Hwin
| Hwin | |
|---|---|
| Narnia character | |
| Race | Talking Beast |
| Nation | Narnia |
| Gender | Female |
| Birthplace | Narnia |
| Major character in | |
Hwin is a fictional character from C. S. Lewis's fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia. She is prominent in the book The Horse and His Boy.
Hwin, a mare, was born as a free talking beast in the Land of Narnia, but was captured as a foal by the Calormenes, and has lived her life as the property of humans, hiding her true nature as a talking horse. However, to prevent her mistress, Aravis Tarkheena, from committing suicide (to escape an arranged marriage), Hwin has revealed her true nature to Aravis, and has persuaded Aravis to flee with her to freedom in Narnia instead. In The Horse and his Boy, (the events of which all occur during the reign of the four children in Narnia, an era which begins and ends in the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), Hwin and Aravis fall into company with the talking stallion, Bree, to whom Hwin is distantly related, and the boy Shasta. In the course of their adventures, the companions thwart an attempted invasion of Archenland and Narnia, and Hwin, nervous, gentle and humble by nature, passes through testing grounds in which courage and the ability to lead are developed in her.
Hwin's name brings to mind the word "whinny", a sound that horses make. (Ford 2005, p. 240) Primarily, "Hwin" is a contraction of "Hwinhynym", which, spelled "Houyhnhnm" is the name of the race of noble horses from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Hwin was born in Narnia, but was captured as a foal and sold into slavery in Calormen. She became the property of Aravis Tarkeena, a member of the ruling class in Calormen. During her years in slavery, Hwin did not speak, in order to hide her Narnian origin. However, not long before the appearance of Hwin and Aravis in The Horse and His Boy, Hwin has revealed her nature as a talking horse to Aravis, while intervening to prevent Aravis from killing herself to avoid an arranged marriage. Hwin has persuaded Aravis that they should escape together to the free land of Narnia.
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