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Abstract

Michael Ward’s landmark discovery, as outlined in Planet Narnia, unlocked the hidden structure of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Ward persuasively demonstrated that Lewis used the seven planets of medieval cosmology as an organizing principle for the Narnia series. With his discovery firmly in place, Ward has encouraged others to investigate the Narniad for new planetary connections and influences. To that end, in this article, I argue that C.S. Lewis named Cor and Corin after the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians in The Horse and His Boy, as these names are a perfect fit with the character of the planet Mercury. First, I overview the naming conventions Lewis uses in the Narniad. Then, I argue that the grammatical, material, biographical, and thematic links between Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and The Horse and His Boy are best explained by Lewis having used Paul’s letters to the Corinthians as inspiration for Cor and Corin’s names. In so doing, it will become evident that Paul’s letters to the church in Corinth also served as inspiration for The Horse and His Boy more broadly.

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