The books imply that the Pevensies were in Narnia for years (or perhaps even decades) in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Is there any indication of exactly how long they were gone?
asked Sep 29, 2017 at 17:26
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Wikipedia says Lewis provided a timeline outside the books, which seems to be the only source of Narnian years mentioned elsewhere (for example, the year 1000 as the year when the Pevensies were coronated, and the year 1014, fifteen years later, when they returned and the Golden Age of Narnia ended).– muruSep 30, 2017 at 5:32
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@muru If you can find that timeline as a direct source, your comment would make a good answer.– Rand al'Thor ♦Sep 30, 2017 at 8:41
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@Randal'Thor Wikipedia also says that it was in a letter Lewis sent to someone, who published it later, which was then included in later books on Lewis's works. I'm not going to buy some obscure book on Narnian commentary to verify that, though, sorry. So I probably won't post an answer.– muruSep 30, 2017 at 8:45
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@muru here you go for the source narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Narnian_timeline– VicAcheSep 30, 2017 at 22:30
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2 Answers
The original rule of the Pevensies lasted for 14-16 years, starting in year 1000 and they returned to London in either 1014 or 1015 while hunting the White Stag.
This is laid out here in a columnar format (With a date of 1015), and you can see it in an interactive childrens page available on the publisher's website, HarperCollins (With a date of 1014).
The interactive scrollbar lists the time as 1000-1014, while accounts on the web vary between 1014 and 1015 for when they actually returned. So depending on the months, between 14 to 16 years is the time of ruling.
These come from something Lewis created himself, "Outline of Narnian History so far as it is known...", as referenced in "Inside Narnia: A Guide to Exploring the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" (Page 79). This references a couple of other works, one of which is "Past Watchful Dragons" by Hooper, which reprints the timeline (Pages 41-44).
I could not find any direct publications by CS Lewis, just references to this timeline and publications featuring it.
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What's the original source for these dates? Neither website you link to is canonical/primary-source AFAIK. Does this information come from the books themselves, Lewis's letters, ... ?– Rand al'Thor ♦Dec 5, 2017 at 17:55
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We know, that at the time of The Horse and His Boy, Rabadash had asked for Susan's hand in marriage. We are also told that he was not the only one.
Assuming that the invitations started when she was 18, and that ten people proposed to her, at the rate of five per year, she was 20 years old at the time of THaHB. Since she was 12 at time of entering Narnia, we can assume that the Pevensies were in Narnia for at least 8 years.
Edit
The Narnia Wikia says
This took place in 1000 NT, and she and her siblings shared rule of Narnia for the next fifteen years.
So, 15 years.
This comes from here.
See also Golden Age of Narnia.
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Do you have any sort of source for that rate? Also, people proposing to a twelve year old is... slightly creepy in modern western society. And Wikia is generally not considered to be a reliable source. I'm an admin on two Wikias myself, and I know how often people just make up stuff and add it to the wiki without any support for it.– Mithical ♦Oct 1, 2017 at 6:55
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2Which page on the Narnia Wikia, and does it cite a source for this claim? You should always use primary sources if possible, and as Mithrandir mentions, Wikia sites are notoriously unreliable. (I suspect the source is Lewis's timeline mentioned in comments - your answer would be improved if you cited that directly.)– Rand al'Thor ♦Oct 1, 2017 at 7:54
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@Mithrandir The marriage proposals started at 18. Although, in Game of Thrones, 12 is not too young. Oct 1, 2017 at 16:36