narnia are highly skilled smiths, miners, stonemasons, and archers. Perhaps Lewis had read about the dwarves of Nigeria who were smiths. For most of his lifetime, Nigeria was a British colony. (Lewis died in 1963 and Nigeria gained independence in 1960.) In Igboland, the metal-working dwarfs are called Neshi. They are credited with the early sacred script known as Nshi-biri, which in Igbo means "Written by Nshi".

There are other features of Narnian dwarf society that suggest knowledge of ancient Africa. 

What I find most interesting is the social structure of the Narnian dwarves/dwarfs and how it parallels the social structure of the early Hebrew (long before Judaism).

The social structure of the Narnian dwarves is a moiety. They are organized into red dwarfs and black dwarfs. Perhaps Lewis was thinking of the early Nilotic Hebrew with their moiety structure. The Hebrew ruler-priest caste was organized into two ritual groups, the Horites and the Sethites. Each group maintained their own shrines and temples along the Nile, and they competed for royal favor. Likewise, the Narnian dwarf groups enjoy competing with each other. 

The red dwarves were loyal to their own moiety and the black dwarves were loyal to their moiety, but they share a common loyalty. They recognize any dwarf as more like themselves than any other creature of Narnia. In an argument, a dwarf is likely to take a fellow dwarf’s side, and few things anger a dwarf more than the notion that his kind are being treated unfairly. Dwarves put the interest of dwarves first. That too is a characteristic of the early Hebrew caste.

In the Book of Genesis Tubal-Cain is described as a metalworker (Gen. 4). Studies of the kinship pattern of his early Hebrew people reveal a moiety structure. The descendants of Cain and Seth intermarried (endogamy). However, they maintained separate territories and separate identities. 

The oldest known site of Horite Hebrew worship is at Nekhen on the Nile (4000 BC). Archaeologists have found elite burial grounds, figurines of Seth as a red man with the head of a hippo, massive stonework, and elaborate jewelry. They also found the body of a man who had red hair and a red beard.

Black and Red Nubians

Detail from a painting by Ippolito Rosellini

The Franco-Tuscan Expedition to Egypt of 1828

Narnian red dwarfs have soft red hair and beards, and black dwarfs have wiry black hair and beards. Both types of hair have been found in Africa. 

Lewis wrote the Narnia series in the 1950s. The rural settings, forests, and mountains would be familiar to most readers. The most exotic setting is found in "The Horse and His Boy". That has a Turkish flavor. Lewis never visited Turkey. He probably read about it. He was a voracious reader, and it is likely that he read about the metal-working dwarves of Nigeria.

Related reading: The Hebrew Were a Caste; The Sethites and the Red Hippo; Red and Black Smiths; Horite and Sethite Mounds; Why Nekhen is Anthropologically Significant