Calormene
| Calormen | |
|---|---|
| The Chronicles of Narnia location | |
| Other name(s) | Calormene Empire |
| Created by | C. S. Lewis |
| Genre | Juvenile fantasy |
| Type | Empire |
| Ethnic group(s) | Calormenes |
| Notable locations | Tashbaan (capital), Azim Balda |
| Notable characters | Rabadash, Aravis, Emeth |
| Currency | Crescent |
In C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series of novels, Calormen /kəˈlɔːrmən/ is a large country to the southeast of Narnia. Lewis derived its name from the Latin calor, meaning "heat". When using the name as an adjective or an ethnonym, Lewis spelled the name with an 'e' at the end: a Calormene /kəˈlɔːrmən/ soldier; "The Calormenes have dark faces and long beards." Narnia and Calormen are separated by the country of Archenland and a large desert. In The Horse and His Boy Calormen is described as being many times the size of its northern neighbours, and it is implied that its army is always either conquering more land or keeping down rebellions, in wars with which neither Narnia or Archenland are involved. The border of the Calormene Empire extends from the Western Mountains to the Great Eastern Ocean. The Calormene capital city is Tashbaan, a vast, walled metropolis near the northern desert separating Calormen from its northern neighbors, located near the mouth of the Calormen River.
The country of Calormen was first mentioned by Lewis in a passing reference in chapter 2 of Prince Caspian, though in the first edition it was spelt Kalormen. He first wrote about Calormene characters in the subsequent Voyage of the Dawn Treader, though neither of these is their first chronological appearance in the series. They are presented with the following words: "The Calormenes have dark faces and long beards. They wear flowing robes and orange-coloured turbans, and they are a wise, wealthy, courteous, cruel and ancient people". As narrated in that book, after the Telmarine kings cut Narnia off from the sea, The Lone Islands - though in theory remaining a Narnian possession - fell into the Calormene sphere of influence, becoming a major source of slaves for Calormen and adopting the Calormene Crescent as the islands' currency. After Caspian the Seafarer restored Narnian rule and abolished slavery in the islands, there was some apprehension of Calormen resorting to war to regain its influence there. The book's plot then moves away and it remains unknown whether such a war did take place. However, Lewis later placed Calormen at the focus of The Horse and His Boy - set a thousand years earlier, at the time of High King Peter.
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